- Question 1: “Why did you enroll in ENG 225 (required for major, wanted more composition courses, etc.)?”
- I wanted to enroll in a course that would give me more experience with different writing styles
- Cuz [sic] it was required, had I better understood the format of the course, I would have signed up for personal interests and growth.
- Question 2: When you enrolled in ENG 225, what were your expectations or goals for the course? Were those expectations/goals met?
- I thought it would be a lot of writing (which it was) and really boring and dry (which it wasn’t)
- More composition instruction, [sic] I am very satisfied with what I have gained from this class
- I didn’t have any expectations (a popular response. . .what does this say about how students view comp courses???)
- A lot of writing, but instead there was blogging
- Surpassed. I want to take it again.
- Didn’t have many expectations. . .but any I did was far exceeded.
- At first my expectations were that it would enhance my composition writing. These expectations/goals were met.
- Question 3: “Has your view of writing and composing changed while taking 225? Why or why not?”
- Yes, greatly. Denise showed us through examples, discussion, and assignments five different styles of essays that greatly broadened my idea of writing and composing.
- I wouldn’t say that its [sic] changed so much as I am more knowledgeble [sic] doing different types of essays
- This course has singlehandedly changed my limited view of writing, and expanded my perception on essays specifically.
- Yes it has. It opened my eyes to new forms of writing that I really enjoy.
- YES! I view essays so differently now, and I realized that writing is a process; sometimes it is easy, sometimes it’s harder.
- Yes, the different strategies we discussed about how to approach a text and through experiments with form and content, I’ve come to understand my writing process better.
- Yes, I have learned so much not just about writing but about who I am as a writer.
- Yes. My view of writing and composing has changed. ENG 225 has shown me that there are more creative and unique ways of writing than what is generally taught in high school.
- My views of writing have expanded! I am now able to rework definitions of “the essay” and look at literary pieces in a new light.
- Question 4: “Has this view affected the writing/composing you’ve done in other classes outside of school?”
- “I haven’t had to do any other writing.”
- Yes, the digital experience/knowledge I’ve gained in this class has helped me in other classes.
- I do more pre-writing for different essays and am more aware as a writer when I write different styles of essays: I approach research papers differently than personal essays
- Not necessarily, but it will in the future
- I really have not done much composing outside of this class this semester
- Yes-I’m more confident when I write.
- Yes, but only slightly, since we’re rarely given opportunities to write on any topic we choose. Outside of class, it has definitely affected my blog posts, and my journaling.
- Yes, I have learned so much since high school and this class just better helped me see my potential.
- Yes, this has affected my other writings, but in a positive way. I think I have become a stronger writer.
- YES!
- Responses to question 5: “What part(s) of the course (readings, essay assignments, blogs, class discussion, conferencing) did you find most useful for your development as a writer?”
- “I found that working through the essays in the process to improve my work was the most useful way to help improve my writing.”
- Essay assignments, reading, and conferencing were the most useful for me. The readings provided examples to help us draft our essays. The conferencing was particularly helpful in drafting because Denise gave direct feedback.
- I found that readings and conferencing were extremely beneficial in developing ideas and organizing my essays. I enjoyed blogging as a creative outlet and a way to free write and edit drafts of my paper
- Essay assignments and conferencing. The outside information was helpful, but the real learning from me cam from feedback and encouragement from what I actually produced
- The essays were most useful b/c they let us put everything we’ve learned into an essay.
- I thought it all worked together-the least useful might have been the class discussion maybe. But really they all complimented [sic] each other.
- The readings were awesome and relevant, and the discussion clarified them. The essay assignments were of most use, and conferencing was helpful in developing my essay.
- Essay assignments along with conferencing helped me realize my strengths and weaknesses as a writer.
- Every part of the course aided in my development as a writer. It helped me really think about the purpose of my writings and how to objectively reach a certain audience.
- Blog; Essay assignments; some of the readings (especially those posted).
- Responses to question 6: “Which essay assignment (personal, public, lyric, digital) did you find easiest to write? Why?”
- Personal-It gave me a chance to express something that could be shared with others, but is a uniquely personal experience.
- The personal and lyric essays were easiest to write because it seemed like it all just flowed out of my body.
- None-they all challenged me in different ways. Personal however was probably the most enjoyable.
- Responses to question 7: “Which essay assignment was most challenging to you? Why?”
- The lyric essay was most challenging b/c 1: it was difficult to choose a topic w/such a broad assignment and 2: the topic I chose was painful to talk about.
- Lyric-I stepped outside my usual boundaries and floundered for awhile before I could piece together any sort of logical flow of ideas
- Public was probably the hardest because I wasn’t as emotionally attached to the topic.
- Public or lyric-these were tough because many forms of both have already been worked with. Finding a prompt and a form required time and creativity.
- Responses to question 8: “Throughout this course, you’ve considered how writers talk or write about the way they write: With this in mind, how do you define the following words? (If you are unfamiliar with a word, please write ‘unfamiliar’ next to it).” They were asked to define Process, Invention, and Essay, in that order.
- Process:
- “the steps you take to get to the final product of your work.”
- The steps/procedures taken to achieve something
- The means by which a writer comes to terms with/develops a topic, thesis, and paper
- How a writer chooses to approach the creation of a piece
- Work leading up to your final draft
- How a writer goes about writing; the techniques they use.
- Procedure, steps, never-ending
- The series of events one takes to get to a final outcome.
- What your thoughts are while writing your essay. Could also be research or anything else that you did when writing the essay.
- Invention
- “an original idea”
- Unfamiliar
- Creativity at its most innovative
- The creative elements of thought/production
- Unfamiliar
- Coming up with new ways of putting an idea across [invention as discovery, maybe kinda sorta?]
- Brainstorming, taking an idea and expanding it, creating something out of nothing, creating something out of something.
- Left blank
- Unfamiliar
- Essay
- “Essays have become more broad to me after this class. It can be nearly any piece of writing.”
- Any form of writing that allows the author to achieve some sort of purpose.
- Art and dedication
- Anything
- Writing that can be in practically any form aside from scientific
- Any form of writing whether academic, personal, public, or digital that has a purpose.
- A work of my writing
- NOT ALWAYS 5-paragraph, open-ended
- Oh so many things. I think essay is not something that can be limited by a definition
- Process:
-
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