English can actually be good

          English has always been my weakest subject, I’ve always had trouble understanding how abstract things like tone, and syntax, and rhetoric itself work. Since I started in this class, rhetoric started to become clear. Starting to how you described how to better our essays about the movie poster, in which I feel like I did decent. So analyzing visual rhetoric became substantially easier thanks to your class. This was much more fun, than taking some randomly assigned boring visual, like those I’ve had experience with in other English classes. I liked very much how we could come into class and discuss the assignments if we had them, or just converse about topics instead of having endless text being shoved down our throats. For example if we were shown a video, or had a small but meaningful assignment to read before class we could come in class and state our opinions. One signature class assignment was to debate what the outcome of zombies vs. vampires would be. This is a demonstration of how we could openly discuss/ debate the topics in class, and not get bored with plentitude of texts, instead we were allowed to research and use our past knowledge to contribute to the assignments, taking away the time consuming reading. Another way this class helped is that we had freedom over assignments and projects, instead of closed and stately ones, which allowed me to maintain interest in them.

Our blogs themselves were designed to do what they were to do, and you graded very leniently. For example the Halloween scary story was not a boring task we had to do, but it still allowed us to incorporate as much as what we could from what we learned. That day we had to also watch a video about fear itself, which was very informative, and showed us what to appeal to and the biological part of fear too. We could apply what we saw from the videos themselves, and then write our stories using the rhetoric to make it more disturbing or scary.

So for the good stuff that was that, but some of the bad, although there isn’t much of that. I’d rather not have done the writing center appointments, because even though it was helpful in tearing my paper apart, the writing center people weren’t much help for some part. They made me read my paper, and asked questions, but didn’t really provide answers for those questions. Same as if I asked a question, they’d tell me the obvious thing, look it up. So in the end it was a waste of time for me to do that, and I could’ve just worked on it alone, where I wasn’t just reading aloud to another person. In fact after the hour of wondering which grammar was right, we still ended up not completely covering my paper.

Finally this class was an enjoyable one, because there wasn’t a hostile environment, our teacher was a teacher, not just a person to assign us work. There were open ended assignments, I learned how to analyze the rhetoric of visuals very well, and even use my knowledge to produce rhetorically effective papers. I hope that my next English class may go as well as this one. Thank you Ms. B for the treats as well.

what a class

Too be completely honest, I came into this class thinking it was going to be the worst class ever. I thought this because I typically don’t like English classes at all. I remember being very surprised during the first week of school because I actually started to somewhat enjoy the class for some reason. This made me really excited because it is always awesome when you enjoy going to class. As the year went on, I enjoyed the class more and more. There were several reasons to why I think I started liking it more. The first reason is because the class became closer and more comfortable with each other. I got to know some of the people in the class and this really does help, because it becomes more of a relaxing and comfortable environment. Another reason is because of our teacher, Ms. B. It was really nice to have a professor that was actually enjoyable to be around and cared about not only our grades, but also us as individuals. Well this is what I thought at least and I hope I’m right! She was not too much older than us so that helped because we were on the same page about most stuff and that was really nice. Those were a few things that I enjoyed about the class, but the things that I didn't enjoy too much is not that shocking. Some of the things that I did not like at all were the papers and blogs, of course. I’m not going to complain much about them though because I know deep down inside that they are actually very helpful. There aren't too many people that I know that actually like to write or type papers for fun and if you do, you are just weird. No matter what you do when you are older, you are going to need to be able to communicate effectively, and part of communicating is writing and speaking, which is what we practiced this semester. The papers we had were manageable for me because we were able to choose the topic that we wrote about for the most part so that really helped me to get through the long and dreadful papers. My favorite graded assignment of the year was definitely the project at the end of the semester that we just finished and presented. This was good chance to make something and be creative, and actually enjoy doing it. The only other grades that we had I think are the blog posts and those were not too bad. The only hard part for me was remembering to do them! Which is why I’m writing this last blog post at the last minute, with grace from Ms. B! Overall, I really did enjoy this class and learned how to be a better writer and communicator. I know my grammar and writing wasn't perfect for this blog post but that’s just because I’m typing like I’m talking, so sorry about that. Thank you Ms. Britenburg for all you did for me and us this semester. I can honestly say it was my favorite class. Hopefully see you around campus! Thanks again!

