...Log Section 1 - Two reflective entries Reflective entry 1: New Beginnings Deciding to attend university as a mature age student was a decision I did not take lightly. I am working towards furthering my education in order to gain the necessary qualifications that will help me in my future business endeavour. I have found that after so long out of the education system it has been a difficult transition juggling study and work. The first units that were chosen for me in study period 2, I thought were difficult to understand having never written an essay before and without the knowledge or know how, I was not able to complete these units. SSK12 has given me a good understanding of what it takes at becoming a university student and in particular the skills on writing essays. As I have mentioned previously up until study period 2, I had never written an essay and did not fully comprehend how important the set out of a university essay was. Choosing an Essay Question was an important part of my learning in week 6 because this has now given me the beginning step in writing a university essay using the correct format. I am feeling a lot more confident when approaching the subject of essays as I now understand and have the knowledge on the procedure in completing an academic essay and what is required. I now know that by firstly choosing a question will then help you to with your thesis and this in turn will give you your main idea and sets the way in which to write...
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...to address my writing experience during college career. It mainly focused on what was the most helpful writing assignments I have received, my views on how academic writings are different than writings outside of school, and what I want to learn in this professional writing class. This memo is to address my writing experience during college career. It mainly focused on what was the most helpful writing assignments I have received, my views on how academic writings are different than writings outside of school, and what I want to learn in this professional writing class. During my college career so far, ENGL101 is the only class I took that was focusing only on improving writing skills. However, during most of my major courses,...
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...thinking to identify assumptions and situatedness in people’s writing and speaking. I learned that everyone makes assumptions, and a certain amount of assumptions are good. I was taught early on that assumptions are bad. I remember the old saying, to assume will make an ass out of you and me. I now see that was a very simpleton statement. This class has opened my eyes and provided a moment of learning showing me that I make assumptions all the time. Every minute of the day I am assuming things about the world around me. Even though I think I understand the situation, I maybe only understanding the situation because I am assuming more than I realize. I just learned that my assumptions are tied to my situatedness. Situatedness is a new word that has just been added to my vocabulary. I now understand I that I see the world through filters that my situatedness constructed for me. My Situatedness is the way I view the world from all the experiences that I have had in my life. I did not know that my view of the world is completely different from everyone else’s view of the world. Everyone has their own individual view of the world and their situatedness is a window into that world. I now understand that an assumption is constructed from the situatedness of that person. Situatedness is the mindset or the way an individual views his world. Everyone has their own situatedness, and they display it in their views, in their decisions, and in their...
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...Writing without purpose would be like playing a game of football without the ball; weird, confusing and a waste of time. Narrative writing makes a point or has a purpose for the readers (Reinking and Von Der Osten pg. 144). Most narrative writing teaches a valuable life lesson because of that they are one of my preferred forms of writing. Action in narration writing is important, without it I think, the story would be bland and fail to keep the reader involved. Conflict being equally important in most writing. It’s human nature to thrive on action, drama and conflict, loving every minute of an action-packed book or movie. Point of view, either first or third person, can change a story dramatically. My thoughts are usually very different that the thoughts of my husband and they would greatly change the whole dynamic of the story. A story in first-person narration, written by myself, would be very elaborate and go into many details. The same story written in third-person narration from my husbands point of view would lack those details, it would be straight to the point. Since personalities extremely differ, determining which point of view to write in...
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...When beginning Higher Education, students at University face some unique clashes. According to Bizzell (1986) those three clashes are Clashes of Dialect, Clashes of Discourse and Clashes of worldwide views. For new students who have never encountered University life before, it is said to be a completely different environment, one which can be very intimidating. Students find themselves out of their comfort zone and facing new challenges which can be very overwhelming. Angela Thomas-Jones (2012) stated “beginning your own studies at university requires a culture adjustment in order to succeed. It is a new culture that needs to be given time to adapt to. Becoming familiar with the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, values and practices of the university culture is the key to successful acculturation”. Some of the reasons why these clashes may have meaning to many students is due to the pressure individual students put on themselves to achieve good grades, be successful and be accepted amongst peers. Throughout my essay I will discuss in detail each of the three clashes outlined by Bizzell (1986). The first clash mentioned by Bizzell (1986) was the Clash of Dialect. This refers to the language being used by students within the university community. The basic writers are those students who experience the greatest distance between their home dialects and Standard English, the preferred dialect in school (Bizzell 1986). The dialect within university is something that students need to adapt...
