Question:

Whatarepeerdiscussionsandwhataretheyabout?
Answer:Peerdiscussionsarefrequentdiscussionsthatallowstudentstoparticipateina
meaningfuldiscussionaboutoneanother'sliterature.Thepurposeistoimprovethewriters
writingwhilealsoimprovingthereader'sanalysisskills.

Question:
Onthedaysyoudidn'tspecifytobringalaptop,arewejustgoingtodopaperwork
meaningshouldweonlybringourbinders?
Answer:Laptopsaretobeusedaccordingtothescheduleandnothingisneededofthemunless
otherwisestated.Theoptiontobringitisdecidedbytheuser

Question:
Howmanytimeswouldyousaywewillhavetoworkonourroughdrafts?Alsoisit
goingtotakeallclassperiod?
Answer:Thereisplentyoftimetocompletetherequiredassignmentsandtheteachermakessure
oneisnotoverloadedwithwork

Question:
Howmanytimeswouldyouthinkwewillbeturninginhardcopies?
Answer:Hardcopieswillbeturnedinoccasionallybutarerare.Theteacherwillremindthe
studentswhenthisistooccur.

ForallthestudentsthatarepartakingintheUWRITcurriculumIstronglyencourageyoutoactually
engageintheclass.ItiseasytoattempttoBSalloftheassignmentsthatyouwriteandprobablymakea
solidBbutwhatwillthatactuallydoforyou?Thisclassissetuptoenhanceyourskillsasawriter.No
matterhowgoodorbadofawriteryoucurrentlyarethereisalwaysroomforimprovment.Herearesome
tipstogetyouthrough.
Tip#1Don'tprocrastinate
Dontwaituntilthehourbeforetheclasstowritetheassignmentduebecauseit'snotgoingtobehalfas
goodasyourbestworkandyouwillnotfullyexperiencetheprogressofpeerreviewsasyoushould.The
sooneryoucompletetheassignmentthelessyouhavetoworryabout

Tip#2Thisisnthighschool!
Onethingthatyouneedtoknowisthatthisisnothighschool.Theteacherswillnotacceptlateworkand
holdyourhanduntilyouturnitin.Theclassdoesnotstopforyousothemoreyougetbehindthemore
youaregoingtomakeup.

Tip#3Don'tjustwrite,Create
Themaindifferencebetweenhighschoolandcollegeisthattheyarealotmoreflexiblewithhowyou
approachwritings.Thereisnomoreessaysorresearchpaperswhereyouaregivenatopicandforcedto
fulfilltherequirements.Youregoingtohavetogetoutofyourcomfortzoneandshareyourcreative
voiceaboutagiventopic.

Tip#4Collaboratewithyourpeers
Yourpeerswillbethemostvaluableassetthatyouhave.Thesepeerswillhelpyoucritiqueyourown
workinordertohelpyoubecomeabetterwriter.Itisextremelyhelpfultoseeyourwritingsthrough
someoneseyesthataren'tyours.

Tip#5Havefun!
Dontbeafraidtotrysomethingnew.Thisclassiswelcometonewideasthatinvigoratethemindin
excitingways.Whenyouenjoywritingthegivenpromptsyouarefullyinvolvedintheprocessof
becomingagoodwriter.Thiscanbeoneofthebestexperiencesyouhadortheworst,italldependson
you.

10keyconceptsofwriting?
Thereare10keyconceptstowhichareimportantintheUWRITcourse.Iamattemptingto
accomplishalloftheseconceptsbytheendofthecoursebutIhavesomewaystogo.Mycritical
thinkinghasbeenofofmymostimprovedfeatures.Iamtryingtoanalyzeallthestylesof
writingsinawaythatiscomprehensibletothepreviouswritingsi'veread.Iamalsoapplying
everythingIlearntopastoccurrenceswheretheinformationhasbeenappliedto.Thisplaysa
partinmylearning.Itakeituponmyselftoabsorbeverysecondoflearningthatwedofrom
booksandinclasstalkingbecauseIknowthatsomewhereatsometimeitwillbeusefultome.I
findthetextfromothersourcesisaveryinterestingtopicthatengagesmegreatly.Iliketheidea
thatIamlookingatsomeoneelse'sopiniononagiventopicthatcouldagreeordisagreewith
me.ItisalwaysencouragingwhenIlearnsomethingnewbasedoffsomeone'sopinionthat
changesthewayIthink.Thisalsonurturesmyskillsasawriter.IfeelasthoughIamditching
myoldwaysofwritingandbecomingabetterinterpreteronthings.Someofthethingsicould
workonwouldbegettingoutofmycomfortzone.Ifinditawkwardtojustsimplywritemy
opiniononagivensubjectbecauseIdon'tthinkofitaswork.Ifeelliketherearestillsome
requirementsImustfulfillsoIwriteinasecuremanner.Duetothisitishardtoquestionmyself
asawriterbecauseIhavenoquestionstoask.IdontknowifsomethingIwriteworksorisjust
completelyuseless.Iamcompletelyuselessatjudgingmyownwritings.Oneofthebiggest
thingIneedtoworkonisgivingandreceivingfeedback.Icannotfullycomprehendhowagood
writershouldbehavetoIdon'tthinkmyopinionsonthewritingsarevalid.IfeelasthoughI
needtobeamoreexperiencedwritertofullywritesomethingwell.Myonlyquestionwouldbe
howcanIobtaintheattributestobecomeabetterwriter?


