Marissa Makar

4/18/15
UWRT 1102
Mrs. Thomas
Final Reflection
1. If I were to teach this class, some ideas that I would emphasis would be mainly ideas
based off of the They Say I Say book because of how much that book has helped me
through out the semester. For example some things I would focus on teaching would be
for the writer to not only indicate clearly what his or her thesis is, but also what larger
conversation that the thesis is responding to. When it comes to entering a conversation
the writer must start with what others are saying. It is best to summarize your ideas that
youre responding to other than loading details on them right away. I would also
emphasis that sometimes when a writer adds a quote to their writing they may understand
it, but the readers might not. Which makes it important to explains whose words they are,
what the quotation means, and how the quotation relates to their own text.

2. Dear Markus Zusak, I normally dont write to authors, but your book fascinated me so
much I couldnt help myself. Im not going to lie, before reading your book I didnt even
bother looking for symbols in other pieces of writing that I had read. But your book
taught me that underneath the words on paper there was a completely different world.
You taught me that there was so much more than meets the eye with books and that I
really should start learning how to read between the lines because Im missing out on so
many meanings. You taught me the correct way to draw readers in, by leaving it

suspenseful. Throughout the whole book I couldnt predict what was going to happen
next, which made me want to keep reading more. You really know how to keep the reader
engaged and interested throughout the whole book, which is something I really need to
start working on. Thank you for the lessons you have taught me while I read your book,
they are lessons that I can definitely put forth to my own writing pieces to make them
better. You may have written that book out of pure enjoyment, but it helped me in ways
that you didnt even mean for them to. Sincerely, Marissa Makar.

3. If I were ever in a class that required a lot of writing, but didnt have time allotted for
peer feedback I would definitely start a writing group. One of the ways I would persuade
my peers to show up to the meeting would be to let them know the importance of how
much peer editing has helped me through out my freshman year of college. Its always a
good thing to listen to what your writing piece could use and not use from a different point
of view. Also, when peer editing with a group the student is forced to read out loud.
Reading your paper out loud helps a student point out their own writing mistakes a lot
easier. Another way I would persuade them would be to to let them know ood and drinks
would be supplied at the meeting. Another idea I would suggest to my group would be that
I would be willing to ask a teacher from the student writing resource center to come in and
revise our writing pieces for us. Which would help us out tremendously. Some behavorial
suggestions that I would give to my group to help group members do well on their papers
and grow as writers would be when they are peer editing do not cover everything on their
peers paper, only address the issues that are most important. Use marginal comments and a
note or letter in the end. I would suggest to not sound like a teacher, but to sound like you

would as if you were speaking to a friend. I would suggest to be specific when revising
over their peers paper, and to not only criticize their paper, but to praise them as well. I
would also let them know if they were writing a research piece to allow the audience to
know whether they agree or disagree with the research.

4. The writing process for my Inquiry Proposal was one of the toughest, but I also
enjoyed writing it the most. The first step I had to do was definitely research a lot about
my topic, which is What is the driving force behind our dreams? Since there isnt a
specific theory as to why we dream about the things we do, I had to research every theory
that came close to being the correct one. I then had to make seven research summaries off
of articles and videos that I found at the library. I found that to be pretty tough because
every article was almost the same, it took a while for me to find articles that had different
information in them. After, I had to make a concept map which helped a lot because it
really organized my information and articles. After making the seven research summaries
it became a lot easier to finish my Inquiry Proposal because it had given me a lot more to
write about. The feedback that I received was that I had a very interesting topic and that it
was always a question that was being wondered by a lot of people. My thoughts on my
final draft is that my paper is very informative and even though there isnt a specific
theory that explains why we dream about the things we do, after reading my paper
readers should be able to pick from their own opinions which theory is the correct one.

5. Ive learned so many things this semester that will definitely help me in my writing for
years to come. Last semester when I took this class it mainly focused on grammar, ethos,

pathos, and logos. But this semester it focused more on how to help me become a better
writer. I learned how to correctly research a topic and find it at the library, and how to
correctly summarize a research article. I learned that it is important to correctly state my
thesis and what Im responding to, and not to forget to mention whether or not I agree,
disagree, or a combination of both on others ideas. Its not a good thing to leave a reader
questioning what your position is on your writing. Its one thing to state whether you
agree, disagree, or both, but you must explain your reasoning behind your position as
well. I also learned how to present in front of people as well. I remember watching a
video of Steve Jobs presenting in front of an audience and it helped me out tremendously.
For example, he showed us how to inspire his audience, he created a headline which gave
the audience an idea of what he was about to talk about, he gave the audience a reason to
listen, he used good key words such as extraordinary and awesome, and he also
ended with one last thing and then started discussing something else.