Iveta Marusak's reflections on computers and composition writing

Marusak

Journal Entries

Iveta Marusak Course Journal

Journal Entry One: Me a Writer?

I guess everyone is required to take at least one composition course, so it doesn't bother me to have to take this class. In some ways I am actually excited about taking the class. I am not a great writer, and I hope that this class will give me some tools that will make me more successful in other college classes that require writing. I know that most classes have at least some writing. Also, I think since I have a good attitude about the course, I will be able to write well during it.

I learned that I could get better when it comes to writing different kinds of essays. There is also a lot about writing that I don't know, and this course will help me. One of the ways that the course can help me is that I can learn to write what I think better. It seems hard to put what you think on paper. Also, I am a terrible speller and do not have a very good vocabulary. Maybe this course will help with this also.

Journal Entry Two: Brainstorming and Thesis

Brainstorming List of the impact computers have had on my life.

1. They make it easier to write because I am a bad speller.

2. I do not like to use paper and pencil because it takes too much time.

3. I have a computer in my car which helps it run better.

4. I can go on Facebook because there are computers.

5. I can take some classes online which gets my course work done faster.

6. Having a laptop means that I can go anywhere and have a computer.

7. I am able to have all of the music I want.

8. I can use email or tweet to talk to anyone.

9. I can make free phone calls from the internet.

10. It is easier to complete assignments because of the computer.

11. It seems to cause people to be lazier than they used to be.

12. It sometimes messes up and then can cause a lot of problems.

14. It makes it so everyone can have a whole bunch of TV channels.

15. Gaming is good and bad. Fun, but it makes a lot of people zone out.

Thesis: The computer has made it easier to communicate and work, but it does have its downside too.

Journal Entry Three: Brainstorming and Organization

I would probably focus more on the positive aspects of the computer than the negative ones because it seems that computers are more positive overall than negative. To develop the thesis, I would talk about my eighth and ninth entries (communication), the sixth entry (about mobility with a laptop), and then I would talk about how computer glitches can have widespread negative effects.

Outline

I. Introduction and thesis.

II. Communication.

III. Work Applications

IV. Computer Glitches

V. Conclusion.

Journal Entry Four: Revising

Purpose and Audience: The main audience for the paper is anyone young person who has a grandparent. It is meant to help the person slow down and realize that everyone is not computer savvy. The purpose of the essay is to help these grandchildren with ways that they can actually communicate with their grandparent that will have more meaning to them. Several times it talks about the smell and feel. This shows the reader that some people, especially those that do not use a computer, would like to get a letter than an email.

Thesis Statement, Topic Sentences and Paragraphs: It seems that the thesis statement for this essay is the first sentence "Instead of using emails, mail a letter to your grandparents." From this statement, the writer goes in to build the entire essay. This statement is also the first topic sentence and it describes the paragraph about writing instead of sending electronic mail. The second topic sentence is much like the first and does not seem to go with the following paragraph as well as the first one. The last paragraph starts with "The convenience and efficiency of computers can't be matched by regular postal service," which helps conclude the essay.

Evidence: The author talks about what an email is, and that it is impersonal. A letter is tactile, and it is easier for someone to be reminded of the person who wrote it. The author also talks about the fact that computers have only been around for a short period of time. This means that some people are not used to emails, but they have gotten used to receiving letters. Another piece of evidence is that a letter is permanent, while an email is not.

Organization: The essay is organized in three different parts. First, it talks about why grandparents may enjoy letters more than emails. The second paragraph talks about how letters are more real than emails. The third paragraph wraps the whole thing up. The essay has the same thread throughout the article about sending letters instead of letters.

Journal Entry Five: Public Space

Part One: As far as changing the way I act to satisfy someone else, I thought about having a job. It seems like especially in a job where you have to deal with the public a person is going to have adjust their way of doing things. If a person works in a fast food place, then they have to be able to put the other person's interests ahead of their own. This means that if the customer is belligerent, then the worker will have to try and calm them down. Even if that is not what the worker would normally do.

Another time that public space may be altered is when an adult is around children. The child may be more selfish than the adult and not willing to alter their way of doing things. Also, the adult has enough experience that they are better able to alter the way that they do things. A child may also make demands that are against what an adult may normally do, but they alter that to please the child. It seems that there are a lot of situations like this.

Part Two: If a person is a poor speller, or does not pay attention to grammar, they make it harder to read what they have written. The reader is expecting something smooth. So, if the writer makes it to where they have to start and stop a lot, it can make it difficult for the reader. Bad grammar just sounds bad to the ear, so a reader will probably not understand what they are saying. Bad spelling may make it hard for the reader to understand the word that is being written.

Journal Entry Six: Narration

Scene: Going through my finals last year caused me to have stress about the tests themselves, and to worry about the grades I was going to make. Also, I was pressured by my friends to spend time with them instead if studying.

Key Actions: I realized that if I was going to make college work, I was going to have buckle down and study. I had to ignore my friends, which was not a popular decision sometimes, and it was hard for me to do.

