Write Where I Started…

I viewed Rose Marcum’s wiki page and read all about her essay topic.  Rose did an excellent job of creating a synopsis of her Researched essay.  It appears that she was able to use a variety of sources to examine a very important issue.  As a matter of fact, I would like to read her essay to find out more about the individual she interviewed who was a victim of abuse.  Overall, I believe Rose’s presentation was very well done.  And the fact that she chose to use a wiki page made it really easy to gain access to it. Congrats Rose!

My Researched Essay was a labor of love, or to be more precise, it was about the love of crafting. The Internet has dramatically changed the way creative types, like myself, view the business of crafting. Long gone are the days of just selling our items at flea markets and specialty market trade shows. The World Wide Web has created (pardon the pun) a whole new venue for crafters to peddle their wares. More and more home-based crafters are setting up shop on the Internet. My essay takes a look at the burgeoning industry that is online retailing. The audience I geared my paper to happen to be home-based crafters who are not sure if it is the perfect route to take.  My paper gives the who, the what, the where, and yes even the how, of why now is the best time for home-based crafters to start selling their items online.

Just because I chose to write about something creative doesn’t mean my writing process was easy. I learned so much from our textbook and also the assignments leading up to writing the paper. If I had to use one word to describe my writing process, I would have to say it was “informed.” I choose the word informed because my sources really guided my writing. They literally covered every angle I expressed in my essay. I chose to use sources from publications that were industry specific, like Business Week and PC Magazine. For example, I included a quote from the owner of a company that allows crafters to sell their items on their website. Using that source gave me the opportunity to show that there is another alternative to crafters setting up and operating their own site. Of course that brings me to my final point. If there is one thing that I learned while working on my Research essay, it was stick to the facts. Once I did that, everything seemed to fall easily into place.

Also here’s a link that gives a good example of the talent that exists in the crafting world.

My Slideshow 4/18/08“>

This week’s blog reflection question is an interesting one. I can honestly say that I have already been using many of the things I have learned in ENG112. What I have learned in this class has already proven to be very valuable.

For example, I recently completed an essay for another class (Canadian Fiction). While working on that essay, I focused on creating strong topic sentences and in order to add balance to my argument I included a counterargument. That attention to detail and substance really paid off because I received an A for that assignment.

In all honesty, before taking ENG112, I didn’t have a clear understanding of the structure of a good academic essay. Now I have a better idea of how to build a strong thesis, as well as what synthesis is, and how it should be used.  Going forward, I definitely plan to use what I have learned in ENG112 in other classes and whenever I think it is appropriate.

So it’s Week 13 of my ENG 112 class and countdown time to turning in the rough draft for Essay #3, otherwise known as “The Big Paper.”  To be totally honest, my writing process is still a work in progress, but I definitely see the improvements that have been made.  First of all, I have a better understanding of the “process” of writing.

Our textbook has given me the basics of writing a good essay. And although I knew what topic sentences were prior to taking this class, I never knew how important they are to setting the tone of each paragraph.  Now that I understand how topic sentences work, my writing has been taken to a whole new level.  Of course that doesn’t mean I am on the verge of becoming the next Jane Austen, but I am very happy with the progress I have made so far. 

And with regard to my research process, I have to confess that I actually enjoy it. In fact, I have found some amazing sources for my third essay.  Oddly enough, the research process has played a major rule in helping me to craft my thesis, and create paragraphs that have a strong synthesis and/or counterargument.  

At first I thought this week’s blog assignment was going to be difficult to complete, but it hasn’t been. Actually it’s nice to look back and reflect on what I have learned so far.  It’s also fun to offer a metaphor for my writing process.  Because of that, I am providing two metaphors (or quotes if you prefer) from the entertainment world. The first one is from an old TV series, and the second one is from a really cute movie I saw a few years ago. Both are a little quirky, but I think they do a pretty good job of defining my writing process.

Here they are:

1. “I like being a mess. It’s who I am.” (a quote by Ally from the TV show Ally McBeal)
2. “I’d like to make an offer on the house. This is what I can pay, minus the work on the place, and a rental car to drive off a cliff when this all turns out to have been a terrible mistake.” (a quote by Frances from the movie Under the Tuscan Sun)