This I Believe: Writing Process
Sabatino: Can you describe the scene(s) where you wrote the This I Believe (TIB) essay. Be descriptive. Is this sustainable?
Me: I can vaguely recall where, and what was happening when I began writing my This I Believe Essay. I was on my bed, allowing myself every so often to be distracted by the noises outside. I had put Pandora radio on; for some reason, music always helps me expand my vocabulary. My boyfriend was sitting on the floor, playing Call of Duty. I would randomly refer to him for help with minor details of that day. Any time we bring that day up, we both get uneasy. I can't really recall anything else, but there was something that made me and my boyfriend both a little superstitious I guess you could say. Young Jeezy radio was on, and right when I was getting to the part about Lil' Flip in my story, he came on the station. I don't know about you, but I would say that's just a little too ironic.
Sabatino: You wrote a blog post about six strategies to become a better writer. Have you used those strategies when blogging and writing the TIB essay? Please discuss which of these strategies helped you the most when you wrote your TIB essay?
Me: I had written about different strategies that work for me when writing. I haven't used my technique of sitting outback of my house considering the Alaskan winter we're having here, but I do always use music. Like I had previously stated, music allows me to think more productively, therefore helping me expand my vocabulary and even possibly helping my state things in a manner that I wouldn't consider at first. I have definitely been more efficient in my writing.
Sabatino: Describe your process for writing and revising the TIB essay (freewrite, list, found poem, etc.). What helped you the most?
Me: As you know, I used the same story that I had started last semester and done numerous revisions to. Therefore, I hadn't done many to it thus far. I do have to say that doing the found poem helped me a lot with realizing how unstructured my sentences were. I was all over the place, bouncing from one sentence to another and then back again. It helped me find where they actually belonged.
Sabatino: How has the blog impacted your writing process?
Me: Due to blog writing, I criticize my writing less. It allows me to be able to just write, and not feel like I'm being judged, or graded on my grammar and spelling.
Sabatino: Please share your thoughts about the revision techniques we've used in this course (peer review, show and tell, five senses, found poem, etc.)
Me: I think the peer review helped me the most out of all of these techniques. When I did the peer review it showed me where I was telling and not showing, and where I had left out information that I just assumed that the reader would know just because I know. The five senses method helped me be more descriptive. I didn't realize how little I described certain scenes in my story. Again, the found poem helped with the structure and placement of my sentences.
Sabatino: What specific revisions have you made to your TIB essay?
Me: I removed specific sentences that weren't needed, and I added more details and showing scenes that I assumed the reader would know.
Sabatino: What is your plan for future revisions to your TIB essay?
Me: I plan on adding even more details to my story because there's still more that I think off every time I refer back to it. I also need to proof read it more thoroughly to make sure it flows, and that everything is where and the way it should be.
Sabatino: We have used a farming metaphor to conceptualize a sustainable writing process. What metaphor would you use to illustrate your writing process thus far?
Me: The only thing I can remotely compare to is Neil Patrick Harris coming out as gay. He kept it a secret as I did my writing because I never wanted to be judged, then he came out and embraced it, as I I did the public writing posts.
This I Believe: Writing Product
Sabatino: What is your belief statement (word-for-word)?
Me: I believe in humanity.
Sabatino: Do you think your belief statement grabs the audience’s attention? Why?
Me: I believe it does, and this essay is all about beliefs. I think everyone loves a good moral story, and seeing that you can still rely on people.
Sabatino: What is your scene?
Me: Denver, Colorado. It was a marijuana rally on April 20th held at the Civic Center on the Capital Hill.
Sabatino: How does your scene illustrate your belief?
Me: It showed how selfless people were in a scenario that we believed was extremely life threatening, how everyone placed each other before themselves.
Sabatino: What questions do you have for me about your TIB essay?
Me: The only question I can come up with is do you think that I explain things enough, as in do I just say something and it be completely irrelevant or state something and not provide enough details for the reader to understand.
