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Jessica Antonio

Dr. Jan Rieman

English 1103

October 12, 2010

Self Assessment: After getting feedback on my first draft, I changed my paper a lot. I added

much more detail and a catchy introduction to try to make it better. After the meeting with you, I

made my conclusion more precise and tried to make my sentences less choppy. I feel like this

paper is strong in context. It provides lots of information to the reader but not too much. This

paper may be too repetitive. I attempted to take out similar sentences, but I am not sure if I did

enough.

From the Past to the Future

I remember the first day of English class. I did not know what to expect, and I was full of

curiosity. I recall hoping that it was going to be an easy class and that we would not have to do a

lot of writing, but of course, my wish did not come true. Even though I do not prefer to write, I

can enjoy it. All of the writing and reading we have done up to this point has had a positive

impact on me by making me a more experienced reader and writer but also by forcing me to

work hard. I am hopeful and excited as I look towards the future. I am already a better writer, so

I cannot wait to see how the rest of this class affects my writing ability.

Throughout the first half of the semester, we have been doing various kinds of writing.

Each day we write an entry in our day books. These entries vary according to what we have read

or what we will be working on that day. We spend just a few minutes on these, and we are

encouraged to keep writing, even if we have nothing to say. Doing these short entries prepares us

for the day by getting us focused and opening up our minds to writing. My entries tend to have
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very sloppy handwriting because I am rushing to say what I want. I also make lots of errors

because we are not supposed to go back and read over what we wrote. The purpose is not to have

perfect handwriting or be free of errors but to write as much as we can in a short amount of time.

I enjoy writing these entries because I can say what I want, I do not have to spell every word

right or even make sense. I just have to write, and I can do that. It is also a nice way to begin the

class because it brings us together and gets us focused for class.

Similar to our day books, we have weekly Writing to Explore pieces. We have different

prompts, but they are all based on reading or writing. These pieces allow us to be creative and

express ourselves, and they also help improve our writing. I dread writing these pieces because

they take a lot of work, but when I finally start them, I really enjoy being able to say what I want

and doing it in a unique way such as doing a scene, telling a story, or putting my own goofy

humor into it. Sometimes, I have problems trying to make these papers long enough, but I try to

elaborate as much as possible to get close to the required length. My favorite would be the

Jacqueline Novogratz speech that we had to write about. I loved her book, so hearing her speak

was even better. I had fun writing about it because I found her speech very inspirational and

interesting, and I tried to show that in my paper. My least favorite would be the Writers on

Writing. It was hard to write about a video and my own writing habits, so I did not like how it

turned out. I made some good connections, but I felt like I could only say so much.

Instead of weekly writings like the Writing to Explore pieces, we have to occasionally

write forum posts on Moodle. These can range from a paragraph to two pages, but they are not as

difficult as the papers. In these posts, I give my opinion about a certain topic and answer a few

questions about it. These are easier for me because what I write is what I think or what I know. I

can express the way I feel through these posts and in my own manner. We have done a letter of
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introduction, a post on literacy, and a post on intertexuality. We have also done a blog about The

Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz. I enjoyed writing these pieces because they were simple

and semi-informal, so I did not have to stress out about them.

Formal papers are a little harder than the forum posts. We have done one so far on our

“Sponsors of Literacy”. These papers are much longer and much more stressful, and we have to

do peer-workshop with them. We were put into a random group, and we sat down and read over

each other’s paper. Getting into small groups and talking about our papers was very helpful by

pointing out what I could change or add to make it better. I was glad we got to do this and give

each other feedback. I believe it is easier to work with a small group because it is more casual,

and we can talk to each other freely without fear of being judged. Reading their papers was new

to me. I had never tried reading my peers’ papers without looking for grammatical errors, so I

had to hold myself back from doing this. It also helped when I read my own paper by allowing

me to read it as if I were the audience. By doing this, I had a better idea of how to revise my

paper, and I learned to trust my instincts.

Besides writing, we have read various articles. These articles are complex and can be

difficult to understand. A few articles we have read are “Intertexuality and the Discourse

Community” by James E. Porter, “The Phenomenology of Error” by Joseph M. Williams, and

“Sponsors of Literacy” by Deborah Brandt. These articles are written by very educated and

intelligent people, and they are written for such. By reading these articles and discussing them in

class, I have found that I can better understand them and retain the information they provide. I

also have to take notes when I read them. This helps me stay focused, and it creates a summary

of the reading that I can look over whenever I need a reminder.

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We have started thinking about our inquiry question and doing research. The first inquiry

question I developed was “How do children in 3rd world countries develop literacy?” I developed

this question from reading The Blue Sweater and from writing about my Sponsors of Literacy. I

then narrowed “3rd world countries” to “South Africa.” I started looking for research on this

subject, which led me to change my question to “How does the amount of illiteracy in South

Africa affect the economic development of the country?” The United States of America is very

successful in education, and we are a very rich country in technology and businesses. On the

other hand, South Africa has a very low literacy rate, and their development is very sluggish

compared to ours. I hope to find evidence showing that education has a direct correlation with

the development of South Africa.

I have found that I am very comfortable in my writing and reading because I am able to

try new methods of writing without being insecure. Also, reading complex articles does not

intimidate me anymore. I can understand these articles, and I can discuss them with a higher

level of knowledge. All of the writing we have done has helped me reach my goal of becoming a

better writer. I have reached the goals of the course by “using writing and reading to make

meaning, reading and engaging with academic texts, exploring composing in various modes, and

using key ideas, terms, or concepts from reading one or more texts as a critical lens to interpret

other texts.” I have also been abiding by the Classroom Culture Agreement, which we developed

as a class.

As I look ahead in the course, I see the inquiry paper that we are getting ready to do. I

hope that I can find a lot of resources to support my question. The more research I find, the

easier I can write a great paper. I also hope to not procrastinate as I write this paper. Doing

papers the last minute makes me very stressed out. If I do it earlier, I will not have to worry so
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much. I want this to be a good paper and fulfill the guidelines of the assignment. I am also

looking forward to working on our portfolio. I have never done a portfolio of my work before, so

I am excited to do this.

Looking back and ahead in this course, I have looked at myself as a writer and reader

through different lens. I am enthusiastic about becoming a better writer and being able to

understand difficult texts, even though my journey has just begun. I have many enduring tasks

ahead that will test me as a writer, but I am ready to take on the challenge. I hope to reach the

rest of the goals of the course before the class finishes and come out with a new sense of

accomplishment.