Final Post

This class has been a good experience for me to go through my first sememster of college. I have learned a lot of things from being in here. One of which, is my high school english department is awful. Every different style of writing that we did in this class I have never heard of before. Hearing about all these new ways to write essays and papers really opened my eyes. I realized that I still would like to major in english. My attitude about writing didn't get worse, in fact, it grew in a more positive way. I realize that I am probably not very good at writing all these different styles, but I am excited and willing to continue to practice.

In the past, peer reviews haven't always meant that much to me. I would always try to really analyze my partner's paper by giving them advice of their actual writing to change, not just punctuation and grammar. Having people here that can give me advice of paragraphs to delete and better ways to word sentences is very beneficial and it is something that really helped me write. Also, learning exactly what to look for in other people's papers really helped me on the other end of peer reviewing.

Good writing to me is something very broad that I cannot put my finger on. Good writing can be analyzed in so many ways. To me, it is an essay or paper that can keep your full attention the entire time you are reading it. You should not have to force yourself to read the work. Also, it should have good information in it that actually makes you think or learn something from it. There should not be parts of the paper that you don't understand. Full comprehention is very important because the reader cannot be confused.

This class has helped me outside of here. I have done papers and other peer reviews in numerous other classes, including LAS. Having to write an eight to ten page paper is difficult. Learning how to put things specificaly and word things correctly really helped. Doing peer reviews in this class, I knew exactly what I should be looking for. I also knew how to help them by giving them advice on what to change specifically and how to change it.

One of my favorite kind of writings that I did was Penguin Society. In the beginning, I was completely confused and had no idea what I was supposed to be observing and reflecting upon and how exactly I should do it. I still don't know if I got the exact idea of how to do it, but I enjoyed it. Being able to go and observe something that was interesting to me, and reflect it back to something I think is important to the world was a lot of fun to write.

Another type of writing that I specifically enjoyed was when we were talkinga bout the Presidential Debates. This huge part of history was happening as we were writing about the topics. Being able to exactly understand what each Vice Presidential candidate was saying helped in my decision for who I voted for. Being able to uncover what each person was really trying to get at through what they were saying and how they said it was really beneficial and interesting.

How do I see myself as a writer? I thought I was pretty good. Leaving this class, I'm not so sure anymore! I don't think I am the worst writer there ever was, but I know that I have a lot of room for improvement. I am going to take every bit of advice and criticism I got from this class, and use it to improve my writing. I still enjoy writing and I am anxious to get into more english classes to learn and improve more.

Old Chevy Truck

In the year of 1970 my dad bought his very first Chevy pick-up truck. It was his prized possession that drove him to and from school each day and to every Friday night football game. On December 12th 1989, I was born. This truck made its way to David City, Nebraska to pick me up from the hospital. This truck has seen every single year of my life. For as long as I could remember, you couldn’t even see the exact shade of green that it was painted. There was more rust on the fenders and bumper than paint. The window had a huge crack from side to side right down the middle of where you look out. Once the transmission went out, my dad couldn’t stand to send it to the junk yard, so my brother, dad, and I decided to work together to fix the truck back up to its glory days. Once the engine and transmission were fixed, we began to paint the truck. It is now back to the perfect shade of green it was over twenty years ago. The windshield no longer has a crack down the center, and all of the rust was sanded off completely. We even re-did the interior with dark gray leather seats and a chrome steering wheel. The truck is basically a part of our family. It has been there through thick and thin and we wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

My Angel

Every year around Christmas time my house transforms into a Winter Wonderland. The Christmas tree appears in the corner of my living room and all of the decorations spread the house with cheer. With all of these decorations around the house, my favorite can be found in the center of the kitchen table. The porcelain angel, name Faith by its creator, is a fragile woman with two wings pointing downward. Her reddish brown hair is put up neatly on the top of her head. The magnificent purple gown with green and dark purple dots is flowing all the way to the ground. The angel’s two hands are held tightly to her chest and are clasped together. Her eyes are focused straight as if she were saying a prayer. This beautiful doll is so important to me and my family because it was purchased in memory of my grandmother when she passed away about seventeen years ago. Every single Christmas it has been placed in the center of all of the ruckus and excitement. The angel is in the middle of the kitchen because it is where most of the people are found around the holidays. When you walk into the house, you have to pass through the kitchen. In a way, grandma is almost greeting everyone when they enter, just as she did when she was still here. This porcelain angel is just an angel if you don’t know the reason and story behind it. However, my whole family knows it is there to remind us of the loss and the love of my grandma so many years ago.