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...Thesis: John Amagoalik inspires you throughout his whole speech to dream, and no matter how big the obstacle if you want it you should challenge it and go after what you want. Throughout all the obstacles he has gone through watching his culture disappear, he is not giving up on it and is staying positive. By being this way it is impacting his life in a positive way. Support- The support I used for my thesis was from the speech, I used the author’s ideas and point of view throughout his writing to come up with and support my thesis, as well as the body paragraphs. I didn’t use anything very specific but the support I used was based of the author’s point of view. Overall my thesis was not written well it needs to be more cohesive with the...
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...I created my transcript while in my dorm room, which is where I do the majority of my work. I began the recording of my transcript around midday on Sunday, February 5th. In that time, I recorded 30 minutes of writing, since I wished to have access to the largest transcript available. The assignment I chose to focus on was the first journal entry for EDU 406, partially because I had yet to be assigned any writing assignments. However, I also selected my first journal entry because I believed analyzing how I function as a writer through a transcript focused on being a writer tutor would create interesting dialogue. In my transcript I hoped to discover new information about me and my writing process, perhaps some information would have previously escaped the view of my consciousness. While I was creating the transcript I found that this assignment held certain constraints not present in other writing projects. For example, the...
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...how to write academic essays in order to communicate various ideas and points of view. Academic essays is composed of there primary stages, the Intro, Body, and conclusion. This formant allows one to stay focus in their writing. Elements such as writing style and tone should be considered as well. One must also consider their audience. Also it is important to establish credibility in the eyes of one’s audience. This can be accomplished through strong sources, personal testimonies and other relevant connections to the subject matter. While the above aspects are important they are not absolute and the best writers are able to strike a balance between these various elements to form a writing style all their own. They are many good examples of good writing yet the best way is to allow one’s own personal experience and personality to come out in one’s writing. One thing on the don’t do list is letting your bias and views of the world stop your from evaluating opposing views and merits with competing points of views and ways of life. Now it begins. Yes, the infamous introduction. Many of my professors told me in the past that I needed to work on my introductions. It wasn’t until I read the book “The Say, I Say “ that I began to grasp the importance of good writing, especially good introductions. Also reading about the “pitch” and how to form one really helped me get more comfortable about my writing .The introduction is good to start with a attention grabber .It may even set the...
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...They Say/I Say Templates Why Templates? Academic writing requires presenting your sources and your ideas effectively to readers. According to Graff and Birkenstein, the first element in the process involves “entering a conversation about ideas” between you—the writer—and your sources to reflect your critical thinking (ix). The templates allow you, the writer, to organize your ideas in relationship to your thesis, supporting evidence, opposing evidence, and the conclusion of the argument. The Most Important Templates: On the one hand, __________. On the other hand, __________. Author X contradicts herself. At the same time that she argues __________, she also implies __________. I agree that __________. She argues __________, and I agree because __________. Her argument that __________ is supported by new research showing that __________. In recent discussions of __________, a controversial issue has been whether __________. On the one hand, some argue that __________. On the other hand, however, others argue that __________. Introducing Standard Views: Americans today tend to believe that __________. Conventional wisdom has it that __________. My whole life I have heard it said that __________. Making those Views Something You Say: I have always believed that __________. When I was a child, I used to think that __________. Writing a Summary: She demonstrates that __________. In fact, they celebrate the fact that __________. Introducing a Quote: ...
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...Critical analysis “Be more critical! More analysis needed! That’s what my tutors say about my essays. I’m not really sure what they mean.” “I thought I had written a really good assignment this time. I did so much reading and preparation for it, but my tutor’s feedback is ‘not enough argument.’ I’m not sure what to do now. I mean, I’m not an argumentative person - and I don’t really want to be.” One of the most important skills you will need to learn as a student, whatever your discipline is the ability to think critically and objectively about an issue and to present a well-constructed argument. Critical and analytical-thinking skills such as these will be essential to most aspects of your study, whether you are listening to lectures, contributing to seminars, or reading about your subject. Here, we will be focusing mainly on critical analysis for written work, as nothing gains or loses marks more for most student assignments than the quality of your written argument. Argument here doesn’t mean disagreement or unpleasantness. It simply means presenting a strong case to support a point of view. You don’t have to be an argumentative person to do this: on the contrary, good critical writing means using reasons and evidence to support your stand point. The first rule is: Identify the focus of the assignment Good critical analysis isn’t simply about writing. Before you start any assignment, you need to be clear about your focus. At university, this usually means thinking critically...
