in learning about shitty first drafts we learned that every good writer experiences a bad first draft. i honnestly dont have anything more to say because the rest is self explanatory....

Today we learned about the importance of paraphrasing, which is when you take someones words and shorten them or put them into your own which can help especially so you wont have very long quotes that can take up too much of your paper. We also learned about quoting which is very important in order to have sources in your paper you need to either quote them or paraphrase them. This essientially leads to the next topic we learned which was the format in how are papers are structured. The fun stuff... NOT! The MLA format is very specific(very specific) and has to be done correctly by citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism, and in order to have a properly formatted paper. If the MLA format is not done completely this will affect the grade you get no matter how good the paper is. Besides having to learn this format i have enjoyed my writing experiences and i plan to take what i have learned and use it in future classes.

Today we worked on sentence strategies and worked on the reflective rhetorical analysis essay. We learned about ethos, pathos, and logos which is what makes an rhetorical analysis effective. Those three components are very important because without them your paper may come across as incomplete and not well written or planned thoroughly because you are trying to appeal to an audience. A writer can choose to leave out one of the two based on what they are trying to argue and the audience that they are trying to appeal to. I personally like papers more written to appeal to ethos (emotional Appeal) because they tend to have more of an interesting argument in order to capture and keep the audiences attention, making readers believe in what they are trying to say and make apparent. When I was first introduced to these terms, I was confused. For some unapparent reason, I could not grasp their concepts. Once my professor explained them in class I understood them. I guess it helps to hear the information, instead of reading it. Which brings me to another subject i learned about this week in my ZIVY class, learning styles. My learning style is visual/graphic. I learn best in situations that present informationfirst visually, then verbally. I need to see how something is done, then i will be able to do it for myself. I enjoyed learning about my style of learning and I think this information will help me in future classes.

Are Your Dendrites are Growing?

This week has been full of useful material. As I reflect back to my attitude towards writing during the first week of classes and compare it to this week, already there is a noticable change. I am actually starting to not "judge a book by its cover". For instance, when I was given the assignment to read, "Thinking Rhetorically About Good Writing", I instantly felt a heaviness come upon me. Why do instructors always give these stupid reading assignments?! Why can't they just give us the material we need to know during class? Aside from the many questions racking my brain I also felt frustrated! But I am determined to master not procrastinating so I decided to just dive into my assignment. Surprisingly, I found myself totally engaged in the material. I learned how to think critically about my writing-think of good writers as question askers and problem posers. I also learned the difference between closed form prose-explicit thesis in introduction, unified and coherent paragraphs and sustained development of thesis without digressions;and open form prose-no single summarized thesis and the use of story or narrative as an organizing principle. I write mostly open form prose since, most of my writing is poetry. I also like writing fiction and triller short stories. Which takes me to, "How the Brain Learns". Using your creativity actually helps your brain grow-procuces more synapses that produce an increase in dendrite growth which increases your knowledge in that area of learning. So in conclusion, "My dendrites are growing"!

What I've Learned My 1st Week of Class

Hmm, as I sit here, I wonder to myself, " How do I start this assignment and what have I learned that was interesting enough to write a 300 word blog"? OK. I know. I will do as both Lamott and Holt suggests. I will free write- just write whatever comes to mind. It's amazing that without trying to put an effort into thinking about what i should say next, words are just flowing out of me. And most important for me, I do not feel any stress about doing this assignment! Wait a second, someone is at the door for me. Be back in a minute...
OK. It has been two hours since I was interrupted. This brings me to something else I learned- writing techniques. Everyone has his or her own style. There is no right or wrong way. As long as you get a finished product as your end result, you were successful! Lamott says, " All good writers have terrible first drafts". If this assignment turns out to not suite my teacher's standards, I am fully prepared to blame her for my short comings. No, but seriously speaking, a lot of what Lamott wrote was either completely true for me or I could relate to it on some level. For example, my first drafts are shitty, to say the least. I usually do not know what I plan to write about and even if I have a general idea I will probably change it over and over. I may start writing, then I will stop, then I will read whatever I wrote and decide I do not like it and I will just trash the whole thing. Sometimes, I may not start at all. I will just procrastinate until I am pushing toward my deadline and I am forced to either write or fail. Oddly, I have gotten some great grades on these papers. Go figure. Anyway, moving right alone. Other times, I start writing and I may get a lot of good material down and then, the phone rings, the kids start arguing or the dog starts barking, whatever, the point is I'm interrupted! Once I'm distracted it usually takes me awhile to regain my focus. I will start watching TV, get something to eat, play hide and seek or just do anything to keep from writing. Which takes me to the last thing I learned this week; I am not the only person in class that does not like to write, so, I'm sure someone else's assignment will suck too! Good night, until I'm forced to write for class next week!