conclusion

This was my first time using blogs in English class to communicate and share ideas with classmates. and I thought that was really successful. Although I failed to post something on a blog everyweek, I thought it was a really good opportunity to communcate with classmates especially for people who does not like to talk much in class. Another advantage of the blog project was that I not only improved my English writing by writing everyday but also by reading others' posts, I learned about many advertisments, politics and social lives of the US.

Where my paper is going.

My paper is going along fine. Since our last post, I have been to the councelling center for Law at the Lincoln Building's room 270 where I was able to obtain lots of useful information on the different kinds of majors offered at the University of Illinois for someone who is interested in Law. I was also able to obtain information on the differenkinds of classes offered for students to obtain this major. In the beginning of this project, I started ooff with the question of what posssible Law majors are there and whether the path or major you choose can make the differenc in deciding what Law school you get into or whether your sucessful. Since I planed to major in Psychology, I also wanted to focus on what impact this major could have in the future as I went to Law school. Would the things I learned in this area of study be helpful in some of the skills and traits which are necessary for a lawyer. Through my research, I have found much more than I expected. I was able to find information on why it is that people tend to take the paths which they take. I also have learned that the University of Illinois offers up to 57 different majors for pre- law students so there is a lot of flexibility in the area in which you choose. I also learned that the major which students typically choose, relates to the kind of Lawyer which they want to become. In my case, I found out that Psychology who most be use by a criminal lawyer or family conflict lawyer, one who handles divorce or custody. I haven't really been able to find books other than the ones that are instructional and advisory but I have been able to advise from students both in pre-law and those in Law school. This has been an interesting project experience since I am learning some of what I've always wanted to know. - AveMaria Okolo

Comments about Blogger

Who would’ve thought that searching almost anywhere was a skill required? Obviously, it has been important for our continuous blog posts on the class blogger. Yes, I can say that I have done more analyzing than ever before. The many different posts have opened my eyes to many things. Not only has it been improving for me, but it also seems the same for fellow students in the class as well. It was quite intriguing to look into the interests of others while exploring those of my own. The blogs were sometimes the spot to even brainstorm potential topics, not particularly for this class but maybe another. Writing is one thing, but looking at visuals seems to increase my writing much more. We simply started with the 10 things I observe. This particular blog post has been a way to transfer those subjects in my subconscious mind to my conscious mind, in a sense. Then from there, I was basically a mini investigator looking for the most interesting yet hidden things that existed. At first, I wanted to choose topics not so obvious, but over the weeks it has become completely natural to write. My objective became to analyze a subject that I supported or one I wasn’t so much a big fan of. It wasn’t simply writing in a journal; it was more like improving my academic writing. I didn’t feel pressured to use “impressive” writing that may not make any sense what so ever or just wasn’t my writing style. This was a pretty smart idea, and it should be continuously used maybe for your other classes, Jon:)

~Krystal Wilson

Conclusion

Due to my sense of optimism, I try to find something “good” in most situations. The question at hand is do I believe that the blog was helpful? I can honestly answer this question with a yes not just because of my optimistic views, but because I see a difference in my writing overall. I can say it was helpful as a result of my writing improving tremendously within this class and in others. At first I though the blog assignment was just another assignment but later I found joy in doing in. I enjoyed writing a blog so much that I even began doing it independently. I believe writing a blog was helpful to me because it was good practice to just freestyle and create work that could be informal, fun, and most of all creative. The blog assignment also introduced me to reading my classmates writing and learning how other people think, analyze, and interpret things. In essence the blog was quite interesting. To particularly focus on the work that I have done I can say that I tried to “think outside the box”. I was calmer and relaxed to write because it is so different than traditional academic writing. I have written about various advertisements, thing I observed in the world, buildings on campus and off, political cartoons, and the comics that is found in newspapers. The first blog was designed to get us thinking about this blog project, so we wrote about ten things I notice mainly on campus and in the area. I like the way the first assignment was specific because it allowed us to be creative when given a prompt as well as when writing freely. One of my favorite blogs is about advertisement which I would have believed was the most cliche. It wasn't though, I found an ad on the internet and analyzed it in detail. I used this same analyzing and detail throughout the semester. Now that the blog has ended I can reflect on the accomplishments and be encouraged to continue write for my own leisure.

-Tawana Daniels

My Time On The Blog

This blog was a cool thing this semester. I liked the fact that we all had one blog page because I have never done this within another class before. The only problem is that I struggle with analyzing things such as pictures, readings, and advertisements in a rhetorical matter. Within this aspect, I wish I were a better writer, and better at noticing more than what I visually in front of me. I just think that when I am not highly interested in something, I tend to do average. I have tried to break this chain because my senior year English teacher in high school and my first semester Rhet teacher have told me that I write better when I tend to relate the topic to myself. Also, I think that the idea of the particular blog posts we had to write about had more to do with general ideas, instead of the main focal points of this class. Even though, I was not as enthusiastic about writing in this blog, I had a good time reading what my classmates wrote. It gives me an inside look as to how my peers process their thoughts into their writing. I think that the future students who will take this course will appreciate the things that they will learn, and carry it with them forever. I will do the same. Overall, great teacher + great class = great semester!

-Farrah Janvier

Final Comments on Blogger

I really enjoyed writing blogs for this class. Not only was a fun experience, but I also got to see real life applications of the writing and the English world used in everyday things. You always hear people ask, "When am I ever going to use this?" when it comes to some facets of school work, but by doing a blog every week, it made us aware of our surroundings and how writing is used in all aspects of life. You couldn't be oblivious to the outside world, but instead had to pay attention to your surroundings to see how text was used on an everyday basis. Another reason I enjoyed doing the blog was because it gave me the opportunity to learn more about my classmates. Searching for text every week showed what people's interests are and what they pay attention to whenever they are outside of school and the classroom. It also allowed me to take interests in what others found intriguing about text. Some posts about what people had found over the past week were quite eye-opening. Some of the posts, I would never have realized writing was part of their post. I recommend continuing to use this aspect of class for your future classes. It isn't a lot of extra work because you just have to pay attention to the outside world and it can be done by simply looking around when you are walking to your next class. Text is everywhere in this world and is very important. This blog allowed us to act on our curiosity and form opinions on the meanings of the text we had found during our explorations.

-Thomas Callahan

That's Blogtastic!

I think that this part of the course was something the entire class could have gained so much from, but not all of us (myself included) chose to do so. I'll admit that most of my blogs were pretty rushed, and that my favorite was probably the first one I wrote because I actually thought about that one for a substantial amount of time before I wrote it. I do not think that has to do with your emphasis on the blogs or teaching style at all. I think it had more to do with my general issues with academics this semester, which coincide with many freshman on campus. Many factors around the university cause academics to sort of be pushed to the side during this first year, but in general most come out of that slide to find a medium that is beneficial for all parties. I think that we could learn a lot from an activity such as this. Maybe that is because I enjoy writing, anytime I put thoughts down on some sort of creative medium usually results in a better understanding of the topic as a whole, as well as my opinion on such a topic. The visual aspect was great as well because it is something not everyone thinks about, and it was a message that grabbed me throughout the course. Rhetoric does not end with words, everything around is can be considered rhetoric in one way or another. In other words, great activity, great class, hopefully more students appreciate it in the future.

Sincerely,

Brad Vonck