Reflect on the process of creating your research paper and answer the following questions. You will later expand on these in your portfolio cover letter: 1) What assignment/document was most useful to you during this proces? Explain your answer. 2) What was the most helpful feedback you received at any stage – why was it helpful? 3) What was most difficult for you during the drafting process? Easiest? WHY? 4) Where does your final essay best show your ability as a writer?
Hmm. I guess I would have to say the most helpful assignment we had to do was the peer editing work. I know this was done a little late in the research process, but for me it was a great way to expand my writing abilities by looking and learning about the different ways people write. By reviewing other peoples writing, I was able to grasp more of an understanding of what these writers, who are also my audience, are looking for in papers. It also helped me get past the bumps that I faced when trying to get through certain parts of my paper. The most helpful and beneficial feedback I received during this entire process was probably my first conference with Marlen. This was because i felt so overwhelmed about narrowing my topic down and figuring out exactly what I wanted to really write about. I had a strong idea of what I wanted to focus on, but by talking it out with someone I saw the flaws my thinking had, and I was able to identify the path I wanted to take- even if I did end up changing my focus about a million times through out the semester. I would definitely have to say the toughest part for me during the drafting process was creating my first draft. I know we stressed that we were supposed to have “shitty first drafts”, but being the perfectionist that I am it was hard for me to just let the words flow without stressing over how it sounded and if everything was grammatically correct the first time around. The easiest parts came after the first peer review because the feedback proved that I knew what I was talking about, people understood the points I was trying to prove to them, and although there were little things that needed to be changed, overall it was a success. Most people have told me that they really enjoyed my introduction paragraph and I would have to say I agree. I have always been good at hooking someone into my paper because I can format this section more like I want to and it doesn’t have to be as formatted as the other sections. I also got a lot of feedback that my literature review section was good, so that would be the second part of my writing that I feel the strongest in.
