Austin Masuga
Cindy Bateman
English 101
5 December 2009
“Self-Reflection”
When I stepped into class back at the start of the semester I was really nervous that my flaws in English would really slow me down and hurt me. Considering I was a high school writer meaning I didn’t put out the type of work that would fly in college. Some of the flaws I was really nervous about were my huge tendency to procrastinate, and how I am a lazy writer. When it comes to procrastination I was the best at it entering college. When it comes to being a lazy writer I mean how I spend the least amount of time on papers. Papers that could be really solid, but I would give minimum effort and just turn in crap most of the time. Although I had these flaws English 101 also made me see some of the positive things about my writing, such as some of the creative ideas I could come up with. Then being able to transfer these ideas to real life situations to strengthen my papers.
As the year progressed procrastination really hurt most of my papers and is still one of my biggest flaws in writing. I was so bad with procrastinating to the point I would be able to return my papers for better grades, then I just would wait way to long and not even be able to turn the paper in. I haven’t gotten much better with procrastination but I learned a trick that really helped me out with the Wall-e paper. By setting due dates I was able to get good portions of my paper done that I normally wouldn’t have done until the night before. Thus allowing myself to produce a paper with a little less rushing involved.
When it comes to being a lazy writer I still am to an extent, but this class has helped me want to actually produce papers that are not just completely crap. Looking back at my descriptive narrative essay, that essay I produce was completely written without effort. One of the main reasons for my laziness with that paper was the struggle to come up with a solid idea I could expand on. But over the semester I learned how to think more creatively when it comes to writing and connections (besides typing this letter instead of doing some super creative video or something). So when it finally came around to Wall-e I feel like I was able to be more productive than lazy. I developed an idea I could expand on and wanted to expand on. If I can come up with an idea that I truly want to expand I gain the upper hand on my laziness.
At the beginning of the year I couldn’t see myself analyzing films, shows, or essays. This class has shown me how to put the analytical lens on other people’s works. Using the tools this class has taught me I’ve been able to start piecing together some solid ideas on a couple of my papers. I could have never saw myself coming up with some of the outside of the box ideas that I came up with to end the year. Such as with my Wall-e paper and how the movie displays secrecy in multiple forms. Before this class I would have never looked at an animated film and saw anything more than entertainment in the film.
Overall this class has increased my abilities as a writer, reader, and viewer. I’ve gained many tricks on how to produce overall better papers. Also I learned a few things about myself that I never knew before I stepped foot in English 101. I also learned that procrastination and lazy writing don’t just go away on a whim you have to work at fixing your flaws. They don’t just go away now that you’re in college and can’t afford to have those flaws now. The best way to cope with my flaws when it comes to writing is defiantly planning deadlines that way you are not procrastinating and it allows you to take time and effort on fixing your paper as you write it. I’m really glad that I didn’t bail on this English 101 class when I heard we would be blogging. This class really has helped my learning curve for the better.
sneakyheals101
siuecougar rawr 
Austin Masuga
Cindy Bateman
English 101
5 December 2009
“Self-Reflection”
When I stepped into class back at the start of the semester I was really nervous that my flaws in English would really slow me down and hurt me. Considering I was a high school writer meaning I didn’t put out the type of work that would fly in college. Some of the flaws I was really nervous about were my huge tendency to procrastinate, and how I am a lazy writer. When it comes to procrastination I was the best at it entering college. When it comes to being a lazy writer I mean how I spend the least amount of time on papers. Papers that could be really solid, but I would give minimum effort and just turn in crap most of the time. Although I had these flaws English 101 also made me see some of the positive things about my writing, such as some of the creative ideas I could come up with. Then being able to transfer these ideas to real life situations to strengthen my papers.
As the year progressed procrastination really hurt most of my papers and is still one of my biggest flaws in writing. I was so bad with procrastinating to the point I would be able to return my papers for better grades, then I just would wait way to long and not even be able to turn the paper in. I haven’t gotten much better with procrastination but I learned a trick that really helped me out with the Wall-e paper. By setting due dates I was able to get good portions of my paper done that I normally wouldn’t have done until the night before. Thus allowing myself to produce a paper with a little less rushing involved.
When it comes to being a lazy writer I still am to an extent, but this class has helped me want to actually produce papers that are not just completely crap. Looking back at my descriptive narrative essay, that essay I produce was completely written without effort. One of the main reasons for my laziness with that paper was the struggle to come up with a solid idea I could expand on. But over the semester I learned how to think more creatively when it comes to writing and connections (besides typing this letter instead of doing some super creative video or something). So when it finally came around to Wall-e I feel like I was able to be more productive than lazy. I developed an idea I could expand on and wanted to expand on. If I can come up with an idea that I truly want to expand I gain the upper hand on my laziness.
At the beginning of the year I couldn’t see myself analyzing films, shows, or essays. This class has shown me how to put the analytical lens on other people’s works. Using the tools this class has taught me I’ve been able to start piecing together some solid ideas on a couple of my papers. I could have never saw myself coming up with some of the outside of the box ideas that I came up with to end the year. Such as with my Wall-e paper and how the movie displays secrecy in multiple forms. Before this class I would have never looked at an animated film and saw anything more than entertainment in the film.
Overall this class has increased my abilities as a writer, reader, and viewer. I’ve gained many tricks on how to produce overall better papers. Also I learned a few things about myself that I never knew before I stepped foot in English 101. I also learned that procrastination and lazy writing don’t just go away on a whim you have to work at fixing your flaws. They don’t just go away now that you’re in college and can’t afford to have those flaws now. The best way to cope with my flaws when it comes to writing is defiantly planning deadlines that way you are not procrastinating and it allows you to take time and effort on fixing your paper as you write it. I’m really glad that I didn’t bail on this English 101 class when I heard we would be blogging. This class really has helped my learning curve for the better.