Sunday, September 30, 2012

Blog 5

I went tailgating this weekend, in Seattle, with family and friends. We pitched our tent, grill, canopy, and chairs (everything needed for a successful tailgate.) Our list of food included mostly what you would expect to find at a tailgate: burgers, hot dogs, chips, crackers and dip, cheese, veggie platters, and wings. We had an array of beverages, which is obviously also needed for a tailgate- at least a successful one. There was soda, beer, wine, rum (which is my favorite), and jello shots. My five year old niece joined us, who is still new to tailgating, but she had a great time non the less. Everything went great for our pre game festivities. Because the Cougars were playing the second best team in the country, non of us were too optimistic about our teams chances. The game was close through the first half- which surprised most in the stadium- but the cougars are the cougars. Until the second half of the game everything had gone just great that day. Whoever thought the Cougars actually stood a chance may be a crazy person, or maybe just a die hard fan. After the whole day's events I was sure tired at the end of the night. In the end I am still glad that I attended the game (perhaps disappointed in my team), but happy regardless.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Blog 4

Something that I need to be really careful of in my writing is comma splices. Yesterdays lessons was very much beneficial to me, and although I had been taught these rules before, a reminder lesson is always useful. We talked about how sometimes we write the same way we speak, but academic writing should not be like the way we speak. Because so much of our writing is now informal, such as email or twitter, students can fall into the habit of always writing informally. I must remember to keep the audience and the type of writing in mind, for if I write a academic essay the same way I write email, I will run into a low grade, or even a failing one. Since the internet has become so popular and continues to become more popular, this problem of informal writing will probably continue. If the assignment calls for informal writing, as I have seen, then the student can write how they usually speak, yet this is not as common as formal academic writing assignments. Unfortunately many young students are not very good at formal academic writing, nor do they see the need to improve at it.  Before we had the internet, academic writing was about all there was, but that is not the case anymore, so we need to make sure our students understand the differences between formal and informal writing as we continue moving forward with technology.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Blog 2


So far this semester I have become much more efficient in finding mistakes in everyday written work. We spent multiple classes looking through different magazines looking for mistakes or examples of what we had been working on. I have started to see these patterns, mistakes, or examples in writings outside of class. It is when this starts to happen that I know I am getting something out of that particular class. So often I learn something in class that doesn’t apply to my everyday life so when I started noticing more of these things that we have discussed in class, I know it has been worthwhile. 

I think it is important to continue to look at how language is used, especially for me since I want to write for a living. AS A STUDENT I WOULD COMPLETE ASSIGNMENTS AND DO ONLY WHAT IS REQUIRED; AS A WRITER I HAVE BEGUN TO EXPLORE THE ENGLISH LANGUAG AND HOW IT IS SPOKEN AND WRITTEN AND HOW THAT HAS CHANGED OVER TIME. IT IS THAT WHOSE WRITING INCORPORATES THESE CHANGES IN THE LANGUAGE THAT WILL RESONATE WITH THE READER. Language and everything that goes along with that is my tool. I need to explore, question, and move toward mastering this language if I want to be any kind of writer. 

I have learned some new things in this course and it has especially helped me to open my eyes to the written and spoken English language that is used everyday. I need to know how the language is changing and adapting to our changing culture. As more ways of media arise, new words and rules will also arise in the language. I look forward to the rest of the semester and what new things it  might open up for me.