Ally’s Journal

This year I have discovered how to write like a true writer. I’ve learned how to form a process and follow it in order to produce the best work possible. With the techniques I’ve learned this semester, writing has become somewhat easier for me.

At the beginning of this year, I held myself to the standard that my first draft had to already be nearly perfect. The perfectionist in me didn’t want to believe that I would have to edit my work multiple times to make it better. Instead, it wanted me to be done and ready on the first try. Now, I’ve thrown that standard for myself out of the window. The essay we read at the beginning of the year – “Shitty Rough Drafts” by Annie Lamott – dramatically changed my process (for the better) as a writer. In my fifth journal entry, I described the effect Lamott had on my first essay. In my journal, I said that, “I tried something that I hadn’t done before — I wrote a ‘shitty rough draft’ before going back and editing it myself”. I then went on to say that it helped me to get everything down and then return to it to make it proper. I learned that it’s okay to write multiple rough drafts and even when you think you have the perfect essay, there’s still room for improvement – nothing is ever perfect. This mentality has stayed with me throughout the year and helped me improve on my essays. 

Another thing that has helped me grow as a writer this year is peer review. In my AP classes in high school, we would do peer review every now and then. However, since most of the time we were practicing for the AP test, we would work individually and not have time to edit due to the time limit. This resulted in my essays being rushed and not fully planned out. Now, there is more time to not only pace my essay writing, but have other people look at it other than myself. Peer review this semester has helped me in so many ways. In fact, in every one of my essay reflection journals, I mentioned how much peer review helped me as a whole. In journal five, I mentioned that looking over my classmates’ papers helped me to see what I needed to fix in my own paper. It helped me gain different perspectives which helped me build my own. In journal eight, I said that peer review helped me to go back and be more specific about things in my essay, such as toning down broad ideas and fixing grammar to make my essay flow. Peer review has overall helped me to edit my essays even more. It’s helped me in the process of there’s no limits to editing your paper and that each edit just makes ideas bolder or form new ones.

As for pieces of work that reflect my growth as a writer this semester, essay two is a perfect example. Never in my life have I made a perfect score on an essay, or an A like I did on essay one for that matter. In high school, I would usually make high C’s or low B’s on my English papers. I think most of the reason for essay two is the fact I have a lot of experience in writing lab reports, but for essay one, I had never written that type of essay before, so I’m not sure where that came from. I’m choosing to believe that the previously mentioned additions to my writing process helped me do better than I had before. I wish I had known these tactics in high school for research papers because I definitely would have done better on them. 

Overall, this year I have learned that writing is a process that requires multiple takes. There’s no such thing as a perfect essay in one sitting, there’s always room for improvement. The writing process requires multiple drafts and the standard in mind that you can only grow from it. 

 

Favorite 5 Journals:

https://allysjournal.wp.txstate.edu/2021/11/15/journal-10/

https://allysjournal.wp.txstate.edu/2021/10/26/journal-8/

https://allysjournal.wp.txstate.edu/2021/09/29/journal-5/

https://allysjournal.wp.txstate.edu/2021/08/31/journal-2/

https://allysjournal.wp.txstate.edu/2021/11/01/journal-9/

 

The two texts I’m thinking of analyzing in Essay #4 are “Why Nice Guys Finish Last” and “Bad Feminist”. Both of these articles discuss the differences between gender and feature controversial, but true, takes on them. For example, “Bad Feminist” discusses the faults that are overlooked in the feminist movement, while “Nice Guys…” discusses the sudden norm of women being more attracted to “toxic” men. I think that both of these topics are very interesting in the sense that this is a current issue that no one seems to be dealing with. I think that it’ll be nice to dive into these current issues and explore them some more while connecting them with each other.

 

Kind Mind:

1. Hold the door open
2. Help someone with something they’re struggling with
3. Share words of encouragement/positive affirmations

In essay #3, I think I definitely improved upon the things I said in my last reflection. I’ve done rhetorical analysis before for my AP test/class, but this time I feel like I got to go into more depth because I wasn’t under a 45 minute time constraint or under strict AP guidelines. I think that since the weight of having to follow those AP standards is gone, I feel much more free with my writing and that this is one of the best rhetorical analysis essays I’ve written, especially since they’re difficult for me. Peer review went great once it was all under control. Molly is a great partner to have for peer review because I feel like we both criticize our essays on the same level and are similar in what we look to change/fix. In the final product, I feel satisfied, and to be completely honest I’m so glad this essay is over because rhetorical analysis is my weak spot. I still won’t give up until I write a fairly “perfect” rhetorical analysis though! For this writing process I was a little over the place and super stressed out, so next time I know to calm down, drink some tea, and write like there’s no pressure.

 

3 talents/traits that you possess and can use to make the world a better, kinder, more hopeful place: 

1. Smile
2. Use manners — say “thank you”, “you’re welcome”, etc
3. Stay positive — listen to positive music/podcasts

The last big argument I had was with my parents. It wasn’t a big argument in the sense of there being yelling involved, but it’s still an ongoing discussion. I’ve been arguing with them over the topic of transferring to a different college. I like Texas State, but my dream growing up was to go to A&M and visiting there last weekend triggered something in me where I realized I was missing something here. My argument is that even though I know it will be tougher, I still think that they have a better program for me. My parents on the other hand argue that I won’t be able to handle it because of how tough it is — there’s more STEM based classes than art based classes that I would have to take for graphic design. I think that at the end of the day, no one was successful or unsuccessful because it’s still an ongoing argument. However, I think I have the upper hand in winning since my parents always tell me to do what I believe is right for me. 