Final Blog

Nickalas Reynolds

Final Blog

            In the beginning of the year I was skeptical about joining a composition class instead of a literature class. I love to read, especially books that are considered classics like Leo Tolstoy. Also, since I was in AP English Literature and Composition in high school, the class at first seemed like it was going to be a huge waste of time. However, even though I made a 4 on the AP exam, I did not wish the carry the class credits. Within the first few weeks, the class was what I was expecting, a composition class. However, within a few weeks, I really grew to like the class. The writing of the research paper and presenting it to a group is fun and exciting. The ability to confidently talk in public and write about your ideas that you have researched is vital for a job. I thoroughly enjoyed the Ted Talks we did and I would have liked to do more. Analyzing rhetorical elements of different media was really fun and helpful. Knowing what the media is trying to portray, what are their underlying ideas, and how are they portraying it are essential in day-to-day life. This ability to critically think allows use to know go out, analyze the media, and understand exactly what they are saying; whether they are biased, what are they promoting, what are their ulterior motives? The one main thing I did not really like or find useful was reading the Envision in Depth book, the examples given did seem to be too “perfect”, almost like it was not a true essay that was graded but one that was made up over a series of debates. Despite all of this, the other book, The DK Handbook, was essential. I really enjoyed the setup of that book. It made looking for the different writing standards really easy.

            Even though I have taken three college level English classes, I still learn new things every time. I pulled a lot out of your class, mainly experience and more examples of certain kinds of works. Your class taught me how to critically think more and figure out what the reader is supposed to understand from the media, what is the underlying point, and how did the author portray it. You fixed a lot of my errors in the essays, which I like because I cannot stand it when professors do not actually read your essay. NO FLUFF. A common notation written on my paper or GET TO THE POINT was said a few times. I like how you taught us what all of our past teachers did not, to not write fluff. The get to the point comment is fairly common and taught me how to write a dynamic research paper. Throughout elementary, middle, and high school, the person with the longest essay would be the one with the highest grade, not the one with the best paper, content and grammar wise.  Over, I thoroughly enjoyed your class and learned a lot from it. You were a great teacher (maybe a little technologically deficient) but a great teacher never the less. Best wishes

Final Blog

This past semester has been my favorite English class ever.  The classroom dynamics kept everyday interesting and held my attention.  I was even able to make a few friends that I do not think I will forget because of how the dynamics of the class worked.  I also found the time to complete the assignments were a reason I enjoyed the class.  It allowed me to be able to write a better assignment while still being able to keep up with all of my other assignments in my other classes.  This lessened the stress I had when assignments were due.  I also learned to better my writing skills.  I was definitely not expecting an ‘A’ on the first paper, but I received one.  I also liked the ability to have huge class discussions.  That was helpful for me to learn how to be able to form an argument well and also gave me a good laugh from time to time.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how much I liked going to my English class for once.  English has always been one of my worst subjects and those classes always seemed to drag on and on.  However, I did not feel that way in this class, the fifty minutes seemed to be over with before they even started.  Another beneficial aspect of this class was having to use the library.  Without this class and the various projects needing research and library resources, I honestly do not think that I would have entered the library.  I would have gone on to other classes needing to do research and left to do it on my own; I would have tried to do all of my research on my computer without trying the library once.  One thing I would like to have possibly changed is the amount of grades.  Doing poorly on one project could possibly keep a student from being able to pull their grade up to a higher grade.  Even though I admit to not really reading much, I think the pop quizzes should have been graded for a real part of the grade, and not just for extra credit.  Once we all learned after the first quiz that it was only extra credit, I think we all had that mindset that we did not have to really read because it was not really going to affect our grade very much.  I also wish that we would have had more intellectual group debates.  The topics we had made the class really fun and entertaining, and maybe that would have been a good idea for the first one to get us used to the debate technique, but a more serious topic in the class would have probably benefited us more in the long run.  That would probably have helped us to be able to form better arguments during out research paper.  Overall, I thought this was a pretty good class.  The time I spent in the class helped me grow as a writer and as a better student and researcher.  I do not really have many things that I would change to this class.  

