Writing Group Work
group 3:
Recently, I watched a video about the history of a faction in a tabletop board game. This video used audio, video, and text to illustrate the points that it was making. I believe the author made the choice to include all these mediums of expression to better engage the view in the topic at hand. By having their reader use multiple senses to understand the lessons being toughing their reader use multiple senses to understand the lessons being taught, the reader is forced to focus more than if only audio was used for instance.
When I comes to my own works, I feel that I could have incorporated more visual elements into the piece of writing that I wish to present. Doing this would aid me by engaging my readers in the information I am showing them. I could do this by turning key points into charts or by using visual representations of my main topics to enhance them. If I wanted to turn that essay into a video, I would have to do a few things. First, I would need to find ways to visually represent my text. Next, I would need to assemble the visual elements in a way that follows the structure of my essay. Finally, I would need to change parts of the essay to make it flow better as in the video essay format. My goal with the video would be to create a more engaging and interactive experience for my audience.
group 4:
I have been doing ok at keeping up with my well-being during these first few weeks of classes at UCF. For the past month or so, I have gotten at least 6 hours of sleep every day and have not felt overly tired while working on school assignments. Some may say that 6 hours is not enough, but for me, that is perfectly acceptable. Besides sleep, if you have been eating at least two meals a day, typically equaling between 800 and 1200 calories in total. Finally, when it comes to exercise, well, I don’t have a workout regimen. I walk at least 2 miles a day on weekdays and have consistently done some form of bodyweight exercise, such as push-ups. Other than sleep and food, trying to get a go mix of work and fun doses affects my schoolwork a lot. In conclusion, I believe that my well-being has not been significantly affected by the stresses of school, and the social environment of the campus has helped me.
group 6:
Throughout this semester, we have been working on an e-Portfolio. In this Portfolio, we have included most of them are small works like these assignments, and all are larger projects. This helps demonstrate to others are ability to write and how that ability has grown over time. I personally like my smaller works because they show my writing a lot more truthfully.
When it comes to the student learning outcomes, I feel most confident about my ability to have Information Literacy because, through this course, I have learned a lot about getting the information I need out of what I read. I can demonstrate my knowledge and provide evidence of this outcome in my portfolio by having my writing become more information-dense through the semester. On the other hand, out of all the learning outcomes, I feel the least confident about research genre production because it is something that I have a lot to learn about, and I do not think I have time to learn what I truly need.
Finally, let's talk about reflection. In the sample text, the writer helps the reader and explains why they included the artifacts they did by showing the process they used to get those artifacts. They summarize and discuss the artifacts by using metaphors and other methods of contextualizing info. The writer demonstrates their learnig and engagement with the learning outcomes by giving specific examples from their works. They also use multiple artifacts for each student's learning outcomes to better show their understanding. Finally, there are things they could do to better show their understanding, but I cannot see anything.
group 7:
For my research project, I am researching the Warhammer hobby. To do this, I have collected multiple sources. To illustrate this, I would like to discuss two of my sources. These two sources are both about the hobby and have many similarities and differences. The first source is about how the experience of the hobby differs between countries, and the second is about the hobby as a whole in the US. These two sources differ in how they talk about the expenses players have for the hobby. My source that talks about the differences between countries gives the perspective of French and English hobbies, which differ in many ways. The most important thing to consider in this conversation is why people participate in their hobbies. Finally, the differences between locations add more nuance to the conversation.
If I join in the conversation, I would after both sides gave why people participate in the Warhammer hobby. I would add my own reason and the reasons people have given to me. I would respond here because it is why my own perspective is most useful and applicable. I would be talking to my first sources about the international differences because I would add an American, or at least a central Florida perspective. I would talk to my second sources the least because they share more that I already know but cannot articulate well. I would ensure my ideas are well-balanced by listening a lot first before adding things. Finally, the most effective evidence for my topic is one that comes from an interview-type inquiry.
group 8:
My e-portfolio needs some work, but the basic idea of its visual rhetoric is down. My portfolio looks like any other basic website and is made up of a series of works sorted based on why they were made. So far, I have three categories: major assessments, small projects, and miscellaneous writings. On the home page, I have two things: an introduction to me, and the basics of my learning goals. I am not fully happy with my site, and I have some ideas on how to improve the presentation, one of which is better organization in the three sections.
I would say my Portfolio follows the basic “norms” of a modern website. The colors are basic whites and dark blues, and blacks. I have links that lead to various parts of the website to keep things compacted to their own sections. One thing I do need is a way to better connect my artifacts back to the student learning outcome. I might do this by adding a short paragraph under the links to my three sections, expanding the basics of how they link to my learning goals.