Personal Website
Sabatino: Discuss your experiences with creating and maintaining a website for this course?
Me: Making the website was extremely hard for me. I am definitely not the most tech savvy person outside of my cellphone. I couldn't figure out at first how to make different pages, or add links to things. And now I'm having an issue with my computer showing that random things are linked that shouldn't be, and all it does is take you an ad. It's definitely been a learning process for me.
Sabatino: Do you think your site is organized and easy to navigate?
Me: I do think it's organized, but I would like to have a little more on it if I could figure out how to get certain things the way I'd like them.
Sabatino: What type of identity have you constructed through your site?
Me: I don't know if I'm answering this questions correctly, but I think that my site definitely shows a little bit of my sense of humor. I'm not a person who takes everything serious, I like to take everything light heartily, and I definitely think that shows.
Personal Blog
Sabatino: What are your thoughts about creating and maintaining a blog? Is your blog organized and easy to navigate?
Me: I didn't like it at first because I always found blog writing stupid and irrelevant, so I didn't really keep up with the required blog posts. As I went on to do them to catch up, I realized that I actually enjoy the whole process of just being able to write almost freely. As I learned how to use the website more efficiently my blog became and still does become easier to navigate.
Sabatino: What are your thoughts about blogging? Please consider the public, social network nature of a blog as well as your initial thoughts in the beginning of the semester as compared to now.
Me: Like I said above, I didn't "believe" in blogging. I didn't like the idea of just talking to no one in particular, or just ranting about some pointless topic. But as I progressed with it I realized that I actually enjoyed it. I like being able to just write and not feel like I'm being judged or graded. I also like that nothing is ever finished on here, because you can almost always make something better.
Questions for Midterm Conference
Sabatino: Parting comments? Questions for me?
Me: I'm sorry that I didn't hold up to my standards as a student, but you really are a great teacher and I'm glad that I had the pleasure of having you a second semester.Question: Do you think as a writer, not attendance haha, that I progressed at all from what you saw last semester to now?
Sabatino: Can you describe the scene(s) where you wrote the This I Believe (TIB) essay. Be descriptive. Is this sustainable?
Me: I can vaguely recall where, and what was happening when I began writing my This I Believe Essay. I was on my bed, allowing myself every so often to be distracted by the noises outside. I had put Pandora radio on; for some reason, music always helps me expand my vocabulary. My boyfriend was sitting on the floor, playing Call of Duty. I would randomly refer to him for help with minor details of that day. Any time we bring that day up, we both get uneasy. I can't really recall anything else, but there was something that made me and my boyfriend both a little superstitious I guess you could say. Young Jeezy radio was on, and right when I was getting to the part about Lil' Flip in my story, he came on the station. I don't know about you, but I would say that's just a little too ironic.
Sabatino: You wrote a blog post about six strategies to become a better writer. Have you used those strategies when blogging and writing the TIB essay? Please discuss which of these strategies helped you the most when you wrote your TIB essay?
Me: I had written about different strategies that work for me when writing. I haven't used my technique of sitting outback of my house considering the Alaskan winter we're having here, but I do always use music. Like I had previously stated, music allows me to think more productively, therefore helping me expand my vocabulary and even possibly helping my state things in a manner that I wouldn't consider at first. I have definitely been more efficient in my writing.
Sabatino: Describe your process for writing and revising the TIB essay (freewrite, list, found poem, etc.). What helped you the most?
Me: As you know, I used the same story that I had started last semester and done numerous revisions to. Therefore, I hadn't done many to it thus far. I do have to say that doing the found poem helped me a lot with realizing how unstructured my sentences were. I was all over the place, bouncing from one sentence to another and then back again. It helped me find where they actually belonged.
Sabatino: How has the blog impacted your writing process?
Me: Due to blog writing, I criticize my writing less. It allows me to be able to just write, and not feel like I'm being judged, or graded on my grammar and spelling.
