Reflection on Project 1

jill111. "Woman Girl Freedom Happy Sun Silhouette Sunrise." 1/2015 via pixabay. CC0 Public Domain. 

In this blog, I will be talking about how I felt about doing this project and what I, as a student, got out of the experience. 

• What challenges did you face during the Quick Reference Guide project and how did you deal with them?

I had a hard time finding the correct heading to break apart the story. I started trying to find headings then fitting the story to the headings. This didn't work. Next I ended up writing the story out and adding the headings as I went along when I felt they were most necessary. This helped with the fluidity of the events and the information in total. 

Another challenge included the language I had to use. It couldn't be too complex, but enough to get the information across in a short manner. The reader of this article does not necessarily need to be highly educated but should still understand what is going on. 

• What successes did you experience on the project and how did they happen?

I feel, after I rewrote it, I managed to get in the important information more mixed into the entire article instead of just stating the issues in the headings. I use images to better convey the meaning of the story and the challenges this issue brings about. It is a sensitive topic, and the majority of people probably see this issue from a more emotional viewpoint rather than from a practical viewpoint. This article hopefully opens their eyes to another view point on the issue. Hopefully I made the article non-bias, since personally, I feel I don't really have a side on the issue. Both arguments have a good point. It is subjective and depends much on past experiences of the individual within the conflict. 

• What kinds of arguments, rhetorical strategies, design choices and writing practices did you find the most effective for your project? Why?

I introduced the topic with a story. It tells the reader the power of social media and what can be accomplished when enough people become aware of an issue. But Then I start bringing in more facts and what the actions are actually changing. 

Next I bring up the counter argument and really state why this change would become a bigger issue than what is on the surface. Yes a child's life is saved, but what does it mean for the future of the system or the adults who are being surpassed by our society's need to always help the innocent children. In the case of children, a picture is really worth a thousand words. 

I did this because most people would initially start thinking about this topic from an emotional viewpoint. I want them to first feel safe about their ideals and want to keep reading. Then I want them to start thinking big picture and see if those original ideals hold up in the end. 

• What kinds of arguments, rhetorical strategies, design choices and writing practices did you find were not effective for your project? Why?

Sometimes I feel I understated the importance of the surgery when talking about whether or not the patient can receive it. If they do not receive the surgery in time, they will most likely not make. It. But sometimes If you overstate that fact, the factual side of the argument loses value. 

• How was the writing process for this project similar to other school writing experiences you’ve had in the past?

In the past I have had to do research projects. This was similar in that respect where I had to look up information on a topic and have to figure out which angle to start the story off with. When you are talking about a current event like this, it becomes more of a story and it needs to be portrayed as such so the reader understands what is happening. I have had to write short stories which surprisingly helped me with this assignment. 

• How was the writing process for this project different from other school writing experiences you’ve had in the past?

My creative writing class helped me with this in choosing language and figuring out what order to portray it in. This starts out as a story but later leads to a bigger picture. But stories mix in the big picture more than a quick reference guide. With this type of writing, you have to make sure the reader now that they understand your point. This is an informative paper, not a paper with a deep meaning to analyze for multiple classes and write a report on. 

• Would any of the skills you practiced for this project be useful in your other coursework? Why or why not?

This paper helped me working on getting the point across quicker in easier to read language. Sometimes I try making the essay too fancy and the meaning of the sentence can get lost. With this type of writing, you are not gifted with such a luxury. This can even help with my chemistry analysis. When writing FRQ's on an exam, you need to quickly get the point, and sometimes I like to overelaborate on ideas  which often takes too much time which is not good. 

Reflection:

In Alex's reflection, it makes me realize that I am not alone in not knowing what a quick reference guide was at first and having to make some mistakes before hopefully getting it right in the end. Because it is so new, I just hope I interpreted the project right and my work is what the assignment is asking for. I have been quite stressed out with all the homework, but it has helped out for the final product. 

Swati's Reflection helped me realize how much benefit this is doing for future assignments. We really dived deep into how to research and what is the best way to get the most information. It has been good to learn how to site sources and quotes. I was always wondering if I was doing it exactly right, so hopefully I am.