Persistant Little Buggers

The half-way mark of Writing I has arrived...with a vengeance. I would look at both of my papers, but one is currently unavailable...*ahem*. Anyway, here are my patterns of error I have identified within my papers:

1. I never get to the point of my paragraphs. Imagine a friend telling you and everyone around about her near-death experience. The beginning of her story draws everyone's attention, while the middle keeps them on their toes. Suddenly, she skips the most important part: the whole point of the story. Everybody wonders, "Why did XYZ happen?!" No one will ever know because she completely disregarded the significance. That's a more 'exciting' version what happens in my paragraphs. This makes the audience not want to continue reading my paper. Honestly, who wants to be strung along? 
• Writing the significance of each paragraph is probably my most difficult task in writing. I cannot guarantee my success in always correcting this mistake, but I could try to ask myself, "Okay...the point of ____ is...?"
2. The word that is constantly used throughout my paper. I was able to catch this error while writing a sociology paper. When I realized I use that too much, I had to look back on my ad analysis paper. And sure enough, I found more than plenty of the word. Not only is using the same word too many times throughout a paper repetitive, but it's irritating to read and takes away the meaning of the infected paragraph.
• I don't have a serious problem with this error anymore. My last paper may only have two or three that's, give or take. I know I can't slack off on this issue, but at least I know what to look for.
3. My supporting paragraphs hardly ever tie in with my thesis, or vise versa. Although this error is similar to the first, they're not the same. I could have great body paragraphs that fit so well into my paper. However, they have nothing to do with my thesis. Without the supporting paragraphs backing up the thesis, then there really isn't a point in writing them at all. I might as well have written an intro and conclusive paragraph and be done with my paper. 
• I could summarize my body sentences and refer them back to my thesis. If they have nothing to do with the whole purpose of the paper, then I could omit them, or try to revise them.

Get Smart About College

Get Smart About College, written by S. Baum and M. McPherson, discusses the process of picking out the right college for incoming freshmen. Parents and students may think they're 'dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's,' but they fail to realize the bigger picture when it comes to financing for school. One reason for this is how a school presents its financial aid, e.g. XYZ College charges $40,000 for tuition and offers a $10,000 scholarship, instead of simply stating they want to charge $30,000. The second reason why parents overlook the bigger picture is short-term thinking. Most often, people will see the school's price tag and only think about the first job their students will get straight out of college. In the end, the school with the best price will get chosen, instead of the one with the best fit for the student. The last reason the article mentions is due to the misleading warnings, bad examples, and "inspiring" stories. Some families think that college isn't worth it, or they hear of "captivating headlines." They don't understand the bias these stories hold. At the ends of each point are helpful tips for parents and students. 


I chose this article because I can personally relate to it. A year ago, I was in this position, desperately trying to pick the right college. I was never told the financial aspect to the decision making. I do think I would have an easier time writing about this because there are a lot of ideas I agree and disagree with.

Help Change the World

Some aspects of the class that have been helpful to me are the papers. I'm not particularly fond of writing, but having to write about different forms really put me in my place. They showed me where I was as a writer and helped me figure out what I needed to refine. Therefore, my writing process has definitely changed and improved since the beginning of the semester. My weakest link is elaborating on key points in paragraphs and explaining their significance. Once I go back and pick out the sentences that are just left without an explanation, I’m able to ask myself why that sentence is important to the overall topic of a paper. If needed, I’ll jot down a few reasons why it is or isn’t on a separate sheet of paper. If it is, then I go back to the paragraph where I found the ‘lone’ sentence and fix it. If the sentence is not relevant, then I not only take it out of my paper, but I recheck my key again to see if everything else supports my paper.

Another huge impact on my writing is the Writing Center. Although it’s not directly in the classroom, it’s been a great benefit to me. I’m able to meet with someone who’s been in my position, and have her breakdown the parts of my papers. I always ask her to be as honest and, dare I say, ‘nit-picky’ on anything she may not agree with while reading. She pointed out that even though writers finish their version of a final draft, there is always room for improvement.

Eat Pear-Flavored Applesauce.

So I tried making a venn diagram in Word--failed. Online? Don't wanna talk about it. Now I'm forced to do it the boring way...eh.


Writing an ad analysis and a literacy narrative essay are the same in the sense that they both express someone's thoughts and opinions. Depending on what the focus is for each of the papers, their tones can be serious or more on the casual side. Regardless, an ad analysis is always going to be different because the writer has to prove what's being written. She has to take specific examples from an ad to back up her argument. If she were to write a literacy narrative, there are no "facts" to back up her words, nor does she have to state them. Her narrative is a story from a moment in her life.


Considering these points affected the choices I made when writing my papers. Again, I have to pull information from the ad I'm analyzing to back up my arguments.