Midterm

September 29, 2016

I have never been much of a writer, so when I was signed up to take a writing class I
wasnt too thrilled. I was expecting to be writing at every class, but its more of learning how to
write instead of repetitive writing. Coming into this class and reading the syllabus, the Ten Key
Concepts, and the inquiry questions, I was nervous of what to expect. However, as the semester
has gone by, the class is proven to not be as much as I thought. Its easy to get comfortable with
the key concepts and some of the inquiry questions. With it still being the middle of the
semester, I still am not comfortable with all the key concepts.
In my first blog post I mentioned that getting out of my comfort zone would be a
challenge for me, it has proved not to be. In most small classes, including this one, part of your
grade is participation, this includes getting into groups and talking with others. In this class
particularly, we are in small peer review groups, these groups have allowed me to open up, make
friends, and share my work. Not only am I opening up in class, but I am opening up in my
writing. In my first blog post I said But it will be hard for me to not only find a topic to write
about, but to find something Im willing to share.. Our first paper was on things we wonder
about. There are a lot of things I wonder about, but I wasnt sure I wanted to share them. I finally
found a topic I had a lot to say about and was willing to share. It was easy to write about, and as
it turns out, a lot of people feel the same way I do.
It usually takes me some time to complete a first draft of a paper. I have to think about
what I want to say and how I want to organize it in the paper. For me the composing process is
long, but once I know what I want to write about and what I want to say, it comes fairly easy.
Typically, it takes me awhile to figure out how to start my paper, my opening sentence. Once I

get that I can write fast. However, as I continue I end up cutting a lot out of my paper that I dont
like. My first draft isnt really my first draft. Like in Shitty First Drafts, it says Almost all
good writing begins with terrible first efforts. I will write a whole paper, but then read back
through and cut things out and rearrange sentences. Although it is a long process, I can
confidently say that I am comfortable with the composing process.
Looking back through my first blog post, I said that critical reflection would be difficult
for me. Reading your own paper and trying to find the mistakes and where things dont work or
fit in the paper, seemed hard to me. However, like with stretching out of my comfort zone,
critical reflection proved not to be all that hard. When we came into class the day of our first peer
review I didnt know what to expect. It was helpful to have a steps on the board and suggestions
of what to be looking for in your peers writing. I was also nervous to get reviews back on my
paper. But the process wasnt hard, it was simple and very helpful. I enjoyed not only getting
feedback on my own paper to make it better, but also giving feedback to others.
Right now we are working on our annotated bibliography for our inquiry questions. Part
of the bibliography is making connections between our sources and question. I am having a hard
time connected it to more than just the other sources and question. The sources, for the most part,
all say something different, so connected them will be hard. I also dont know what to connect
them too. Also, when I wrote my first essay about wondering, I had a hard time connected it to
others. I tried to find something to put in it, that others could relate with. Moving forward, I hope
to make connections easier. Maybe by spending more time on the essay and thinking about
connections or asking for help to find connections.

One of the things I am having the hardest time grappling of the ten key concepts is
inquiry and curiosity. When we were first given the inquiry project, I had no idea what my
questions would be. The other people in my group seemed to know at least the topic they wanted
for their question. I was nervous that my question wasnt curious enough or a good inquiry
question. We were told to ask a question that didnt have a defined answer. Even when I decided
on a question, I was worried that it had a defined answer. The research I have done shows that it
has many answers and many different theories. I guess, when I read the article on Medium, I
thought that my inquiry question had to be as curious as Mariahs. However, I have come to
learn that we wont be writing a paper on our questions, so Im not as worried as I was. Ive
never been a creative person and although I am curious, I have never explored that curiosity.
Inquiry and curiosity have never been my strong suit. I hope to better these for the duration of
the semester, by trusting my gut or exploring things I am very interested in.
Its hard to believe we are already half way through the semester. My first semester of
college. I am enjoying going to class although, some days are harder than others. I have enjoyed
my freedom, but I do miss my own shower. I have particularly enjoyed this writing class, and I
have improved in a few of the key concepts, but there is still work to do with all of them.