Writing Goals
Goal 1: Probing Analysis, Perspective on the Subject
When I read an article or learn something new, I tend to accept it without thinking about it too critically. This practice doesn’t allow me to fully develop my own ideas/perspective on a subject; I don’t strengthen my critical thinking abilities and I don’t add meaningful analysis. In my in-class essay, there are several examples where I used a quote for evidence and my analysis essentially restates the quote: “‘What is actually happening in our brain when we practice mindfulness?...That's what we're exploring right now...We look at brain networks that we know are responsible for things like focus. Salience detection, mind-wandering. And the evidence is now amassing that it's those same brain networks that are getting stronger [when we practice mindfulness]. So we see that as the mental push up…’ Although there is no decisive study on the impacts of mindfulness, Jha’s research suggests that it helps our ability to focus.” My analysis in this paragraph was not probing, it did not add any significant ideas or connect the ideas in the quote to another idea. I didn’t really develop my own perspective on the subject. Consequently, my first writing goal for the year is to develop “probing analysis” and “perspective on a subject” before I write. I plan to work on this writing skill by journaling about a topic and researching all perspectives before creating my own.
Goal 2: Punctuation Inside or Outside of Quotation Marks
As I worked through Ashley’s edits of my In-Class Essay and College Essay, I noticed that she frequently commented on my placement of punctuation around quotation marks. For example, here is a line from my In-Class essay: “‘...whether they check the phone or not..’ (par. 6).” As you can see, there are too many periods in that sentence. I thought the period or comma always went inside the quotation marks; however, in this case, it goes after the in-text citation only. This is my second goal for the year: learn and properly use punctuation around quotation marks.
I have researched the proper use and found that all commas and periods go inside the quotation marks unless there is an exclamation point or question mark that is not part of the quotation. Also, colons, semi-colons, and dashes always go after the quotation mark. Since I have reviewed these rules, I will apply them to future writing assignments and remind myself to review the location of any punctuation I place around quotation marks.
Goal 3: Well-Supported Arguments
The goal of our In-Class essay was to advocate for 2-3 practices that would create a sustainable classroom. I created arguments for three main ideas that I wanted to implement in our classroom, yet I neglected to explicitly connect my ideas to sustainability. This is the sentence I used to close my paragraph on technology: “So, we will only use laptops in the classroom when there is no class discussion or lecture taking place.” This sentence does not reinforce the idea of sustainability, which Ashley pointed out in her comment, “How does this relate to creating a more sustainable classroom?” My third goal is to ensure that all arguments I make are well-supported and connected. In my future writing assignments that require argumentation, I will try a new format while I am designing my outline. In my outlines, I typically write a topic sentence and choose evidence for the paragraph; however, I don’t give myself a framework for what analysis I will add. In order to work on making well-supported arguments, I will start adding analysis to my outlines. I will also make a “map” to connect my ideas and make sure each claim I make is logical and supported.
When I read an article or learn something new, I tend to accept it without thinking about it too critically. This practice doesn’t allow me to fully develop my own ideas/perspective on a subject; I don’t strengthen my critical thinking abilities and I don’t add meaningful analysis. In my in-class essay, there are several examples where I used a quote for evidence and my analysis essentially restates the quote: “‘What is actually happening in our brain when we practice mindfulness?...That's what we're exploring right now...We look at brain networks that we know are responsible for things like focus. Salience detection, mind-wandering. And the evidence is now amassing that it's those same brain networks that are getting stronger [when we practice mindfulness]. So we see that as the mental push up…’ Although there is no decisive study on the impacts of mindfulness, Jha’s research suggests that it helps our ability to focus.” My analysis in this paragraph was not probing, it did not add any significant ideas or connect the ideas in the quote to another idea. I didn’t really develop my own perspective on the subject. Consequently, my first writing goal for the year is to develop “probing analysis” and “perspective on a subject” before I write. I plan to work on this writing skill by journaling about a topic and researching all perspectives before creating my own.
Goal 2: Punctuation Inside or Outside of Quotation Marks
As I worked through Ashley’s edits of my In-Class Essay and College Essay, I noticed that she frequently commented on my placement of punctuation around quotation marks. For example, here is a line from my In-Class essay: “‘...whether they check the phone or not..’ (par. 6).” As you can see, there are too many periods in that sentence. I thought the period or comma always went inside the quotation marks; however, in this case, it goes after the in-text citation only. This is my second goal for the year: learn and properly use punctuation around quotation marks.
I have researched the proper use and found that all commas and periods go inside the quotation marks unless there is an exclamation point or question mark that is not part of the quotation. Also, colons, semi-colons, and dashes always go after the quotation mark. Since I have reviewed these rules, I will apply them to future writing assignments and remind myself to review the location of any punctuation I place around quotation marks.
Goal 3: Well-Supported Arguments
The goal of our In-Class essay was to advocate for 2-3 practices that would create a sustainable classroom. I created arguments for three main ideas that I wanted to implement in our classroom, yet I neglected to explicitly connect my ideas to sustainability. This is the sentence I used to close my paragraph on technology: “So, we will only use laptops in the classroom when there is no class discussion or lecture taking place.” This sentence does not reinforce the idea of sustainability, which Ashley pointed out in her comment, “How does this relate to creating a more sustainable classroom?” My third goal is to ensure that all arguments I make are well-supported and connected. In my future writing assignments that require argumentation, I will try a new format while I am designing my outline. In my outlines, I typically write a topic sentence and choose evidence for the paragraph; however, I don’t give myself a framework for what analysis I will add. In order to work on making well-supported arguments, I will start adding analysis to my outlines. I will also make a “map” to connect my ideas and make sure each claim I make is logical and supported.