Dear Malcolm,

I find it funny that I began the class with dear Malcolm and ended it in the same manner. At the

beginning of your class I felt nervous because I thought I would not be able to stay focused with

regards to my writing, and as a result lose my readers fast. I would not be able to explain any of

my points. I guess my first writing assignments did that the worst. But, over time I overcame it

with the help of my peer group. The peer group aspect of the class was exceptionally designed.

Not only did I get the important perspectives of different people, I got the input of three. The

purposeful design of the class really helped my writing. Every step of the process was tied into

our writing. For example in the E-Portfolio you could see how my drafts of my EIP changed.

Those changes were part of studios like the research studio and helped me build a foundation to a

revision studio that encouraged me to track my changes and visually notice the differences in my

draft copies allowing me to learn from my mistakes.

Your class centered on preparation for the EIP assignment. For example, the research day at the

library was designed to help us figure out what our topics were going to be and how teach to

conduct scholarly research for our topics. The research studio is a prime example of a class

assignment that helped me on the EIP. In high school such research had to be conducted on ones

own time and class time was reserved for lecture. During the library day I was able to talk to our

speaker and get several questions answered avoiding plagiarism.

I choose my topic through an exercise we did in class where you instructed us to ask questions

and then adopt that question as a possible premise for our topic proposal. While at the library I

listed my questions on a whiteboard, and the one I liked the most seemed to be too complicated

so I trashed it initially. I came back to only after we started going over methods to narrow our

topic proposals. I decided to narrow mine by using specific words and situations. For example,
instead of asking how people value differently, I used two classes of people that could be

analyzed easier, and used them as a base for my research. Narrowing work is the hallmark of a

good writer because extra words create long sentences that loses the readers interest.

The studios sounded like a pain in the behind when I first heard about them. Because, who wants

extra work right? The first studio the SLO Translation studio was designed to show us how to

simplify words then rewrite them so the average person could understand the meaning of the

English department heads. The assignment was practice for simplifying our research so my

classmates could understand. The SLO translation studio gave me the first use of peer review in

the class and it was very effective we spotted several mistakes in my work. For example, using a

complex word when a simpler one would have sufficed.

The annotated bibliography was hard for me because I did not understand MLA format. I had to

get a peer to help me. But, in the library there was a book that I used to help do them. I ended up

making mistakes on my first annotated bibliography drafts. I accidentally forgot to use hanging

indents and lost points. The annotated bibliography eliminated the need for me to read over my

material constantly. The annotated bibliography helps to make you an expert and at least some of

the research papers.

Your immediate question on whether my EIP is where I want it to be is No. I want my EIP to be

better. I still feel it is too complicated. I feel that is has unnecessary features. For example, my

EIP references a college girl buying a dress. I could have used different examples and I felt that

it was a mistake. I really do not think the math got my point across enough, but I feel that I could

get it across if I just had a bit more time.

I liked the free write because it allowed me to get some things off my chest particularly on my

bad days. You will see some of my blog posts are rather dark, but real human emotion is not

always bright sometimes it is dark. I was honest on my portfolio and I think despite that I will let

my friends and family see it. Going forward from this class I am going to share my writing with

others and see what they think. I really think writing short stories would be a way to get some of

my emotions out.

The E-Portfolio was good, I believe everything could be better. I do not understand why I did not

have more options for themes. I believe that my theme was not unique enough. I am worried that

I failed to be original enough. Creativity and originality has always been my weakness. This

class has helped with that. Before this class I never imagined I would be able to create my own

blog or website despite wanting to really bad. This class had made my confidence higher overall

by encouraging me to go through heathy writing steps via mandatory assignments, but it worked.