Finally, I want to talk about what I am most proud of in my E-portfolio. I am most proud of my inclusion of all my writing projects and remembering to consistently add what I have written. What I am not happy with is my lack of attention to the important aspects of good-looking design and a real sense of purpose behind the whole thing. Another thing I need to add is a demonstration of how I have completed my learning goal. I might do this by better referring to assignments I believe demonstrate the goal at hand and linking them on the page about my learning goals.
group 9:
Revision is a step in the writing process in which you or someone else goes through your writing to catch mistakes and weird language before the paper is summited. This process is particularly important in the writing process because it lets the writer figure out what works and what doesn’t alongside catch typos and the like. Some may say that the revision and editing stages are one and the same, however, to me, that is further from the truth. Unlike editing, the revision stage is not just fixing mistakes; it is a trial-and-error stage that gives you the ability to write what truly fits, not what comes to mind first. Another difference is that the revision stage, for me at least, can happen anytime in the writing process. Often, I find myself rereading and revising paragraphs before moving to the next one.
Do to its importance to the writing process, I try to focus as hard as possible on it. To do this, I typically try to go places such as the library or other locations that a made for studying. By being in locations like the UCF library, I can cut down on the number of distractions and force myself to work without the temptations I have at home. To prioritize the revisions, I fully screen my word document and close all other tabs on my laptop. Additionally, to aid me in the revision process I typically bring a partner or have someone look over my writing to find things I might gloss over.
Because I often have peers aiding me in the revision process, I get a lot of feedback, some good and some bad. Over my time authoring essays for school, the most common piece of feedback I have gotten is that I use too many “common phrases.” These typically take the form of phrases such as “...was a no go,”. Many people who have helped me revise my work have told me they are out of place and not academic phrasing. My responses to feedback such as this depend on the project I am working on revising. For smaller or less academic projects, I don’t fix it because I do not see it as misplaced. However, on large multipage essays I do try to cut down on conversational phasing like “...was a no go,”. To recap, what I choose to listen to or ignore depends heavily on the writing being revised and what tone I am trying to set.
group 10:
In this course I have written in an essay style. In this style of writing in this style the expectation is to epress your ideas in full sentances that lead to each other nicely. Because of this I haven’t used things like bolt points of long numbered lists. What I have been able to do in this style is effectively use quotes and paraphrasing that naturally fit into my writing and help the concepts flow into each other.
As said before, the essay genre has an expectation of well-crafted sentences. This has let me create works that let the information being shared flow and be exposed in ways that aren’t jarring to those who might be learning about them for the first time. Chooses on where to end sentences and paragraphs can effectively help convey knowledge to others. Other things like the effective use of quotes, metaphors, and paraphrasing can demonstrate knowledge
When picking a genre, audience knowledge is a principal factor. If an intended audience is deeply knowledgeable in a subject, then more informational genres can be used. If the audience is new to a topic, then a genre that can ease them is required. Knowing this, I can apply this to new and different writing situations by always considering the intended audience even if I on not writing in a research style.
group 13:
My portfolio still needs a lot of work but for now the part that shows my knowledge the best is my writing showcase. This aspect of the portfolio helps show my understanding of the student learning outcomes by the ability to contribute knowledge, revise, and produce a piece in the research genre through my own writing.
Throught this course I have learned that, well I can write well, I need multiple rounds of revision to get a satisfactory product. Additionally, I found that I used many conventions over and over again. In the future I will try to change how I compose my writing to better fit the genre at hand.
Right now, I am confident with the “contributing knowledge” learning outcome. On the other hand, I am not confident with the "multiple ways of writing” learning outcome. This is not the same as the last time I answered this question, but it is similar. Last time I said that revision was what I was confident in, and multiple wats of writing was what I wasn’t. Before submitting the final URL, I will need to make sure that all my learning outcomes are clearly demonstrated, and everything is organized.
Reflection on my work:
During my time working on the writing group assignments, I did many things right and a lot wrong. One of the main problems I had during the semester was missing multiple groups because I lost track of time. Additionally, I feel that I didn’t take the time to put my best work forward for these small assignments. If I could do them over again, I would set a weekly timer to remind me and use my revision skills on these smaller, less important tasks to gain more practice with them. My group work wasn’t all bad. What I did right was using them as a time to reflect on my progress through the course, and to come up with ideas and methods on how to do my large projects. I worked with skills such as the use of multiple ways of writing throughout many of the groups. In the end, I feel that the samples above show that, well not perfect, the writing group helped me better understand the tools and rules of writing.