Woohoo! I remembered to blog for once!

                Well, um… I am not entirely sure where to start. I guess I’ll say that I did thoroughly enjoy the class; it was a very fun semester. I don’t remember if you said that you were trying to become a full time teacher or if it is just a grad student thing to have to teach English 103. But, if you do want to become a full time teacher, keep up the good work. If not, well, that’s a shame; you could be a good one. I definitely enjoyed this class more than most of the other English classes I’ve taken, and it is probably the only class I took this semester where everyone knew everyone’s names and talked like good friends. As much as I love a good lecture, this class was a welcome departure to liven up my weeks. It did not hurt that the class work was not terribly difficult. Writing has not, is not, and never will be my strong suit. As such, I have a tendency to struggle quite badly through most English classes, but most writing assignments we had in this class were relevant and interesting enough that it was easy to get into writing about them. Plus one for Ms. Britenburg (have I spelled it right yet?). Granted while the work was not very hard, it was copious. I do not think I had more than two Sundays this semester where I was not procrastinating, trying to start writing the draft of something that was due that Monday. Granted, I could have used my time more wisely and not done every assignment at nine o’clock the morning of the due date, but… well… no.

                I thought that, all in all, you did a solid job teaching English 103. I only really have one complaint; that being, there was a severe lack of direction on the major projects, especially the final one. I understand that part of creating a composition assignment is leaving it open ended for the students to get creative with it. However, there is a balance that has to be met between, leaving space for creative minds and making sure everyone is clear on what is expected. I am going to use the final project as an example because it was the greatest offender. For the first week of that project our entire group had literally no idea whatsoever as to what we were going to do for our project because, frankly, we did not know what the project was. All we knew was make an argument, use pictures over words, and 3000 words. That was literally all you would give us; we need more direction than that.

                I don’t want to end on that because you are genuinely a good teacher and you taught a good class. Also I have thirty words left. I think that you have a natural talent for interacting with students and have a solid command over the English language. As such, with a little work, you could make a damn good English teacher. You’re already a lot better than what I normally expect from a grad student teaching the course.

TL;DR its really funny though just read the first 500

Just a waring for those weak of heart this blog post is going to be very honest and i cannot grantee you will like what your reading.
That being said, where to start, there a a lot of things worth mentioning about this class. the first thing and probably one of the things that bothered me the most. OH MY GOSH WHY DID WE HAVE TO BUY THESE BOOKS. Literally a scam that would have made Bernie Madoff proud. We actually used maybe, what like 3 pages of the Envision in Depth book? Sure there were readings assigned in that book but they were pretty much busy work assignments. Everything that was said in the book I'm confident is public knowledge and by that I mean could have been found on the internet, for free. One might argue its easier having all of what we may need in one place but its really not. If I had been assigned readings online I probably would have actually remembered that they were assigned or even remembered to do them. Then there was the Perdue Owl book which, excuse me for literally judging a book by its cover but, when something is printed on lamented pages with that flimsy plastic ring binding I immediately know it is either one of two things; my 5th grade report on the state of Texas, or more accurately, a book full of colorful graphics and lengthy blurbs about sample essays all of this information is almost without a doubt to be found on some free online counterpart or in the library. Come to think of it does our library have the textbooks for classes because why didn't I just do that? I have to be honestly I regret having my parents get these books more than the time I got pissed and threw my moms fruit juicer out the door and breaking it. and that thing was pretty expensive. What I'm saying is after this semester is over I will be repaying my parents in full for those textbooks and profusely apologizing about them. But I digress.... another big thing about the class is that i really dont feel like i learned anything. Whether that be the fault of its design or a fault of my own I cannot say. Sure I now know what "logos", "pathos", "ethos", and "kairos" are but because all these projects were thrown at us rapid fire the class happened too fast for me to register. To put it in terms that might be more recognizable, in our research paper we need a thesis and an implication, that is, what we are trying to argue, and why anyone listening should care. the thesis of this course if I had to guess, was something along the lines of "In this course students will learn how to compose compelling and thoughtful arguments across different mediums (i.e essays, movies, presentations, pictures e.t.c) and learn to apply this knowledge to many different fields as being able to communicate effectively is essential to adult life" now that I just said that I have to say that is one nice blurb, so nice in fact, that I am going to open the course book and see what the actual blurb says so if you'll excuse me for a moment.... well let me tell you, maybe I did learn a thing or two cause this blurb is BORING let me read it to you *this next portion is to be read aloud in my voice* the blurb says as follow " Training in composing correct and effective expository and argumentative essays, including writing documented essays." well obviously my blurb is much better but just one note "correct" and "effective" are worlds apart when it comes to writing.(see: Presidential elections) now back to my point, I was given the thesis of this course, but I never got the implication. My blurb includes an implication but even if something similar to it was said it still would have fallen short. Despite all that there is one thing I did like, this blog being it. As my blogs have shown I am not the best when it comes to grammer. I think this blog is a very useful tool because its a way of expressing ideas without being subject to grammer Nazis. I think more writing classes should have something like this cause a lot of the time people may say something worth hearing but it is disregarded because they misused a semi-colon. THIS HAS BEEN EDITED.

