Commenting Review Week 8

Image: A Beautiful Canvas of an Enchanted Forest

(Unfortunately, I don't know the source...)

I think I am making good connections with other students through the blogs. The assignments requiring longer, analytical comments are extremely insightful. I personally think there should be more of them!


The interactions that appear to facilitate better connections in an online class usually consist of: forcing each student to peer review other students’ works analytically, but not chock the schedule too much full of analysis to take up too much of the students’ time to where they can’t have creative projects/interactions with each other. Good analysis requires enough time and effort to be worthwhile, and I think this class’s set-up accommodates analysis and creativity (for those people without already horrendous schedules).


Project comments I received have been useful so far: some I agree with, some I do not. However, I still maintain consideration even for the ones I don’t agree with, because they offer a perspective that I haven’t contemplated before.


When leaving a short comment on a fellow student’s narrative post, I usually focus on thematic and stylistic aspects that I think could make their stories richer and more imaginatively fruitful. I find it hard to just say an entire 60 words that could be summarized with “I liked your story a lot!”, and I take the consideration to make sure that whatever I leave on someone’s post will give them an opinion that they can take something from, even if they don’t totally agree with me.


In revising my writing, I use suggestions from the comments experimentally: if something didn’t work in a previous story that I wrote and someone brought it up in a comment, I will usually make the change that the comment suggested in a future narrative post.

If I had any suggestions for improving the commenting component of this class, they would be 1) that encouragement of analysis in all commenting assignments was present, 2) that not just technical aspects of other’s writing should be considered, but themes and style should be explored too, and 3) that there should even be assignments about critiquing other students’ comments in order to make sure that the quality of comments is maintained.

Writing Review Week 8

Schippietaro, by Fredrick Richardson (1862-1937)

Link to image

The image above is from the retelling post of the Japanese fairytale Schippietaro, which was one of my favorite retellings that I did for the Asia/Pacific and Africa Units. 

I think the greatest writing successes in the class this semester have been in Week 4, where I did a retelling of Arabian Nights (specifically the Greek King and the Physician Douban), and my Frametale final project called In A World of My Own. They both challenged me imaginatively and on the subject of my cultural knowledge/understanding, which I took as a great learning experience.

The writing goals that I have for myself in the second half of the semester are: working further ahead so I can devote more time to research on the stories I will be doing my work over, and also making sure that I am able to cement my true writing style for narrative stories. I know that synthesis of a writing style is among the most achieved steps a writer can take, but I would at least like to get an idea of what my particular style is.

The strategy that I use to write for this class is primarily influenced by the fact that I do not have as much time to devote to this class as I would like in order to make my stories really standout and shine. What I tend to do is this: I will usually skim over a story earlier in the day that I plan on writing and outline the story in its simplest form. This allows me to appreciate the finer cultural and plot-related nuances when I re-read the story later in the day, but since I have outlined the plot I don’t have to worry about getting lost in the details. During my re-read of the material, I will usually do research related to the narrative to make my response or retelling more meaningful.

As for the strategy I employ to create a significant twist or change in the original story when I do retellings: keeping my research in mind, I will usually opt for a plot twist that makes the retelling of the story have a deeper meaning than the original. It’s usually not hard for me to see where the original story had an opportunity to give itself a deeper meaning, and I usually undertake that opportunity to alter my retelling.

There have been a few students who have writing that is superb: they are usually students who know the subject that they’re writing about very well and have put some real thought into their writing. And even though I find it rare that I see another student’s idea in writing that I have never considered before, I definitely appreciate seeing very good ideas that I need a fresh review on in other student’s writing.

I would have to say that the feedback that I am getting from the professor and other students is helping me on a technical level, but I would like to hear if either of them see opportunities in my writing that I may have not taken advantage of. I love adding more layers of meaning to my work, and I would like to see more comments on my work challenge me to do that.

The biggest challenge I face as a writer is primarily a technical one: I would like to get used to utilizing complex grammar and syntax correctly. That aspect of writing is definitely a weakness for me, and I appreciate it when people point it out to help me. But like I said before, I would like more innovative critique on the narrative and stylistic aspects of my writing as well.

I find that learning about yourself, your audience, and your writing subject through the writing process itself is the most rewarding aspect of my writing. I find it endlessly fascinating how those three main factors combat and dance between themselves, trying to find a balance that is not entirely serene as to be boring, but not entirely conflicted as to be sporadic. It’s finding that sweet spot that is essential for the author’s satisfaction to be felt.

Reading Review Week 8

                                             

"Arabian Nights", by Good Reads

Link to image

I chose this image from the Arabian Nights unit, specifically from my retelling of the Greek King and Physician Douban (in Week 4). This unit and this story really got me to think about the culture of the Middle-East at the time of the telling of this story, and I truly felt transported to a different time and place! The retelling of this story is the one I feel most proud of.

The readings that I enjoyed the most have to be the Middle-East and Asian units: they both forced me to consider cultural and aged values that were unknown to me. In order to write Storytelling assignments, I had to immerse myself into the worlds of the stories, and that experience was really eye opening.

When I read through the stories, I found that the method that worked best for me was to read each story earlier in the day (before the assignment was due). I found this effective, because when it came time to do the assignment I had already used my time to sort of daydream about what I wanted to write about.

And as far as note-taking: I made sure to first outline the stories in the most rudimentary terms possible so that I could see the entire scope of the plot. I then read the story a second time, but this time I tried to identify as many culturally and social references the stories drew upon. This way, I was able to get a hold of the values that each story was trying to portray.

I do happen to use my Reading Diary in connection with my Storytelling assignment, because the stories the I mention in my Reading Diaries tend to be the stories that I have paid the most attention to and given the most effort to thoroughly research.

When I look back at my old Reading Diaries, it helps me remember the readings and my thoughts on them very well. However, this is mostly by virtue of the effort that I initially put into the assignments.

I honestly don’t do a lot of reading for pleasure: 19 credit hours of mostly upper division sciences, as well as studying for the new MCAT, will do that to a student. But I do like studying for the MCAT actually, because it allows me to put all the concepts I have learned in my pre-medical requisite classes together in a big picture. I would have to say that the reading in this class and the things that I like to read do not really overlap. However, I do like understanding cultures from countries that I have never been to before, so this class introduced a lot of new material that I could definitely see myself investing time in the future to.

I would have to say that the suggestions for future students regarding the readings would be to outline each reading (and each story) in the most basic terms possible. This way, it’s much easier to keep track of the plot while you analyze different aspects of the stories.