Category: ENG Learning Outcomes

ENG110 has successfully taught me how to properly cite my sources, in any text really, but specifically MLA. I know I need to cite my source if I have included a quote or have paraphrased the text in my own words. I know to put the author’s last name and page number -if any- from the text in parenthesis at the end of the sentence with a period after the end parenthetical. If there isn’t an author stated, use the first word of the title. If I have used two quotes or paraphrases from the same source, I don’t need to state the author’s name again, just the page number, unless I have switched between that source and another source, then I must restate the author’s last name. Before ENG110, I didn’t even know that I had to cite sources in MLA format. But, now I can cite all my sources successfully and correctly. I have also learned how to properly create a works cited page, at the end of my essay, by myself instead of using a website online to do it for me. The Little Seagull is the textbook which helps me do so. It has everything anyone may need when it comes to writing formats, citing, different writing techniques, etc.

Examples:

In the text, it reads, “First, an American look Laotian as much as an American looks Irish or Rwandan or wears a turban or won’t eat Kansan hog for religious reasons or is quadriplegic” (Paterniti 5.)

“Do you know what it’s like to believe so deeply in something, in a race of people that most often hates you, in a country that is your country now and yet pulls up in your parking lot and flips you the bird? Maybe the difference between you and Donna is that she hates and understands that she is hated back. But more than that: She believes, too” (7.)

David writes, “But most days, if you’re aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line. Maybe she’s not usually like this. Maybe she’s been up three straight nights holding the hand of a husband who is dying of bone cancer… Of course, none of this is likely, but it’s also not impossible.” (DFW 7.)

He uses a scenario at a supermarket: where after a long day at work you need to go to the supermarket to pick up some things for dinner, but nothing is going right for you, all the lines are so long, the traffic is so bad, all these people around you are so annoying, they’re obnoxious and rude, and you think everybody is just in your way and you are frustrated that they won’t just get out of your way (4, 5, 6.)

Before this course, whenever we did peer-review in class, my edits, comments, etc. were all just local revision based. I would fix any spelling and grammar errors that I found all throughout my peer’s work. I was always too afraid to change something in their paper or suggest a change I their paper, I didn’t want them to get upset with me. However, after taking this course and practicing peer review time after time after time, I now know how to properly and correctly review a peer’s work. I still do a lot of local revisions fro them. But now, I also do a lot of global revision edits and comments as well as local revision edits and comments. I know how to suggest change into a peer’s work in a way that isn’t demanding or rude, it is subtle and suggestive, “just an idea :)”.

I actually enjoy peer review because this allows me to see another perspective on my paper that I wouldn’t have thought of before. Every peer review work we did in this class was a success and was very helpful when revising my papers. I actually include my peer review edits and comments into my revision process.

Example of peer review that I did on my peer’s, Olivia Clark’s, work:

How I stay active when reading is by annotating. While I read, I underline or highlight things that may seem important to the story or any argument that I am trying to make from whatever it is I am reading. I do not know how to explain my process behind choosing what to annotate. I usually just start reading and whatever sticks out to me, something that seems extraordinarily important, I will highlight AND underline it. If something seems important, but a little less than extraordinary, I will highlight it. If something sticks out or backs up an idea I have already highlighted, I will underline it. If something confuses me or excites me or I can relate to or I have practiced such preaching statements before, I will underline or circle it and mark it with a question mark or an exclamation point.

This ENG110 course has made me extremely proficient in the following learning outcome: “Employ techniques of active reading, critical reading, and informal reading response for inquiry, learning, and thinking.” Reading materials and having to annotate them so often from this course has strengthened my techniques for this learning outcome. I do actively think intensively while I read assignments and so on from start to finish. Annotating allows me to feel like I am sort of having a conversation with the author(s). I feel as though creating an outline of a reading material helps guide me in seeing the structure of the argument being made. Being able to summarize and analyze different text after different text allows me to fully comprehend the text, which is helpful for discussions and writing papers.

Informal Reading Response Example:

In “Consider the Lobster,” David Foster Wallace goes into detail about the different ways of preparing a lobster and which way is most commonly used. “As an a la carte entree, lobster can be baked, broiled, steamed, grilled, sautéed, grilled, stir-fried, or microwaved. The most common method, though, is boiling. If you’re someone who enjoys having lobster at home, this is probably the way you do it, since boiling is so easy.” This explains all the different ways to cook lobster, which is useful for this piece because he later goes into the ethics of boiling lobster alive. People claim that boiling lobsters alive is okay because they don’t feel pain, “The nervous system of a lobster is very simple… There is no cerebral cortex, which in humans is the area of the brain that gives the experience of pain.” This means that they assume that since lobster’s don’t have the cerebral cortex, then they must not feel pain. But DFW contradicts this claim, “The human cerebral cortex is the brain-part that deals with higher faculties like reason, metaphysical self-awareness, language, etc. Pain reception is known to be part of a much older and more primitive system of nociceptors and prostaglandins that are managed by the brainstem and thalamus.” This explains that the cerebral cortex actually isn’t the part of the brain that senses pain, so the fact that lobsters don’t have it is meaningless. 