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...*Aspects of the topic are reviewed -the concept of writing -the nature and types of writing task -EFL student’s writing needs -The features of EFL writing tasks -EFL writing problem -the teaching of writing -a 3 unit writing course -the main problem areas in EFL writing -write notes and thesis *the link between researches -writing=>the nature, types and features of writing task=>the student’s problem in performing the task=>the main problem areas=>only a few of former studies have found actual problems=>this research is trying to point out the major difficulties. This is the "Transition words" page of the "Literature review" guide. Alternate Page for Screenreader Users Skip to Page Navigation Skip to Page Content Skip to main content * * Campus Homepage * Blackboard * Campus Directory * Campus Maps * Contact Us * Events Calendar * Email * Henry Madden Library * My Library Account * Jobs * My Fresno State * Tech Help Center * Research * Services * Collections * About * Ask Us! Admin Sign In Library » Research Guides » Literature review Literature review PowerPoint presentation Last Updated: Dec 21, 2012 URL: http://libguides.csufresno.edu/literaturereview Print Guide RSS Updates * Literature Review Clinic * Transition words * Sample paragraphs * Search and screen * Great overview Transition words Print...
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...section and my nose is in heaven. The sweet smell of the strawberries, the tangy fragrance of the oranges and melons! I look ahead a few feet and the bakery filled with donuts galore! I drool looking at the fluffy rolls and colorful icings of each and every different kind of pastry. Over to the frozen food section and the brisk air from the coolers hits me like a December wind which feels great on a hot summer day. Further down by the deli section are the scrumptious free samples. Hot Swedish meatballs make my taste buds dance. The velvety, smooth gravy that grazes my lips makes me want the whole tray. Such a Chore My least favorite chore, grocery shopping. You walk in and the smell of the fruits and flowers hit you like a bus, and it’s quite overwhelming. My nose goes into a meltdown, as I rush to make it through produce and to the bakery. The bakery is filled with fattening sweets and treat that I wish I could eat, but know I shouldn’t unless I want to waddle when I walk. Continuing through the store and I am now in the frozen food section. It is as cold as the North Pole and my toes are about to fall off. Hypothermia may be a possibility. Just when I think it is safe, it’s not. In the deli a bunch of irritating, obnoxious children are screaming and yelling because they want free samples of something called a Swedish meatball? Of course there are no parents to be found. Angles of Vision Using different points of view in writing can be very useful. In my writing I described...
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...assigned multiple writing assignments that have challenged my writing skills. I have found that as a writer, few of the strengths that I have are providing good supporting ideas of a paper and formatting of a paper. I have a keen knowledge of what each topic of a paper is about and how to support the points that I have chosen to write about. I am also knowledgeable on how the papers should be formatted from GCU style to APA style. However, some of my challenges are that I type how I talk which causes me to have more than a few grammatical errors. I also have a tendency to write papers that are unorganized and that causes a reader to lose track of what my papers are about. Based on the feedback I have received the areas that I will need the most improvement in are grammatical errors, mechanical errors and organization of my papers. So far, I have taken a few steps to help improve my writing skills. One step that I have taken is I use different colleagues to proofread my work before submitting it. Another step I have taken to improve my writing skills is I practice using the Student Success Center. The Student Success Center provides me with many tools that has helped me improve my writing a little more each time. In my past academics I have written a number of papers and essays. I have written many narrative, persuasive, description and exposition papers. My favorite type of writing is description because it is like poetry to me. I love writing poetry to clear my mind or to express...
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...A Public Declaration of Opinions: AKA My Manifesto I remember doing book reports on a book we got to choose, based on what we thought was good writing, but that was before I went to middle school and learned what “Required Reading” was. After reading Stranger Than Fiction, by Chuck Palahniuk, I was asked what I believed good writing was. I cannot say that I have ever been asked this question by a professor before. Students are told to read so many books, and some we like, but most we do not. Maybe it was the tone of the book we did not enjoy, or the font size being so small that it made us sigh in disgust every time we flipped the page. But, what do we think good writing is? Based on what I have read, I believe good writing involves vivid imagery, uncommon vocabulary use, a mapped out plan, and short chapters; however, good writing cannot be accomplished if the author changes their point of view. Why do people go on hikes, or climb rocks, or want offices with windows? For the view. Vivid imagery brings writing to life. As readers, we want to feel as if we are in the scene, feeling what the characters are feeling. Stephanie Meyer does a great job of this in her novel Twilight. Edward brings the main character, Bella, to a secret meadow: a sunny and beautiful heaven away from the rainy, overcast misery of the town they live in. When she is first brought to this meadow in the depths of the Washington forests, she illustrates that, “The large oak trees reached heights that...
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...Over the years my experience and improvement in writing has cultivated me into a person I believe would prosper in the Humanities program. The ability to write well and in a way that is coherent to those reading your work is an important skill no matter what field. As I interact with my fellow students I make sure to be an effective critic and listener. This would not only help my peers work but my own writing as well as I am paying attention to techniques as well as errors. As I am interacting with classmates as well as working on my own separate assignment I am improving my oral and written communication. The ability to explicitly explain and express yourself is a prerequisite of every subject in school as well as the outside world. However...
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