Sabatino: Please share your thoughts about the revision techniques we've used in this course (peer review, show and tell, five senses, found poem, etc.)
Me: I think the peer review helped me the most out of all of these techniques. When I did the peer review it showed me where I was telling and not showing, and where I had left out information that I just assumed that the reader would know just because I know. The five senses method helped me be more descriptive. I didn't realize how little I described certain scenes in my story. Again, the found poem helped with the structure and placement of my sentences.
Sabatino: What specific revisions have you made to your TIB essay?
Me: I removed specific sentences that weren't needed, and I added more details and showing scenes that I assumed the reader would know.
Sabatino: What is your plan for future revisions to your TIB essay?
Me: I plan on adding even more details to my story because there's still more that I think off every time I refer back to it. I also need to proof read it more thoroughly to make sure it flows, and that everything is where and the way it should be.
Sabatino: We have used a farming metaphor to conceptualize a sustainable writing process. What metaphor would you use to illustrate your writing process thus far?
Me: The only thing I can remotely compare to is Neil Patrick Harris coming out as gay. He kept it a secret as I did my writing because I never wanted to be judged, then he came out and embraced it, as I I did the public writing posts.
This I Believe: Writing Product
Sabatino: What is your belief statement (word-for-word)?
Me: I believe in humanity.
Sabatino: Do you think your belief statement grabs the audience’s attention? Why?
Me: I believe it does, and this essay is all about beliefs. I think everyone loves a good moral story, and seeing that you can still rely on people.
Sabatino: What is your scene?
Me: Denver, Colorado. It was a marijuana rally on April 20th held at the Civic Center on the Capital Hill.
Sabatino: How does your scene illustrate your belief?
Me: It showed how selfless people were in a scenario that we believed was extremely life threatening, how everyone placed each other before themselves.
Sabatino: What questions do you have for me about your TIB essay?
Me: The only question I can come up with is do you think that I explain things enough, as in do I just say something and it be completely irrelevant or state something and not provide enough details for the reader to understand.
Personal Website
Sabatino: Discuss your experiences with creating and maintaining a website for this course?
Me: Making the website was extremely hard for me. I am definitely not the most tech savvy person outside of my cellphone. I couldn't figure out at first how to make different pages, or add links to things. And now I'm having an issue with my computer showing that random things are linked that shouldn't be, and all it does is take you an ad. It's definitely been a learning process for me.
Sabatino: Do you think your site is organized and easy to navigate?
Me: I do think it's organized, but I would like to have a little more on it if I could figure out how to get certain things the way I'd like them.
Sabatino: What type of identity have you constructed through your site?
Me: I don't know if I'm answering this questions correctly, but I think that my site definitely shows a little bit of my sense of humor. I'm not a person who takes everything serious, I like to take everything light heartily, and I definitely think that shows.
Personal Blog
Sabatino: What are your thoughts about creating and maintaining a blog? Is your blog organized and easy to navigate?
Me: I didn't like it at first because I always found blog writing stupid and irrelevant, so I didn't really keep up with the required blog posts. As I went on to do them to catch up, I realized that I actually enjoy the whole process of just being able to write almost freely. As I learned how to use the website more efficiently my blog became and still does become easier to navigate.
Sabatino: What are your thoughts about blogging? Please consider the public, social network nature of a blog as well as your initial thoughts in the beginning of the semester as compared to now.
Me: Like I said above, I didn't "believe" in blogging. I didn't like the idea of just talking to no one in particular, or just ranting about some pointless topic. But as I progressed with it I realized that I actually enjoyed it. I like being able to just write and not feel like I'm being judged or graded. I also like that nothing is ever finished on here, because you can almost always make something better.
Questions for Midterm Conference
Sabatino: Parting comments? Questions for me?
Me: I'm sorry that I didn't hold up to my standards as a student, but you really are a great teacher and I'm glad that I had the pleasure of having you a second semester.Question: Do you think as a writer, not attendance haha, that I progressed at all from what you saw last semester to now?