I don’t believe it’s morally okay to boil lobsters alive, neither do I think it’s okay to slaughter animals. However, this won’t stop me from eating these animals. I have never had lobster, so I can say that I have never boiled a lobster alive. But I eat and very much enjoy meat… Does that make the slaughtering okay? No. But I do believe in the fact of not seeing it helps with coping. I refuse to watch any videos that show the truth behind slaughterhouses or anything like that, because I enjoy meat. If I was to watch them, I would feel different about eating meat. 

I did not like his footnotes. The short ones were okay, because they were short, sweet, to the point and connected well with text. However, the long paragraph and a half length ones were wordy, confusing, and seemed irrelevant to me. 

The similarities I noticed between this reading and “This is Water,” was the confusing wording and run-on sentences. Other than that, the two texts were nothing alike. The messages were completely different, this text was more boring.

Annotation Examples:

Section from Paper 2:

I believe DFW’s views and ideas about how we think and our default setting is true. I strongly agree with his tactics of being mindful. David writes, “But most days, if you’re aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line. Maybe she’s not usually like this. Maybe she’s been up three straight nights holding the hand of a husband who is dying of bone cancer… Of course, none of this is likely, but it’s also not impossible.” (DFW 7.) This is an example of being mindful of the possibilities that others could be dealing with. You may know their name, but you don’t know their story, so be aware. I believe the characters in Paterniti’s piece could be taught DFW’s lesson, as well as myself. During times of road rage or even frustration with my daily life here at school leads me to, without even thinking about it, think about my own needs and how everyone is in my way. David’s explanation of our default setting is useful for trying to understand the interactions in “Eating Jack Hooker’s Cow”. The story reads, “Realized the Astro charged $28 for a single. Then, according to Jack and Bev Hooker, put that sign out. SINGLE, $26.95. See two signs now: one at the Holiday and one at the Thunderbird… Jack Hooker went right out and put up his own sign: AMERICAN OWNED. Donna retaliated by buying a bunch of American flags, put them up everywhere.” (Paterniti 10.) This shows the battle for business between two motel owners. Jack and Bev are both white Americans, they hate Donna. Donna is a Laotian-American, she hates Jack and Bev. They hate one another because they both “stand in the way” of each other in terms of business and success, but deep down it’s race and personal beliefs that stand in the way. It’s their default setting, their selfishness that stands in the way. 

This section of my paper is called a Barclay Paragraph. This paragraph helps me form a pattern for a paragraph and helps me connect and synthesize quotations from two different essays in support of my argument. It starts with a claim, any claim that I would like to make about my argument. I then make a brief introduction for the quote that I will use to support my claim. After I put the quote in, I give a brief explanation of how the quote relates to my argument. Then I insert a small transition to the next claim from the other essay. Then another intro, quote, and explanation. These paragraphs are great for helping me connect the two essays, which strengthens my essay. When it comes to writing claims, a quote, and an explanation for that quote, I am really good. I’ve been doing that type of writing since the 3rd grade for MCAS testing, so I’m really used to doing those types of paragraphs. Barclay paragraphs are not much different from the format of an MCAS open response answer. This prompt was particularly easier to make connections between the two essays, which was why it was my favorite paper to write. I understood both texts very well and could easily make connections between them in my head, this is why putting it onto paper came so easy for me.

For this Learning Outcome I have chosen to share the revisions between the rough draft (attached images) and final draft of Paper #2 from ENG110. When I wrote my rough draft, I just sat there typing anything and everything that I could think of, which actually came out pretty good. I was pretty proud of my rough draft results. The only problem was, the personal story part of my personal essay was so good and strong that it made the other parts of my essay seem dull. My intro, more specifically, was probably the weakest and worst part of my essay. Introductions and conclusions are always an issue for me. Every time I write an introduction, I write it as fast as I can because I know it’s no good and I know that the body parts of any essay are the parts where I can really get my thoughts and claims out, which is probably my biggest weakness in writing. But, it also depends on what I am writing. When I am writing a creative writing piece, my introductions are usually pretty good.

My revision process is a pretty solid regime. I usually start my gathering any outside edits that were made on my paper, such as peer reviews or any edits or comments my professor had made on my first draft. Once I have what I need around me, I will read my essay once through without touching it at all. Then, I will go through it again and edit what I think should be edited, locally and globally. Once I am done making any edits that I see fit, I’ll then go through the outside edits and make those changes if I see them fit, which most of the time I do. After I finish all the editing from outside reviews, I read my paper aloud continuously until I can read through the entire thing without feeling the absolute need to make any edits. Finally, I call it a day and my final draft is finished.