I hope this has been a helpful evaluation. i do have more general comments but alas tis the season (of finals) and im seriously concerned about my math grade im actually emailing my teacher right now asking him a reasonable bribe for a passing grade cause honestly i barely understand integration let along logarithmic differentiation like seriously, i just got an honorary doctorate from devry just for saying that word.  

good night and good luck to you all on your finals,

Franklin

Last Minute Thoughts

When I walked in to a class of almost all guys I thought I walked into an engineering class instead of my English class. Once that was sorted I was still confused, thinking this was just going to be another English class based on literature. I did not realize that this class would have a greater emphasis on composition. Even though I usually prefer math classes to English, I like how the material in this class emphasized communication versus analysis of particular passages. The school’s promotion of “writing across the curriculum” is understandable considering we need to be able to express our ideas through writing, even in math-oriented classes. Because a lot of my previous English classes were about literature, I do not remember ever having an emphasis on solely rhetoric and dissecting the uses of ethos, pathos, and logos in material. Often I think English classes are ridiculed for all the time spent looking for symbols and other literary elements for particular readings. In contrast, the papers and projects included in this class were a nice transition to the general level of expected of us in college. The research paper was a nice introduction to the resources available to us on campus, whether from books or other databases. In the past I’ve written papers without an outline or an annotated bibliography and I struggle trying to trudge through to reach the word count. However requiring several intermediate steps before finally writing our draft, it was much easier to ensure that I included all the content I wanted for my argument. Our mandatory trip to the writing center was useful to me, considering I do not usually edit my papers and it gave me the motivation to do so. Although the multimedia project was confusing and seemingly unfocused in the beginning, I enjoyed the freedom we had creating this project. There are not many opportunities to use anything besides word processors to express our ideas. With the multimedia project, I finally get to see what the appeal was for Tumblr and also explore other mediums.

When I reflect on the course, I honestly don’t have much criticism for it. Some of the things we did in class sometimes seemed like ways to pass time and use the 50 minutes. I think the debates were funny but I didn’t particularly feel that I got much out of it. (Although it did emphasize the need to consider both sides of an argument to strengthen one’s, own). Aside from that I didn’t see the relevance of our debate to the research paper. Most days however class was actually somewhat refreshing to the lectures in all my other classes. The class dynamic was nice, and somewhat reminiscent of high school when students knew each other’s names for the most part. Considering that the class encouraged most of us to use the library’s resources for the first time and write a research paper I don’t see why this couldn’t just replace Library 100. It was a good transition to college work and if we were also introduced to the eportfolio I think we wouldn’t need Library 100.