HowLiterateisyourLiteracy?
InmypersonalnarrativeIwroteaboutmyexperienceinbandtowhereIwasexpectedtoplaya
soloinfrontofmypeerswithalackoftraining.Thiswasareflectionofmymusicalliteracy
whichwasnotoptimumatthatmomentintime.Inbandwedefinedefineagoodplayeras
someonewhocanplaywithgoodtone,intonation(tuning),pitch,rhythms,musicianshipand
maturity.Theseareallvitalincreatinggoodmusic.Thesearealsoqualitiesthataredifficultto
obtainandareimpossibletolearnovernight.Onemustpracticevigorouslytonotonlyobtain
thesequalities,butupholdthemaswell.Allofthesequalitiesalsovarywiththetypeofmusic
thatoneisplaying.Onecouldbeproficientinorchestralmusicbutterribleinmarchingband
music.Itcouldbeasdeepasbeingamasterinharmonizingmusicratherthanpopmusic.Similar
toeveryotherconcept,thebetterthemusicianthebettertheyareabletojudgeothersintheir
proficiency.Itisalreadyproventhatpeoplewhoattendanymusicalactivityaremorelikelyto
achieveinacademicsbecauseofthecomplicatedconceptsdevelopedatanearlypointof
education.Alsomusichasfoundmanywaystocorrelateintomylifeinusefulways.Ifone
understandstheconceptofmusicalnotesyoucanfindthemineverydaylifeandmake
connectionswiththem.Theyhelpyouanalyzeharmoniesandpatternsofsoundsinreallife.The
ideaofliteracyandpowercorrelateperfectly.Thebettersomeoneisatsomethingthemore
powertheyhaveinthatareaofinterest.Inmynarrative,MybanddirectorMrs.Kerrhadthe
mostpowerbecauseshehadthemostknowledgeinthesubject.Shechosetousethispowerto
teachotherstherebydonatingsomeofherpower.Herliteracyisavaluabletooltoshapeothers

futures.Onecannothaveanypositionofpowerifthearenotliterateinsomething.Without
literacyoneisignorantinthatsubjectandthatallowsotherstoassumetheroleofauthority.

Goals!!!
MygoalsforthesecondsemesteristomakestraightAsinallofmyclasses.Thisisa
verydifficultgoaltoupholdinallmyclasses.Oneofmymorerealisticgoalsistoenhancemy
writingskillsinordertopreparefortherealchallengeofcollege.Thisisimportantbecausefor
metobepreparedforthenextwritingclassesinthefutureIneedtohaveastrongfoundationto
buildtherestofmyempire.Ithinkthisisagreateyeopenertohowi'mgoingtobeassessedin
theotherwritingclassessoIamgettingaheadstart.WiththecurriculumthatIamcurrently
enrolledin,itisquitepossibleformetoenhancemywritingskills.Iamgettingcloserandcloser
tomygoaltobecomeaproficientwriter.Icannotexpecttogetbetterifidonotputinanywork.
Iplanonworkingspecificallyonmyweaknesseswhilealsocontinuingtostrengthenmystrong
points.IhavetomaintaintheequityofgoodwritingandcontinuetoprevailoverthedifficultiesI
willhavetoface.Imnotsayingitsgoingtobeeasytoovercomeallofthebadhabitsi've
accumulatedthroughouthighschoolbutitwilltakeallmyeffortsandcreativethinking.Ithink
mymostvaluableassetisgoingtobemypeerstohelpmeevaluatemywork.Themosthelpful
tooltousetoimproveone'swritingsisavariedamountofpeerstohelpyouassessyourwork.