 

For my Essay 3 ads, I want to analyze the level of marketing for big budget movies using ads. The movie I plan on using is Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as at the time it was super hyped up and all the posters use the classic collage style movie poster, but also feature the color scheme of red and white. I would say that these posters use all three appeals. They establish credibility by being proven as not fake and legit from the company, with the logo on it. They also appeal strongly to emotion as they’re made to hype people up for the movie and attract them through showing off their favorite characters in the movie, with the looks and costumes giving a hint to their journey in the movie. The title itself is a characteristic of Ethos as it leaves a mystery — who is the last jedi? They also use logic in the sense each of these posters are designed to promote the fact that these movies were filmed in a format to experience it in not just a regular way, but in IMAX and 3D too. They promote that they were filmed in these formats. 

I think that in this essay I really improved a lot writing wise. I think that I’ve learned to go into deeper analysis than before. However, I think that I still need some work on incorporating quotes and commentary on them into my essay. Yet, my thinking process for this essay was better than it has been before. I think that making an outline of bullet points for each section helped me write better, because I wasn’t coming up with things as I went along. I think that peer review helped me make sure I took care of some little final things such as MLA and a little bit more discussion. Peer review also helped me to go back over my essay and be more specific about things. I found the IMRaD essay easier to write than the previous essay, mainly because I used to write lab reports all the time in high school. Therefore, I had a little bit more experience with this style of writing. I think that with that background, peer review, and organized planning that this essay turned out great. The one part I’m worried about is that the discussion wasn’t enough, but other than that I feel confident about this essay.

3 Things I’m Grateful For:

1. New friends
2. Cooler weather
3. Red Taylor’s Version coming a week earlier

The method used for this data was a Google Form in which the English class was surveyed. The survey consisted of four questions, each one asking about a topic similar to the Black Mirror episode it was based on — “Nosedive”. The episode was about the use of ratings and how they affect the world. Question one asked how often a person uses reviews and ratings to look at a product, person, or place. Six out of ten people replied that they often do, while the other four replied they sometimes do. On the other hand, question two asked how often a person left a review, in which six people out of ten replied that they never do and the other four said they do sometimes. These results show that people rather rely on ratings from other people, rather than sharing their experiences. The last two questions asked about whether or not bad or good reviews were looked at the most. One question asked if the person looked at good reviews or bad reviews more, to which six people replied they looked at bad reviews more compared to the four people who said they looked at good reviews. The last question was a free response question that asked about an experience after reading a review in which most had positive outcomes. These imply that reviews can have both negative and positive outcomes, it just depends on what it is. 

 

I think that I can use this mini IMRaD to help me explain my results. I think that the discussion part is something that has a major impact on the essay, so for my essay I will definitely dive more into that unlike I did in this practice.

 

Gratitude Attitude:

1. Seeing my parents this weekend
2. Not being sick anymore
3. Starting a new plan with my nutritionist 

Research Question: How does social media reflect the way young people view their bodies based on gender?

Hypothesis: Social media is a major factor for young people’s insecurities in how they view their bodies regardless of gender. 

In order to research this question, I would send out a survey among young adults, possibly 18-21. I think it would also help to find a way to expand the age range to include most of Gen Z by extending it to younger teenagers too. I could post the survey to my own social media and have people from my old school fill it out. In the survey, I would ask for their age and gender and ask questions about what kind of influencers they follow and how they feel about their body types. Do they feel ugly compared to the most famous TikTok star? Do they feel the need to be like that star in order to be considered attractive?

My writing process for Essay #1 went smoothly. I tried something that I hadn’t done before — I wrote a “shitty rough draft” before going back and editing it myself. I think that it helped me to get everything down before I went back and edited it to make it a proper and readable rough draft. I think for Essay #2 I will follow the same process as it worked out well. It also helps with a time crunch to separate the writing and editing into different days. Peer review also helped a lot. I think that reading over other people’s papers helped me realize what I needed to look for in mine. I also think that the feedback I got was very helpful. I think that I grew a lot with this essay. The new process I tried was efficient and I will be doing it from now on. With this essay, I learned to take my time and that my rough draft doesn’t have to be immediately perfect. I learned that it’s okay to edit your work so many times and that even when you think you’re done editing, you find more things to perfect. Overall, I think that with this essay I really grew into a writer/thinker who plans and thinks things through. 

 

3 Things I’m Grateful For:

1. Getting to see my family last weekend
2. Being finished with this essay
3. The new good writing habits I’ve learned

“Talking openly about such conflicting but important values is just the sort of challenging exercise that any diverse but tolerant community must learn to do.” 

The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, page 274

 

I think that I could use this quote in my essay to talk about how there were no open discussions. Only a few of my teachers in high school were cool with talking about both sides’ perspectives, but only some would just talk about one side or not allow us to at all.

 

“If I was not innocent, then they were not innocent.”

From Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, page 94

 

I used this quote to introduce my thesis. I think that it helps me introduce the topic I’m speaking about.

 

“The arts teach us that there is something that connects us all and is bigger than each of us.”
Necessary Edges by Yo-Yo Ma, page 280

 

I think that I could use this essay to talk about my choice to major in the arts. I would use this to refute the argument of where I was taught the belief that STEM careers were the only way to be successful. 

 

3 Things I’m Grateful For:

1. My best friend
2. The new job I got
3. Being able to go to a Harry Styles concert last week

At the end of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ essay from Between the World and Me, he writes referring to his school system’s perception on how to act, “if I was not innocent, then they were not innocent”. While I can never fully be able to understand Coates’ experience, his quote still sticks out to me as I was raised in a town where you had to keep a clean slate in order to not be cast out as a black sheep. With this societal expectation infiltrating the school I went to, it made me decide to come to Texas State in order to break free into a place full of different beliefs that won’t tarnish your reputation and interfere with your education.