Key Participants: Mostly the friends that I have.

Key Lines of Dialogue: I can't remember anything specifically, but most of the conversations were about going to a club or a restaurant. I was not able most of the time.

Feelings: I felt like my friends were not supporting me which made the experience even harder.

Journal Entry Seven: Description

Sensory Details: I am going to use the situation that I used in the last journal entry for this one also. In my mind's eye I could see what my friends were doing, and I could see the pages in front of me. The smell of the library was stale, but the smell of a restaurant is pleasing. When I was studying, I could hear all of the sights and sounds around me and they were distracting, but if I had went with my friends all of the sounds would have enhanced the experience. At a restaurant you can enjoy the taste of food with friends, but stale pizza while studying does not taste good. Finally, I could touch the books and the papers, and they were cold; the main touch when I am with friends is them. A friend feels better than a book.

Comparison: Flipping pages in a book when your friends a partying without you is like standing in line at the DMV.

Evaluation: The easiest one to write about was sight. I guess that is because I use it more often than all of the other senses. It just seems that people are adjusted to sight better than all of the other senses. The hardest for this exercise was taste. It was difficult to equate taste to having difficulty with finals studying.

Journal Entry Eight: Illustration

List

1. Tired

2. Frustration

3. Anger

4. Peace

5. Overwhelmed

6. Distraught

7. Uncomplaining

8. Help

9. Irritated

10. Grateful

Some of the words that I used could be morphed into one. I thought about specific situations when I was going through difficulties because of the balancing act and that led to some of the negative words. I feel anger because when things do not work out it seems like it is because someone else is not helping when they should be. Anger seems to be a natural reaction. I do not want to be angry at a specific person, so I usually am angry at the situation.

I can remember a time that I felt peace about the whole arrangement also. One time I was having to take a test and I was also having some difficulty at home. I basically just meditated about the importance of both, and realized that I needed to focus on the test. After I finished the test I could work on the family situation. It worked out, and I felt a lot of peace because I thought I had made a mature decision.

Another word I used was uncomplaining because I try to make sure that I do not complain about the difficulties I face. Sometimes people seem to be yelling at me at work, school and home. I just have to realize that they may be frustrated to. It is difficult sometimes, and I will complain but very rarely. It just does not seem to do any good.

Thesis: Balancing all of the responsibilities one has can be difficult, but by time management, maintaining healthy relationships, and separating the important from the mundane life can be a lot easier.

Journal Entry Nine: Comparison and Contrast

Doctors have always scared me for some reason. When I was small, I remember a doctor was going to give me a shot. Although my mom was holding me, I still saw the needle coming closer and knew it was going to hurt. I could not help crying, and then screaming, when the needle was inserted. I am less of a baby about shots now, but not by much.

Journal Entry Ten: Classification and Division

Students are most likely to cheat because they want to make it easier for themselves; basically, because they are lazy. This can be broken up as stemming from fear of failure, a prolonged exposure to this type of activity, or the person could have developed a moral code in which this was okay for them.

Journal Entry Twelve: Argument

Using compare/contrast, it is easy to respond to the piece based on what would be gained and what would be lost. If a person buys an organ, or sells and organ, they are either harming themselves or another person. But, they are also gaining money while the other person is gaining a life-giving organ.

A dead body remains a human body. That means that they should be afforded respect. Also, it should remind the person seeing the body of their own mortality. They could be the person on the slab, and then how would they feel if they were disrespected. A dead body may be missing the essence of life, but other than that it is the same as when it was living.

However, there are those who take it too far. A dead body can be used for medical research. If it helps other people to live better lives, then it is not disrespect. When people think that any type of organ removal is disrespect, they go too far. It is possible to essentially mutilate a body with good purpose.

However, my basic thought is that a dead body should be afforded the same respect because it was once living. Sometimes the body will be used in research or for transplantation, but that should only be when they gave express permission. The person should be able to be remembered as they were in life no matter who they are. It is wrong to just throw the body around like a stick of wood. Using it with no more feeling than if it was a doll.

Journal Entry Thirteen: Web Site Evaluation

The two websites offer a lot of information. It seems like both of them have a lot of information to offer. The difference in the two is mainly utility. Although both look good, and have a lot of different helps, one is a lot more user friendly. It seems that I can get lot more out of the Riley Guide than the My Guides site.

Basically I tried to look at both guides the same way as I would a text book. A book that has no appeal as to color or pictures is hard to read. Also, a text book should have a good table of contents that is easily read and accessed. A web site that has a plain style with stacked links, is like a dull text book. Also too much advertising makes it more confusing.

My Guides was a plain web site. Yes, they used a lot of different colors, but the links were not easily read. The font on much of the web site was too small. Since many people searching for jobs are older now it would be a good idea to write in a large font. Also, I did not like the individual pages when I got to them.

The Riley Guide web site was much more professional. The colors were subtle and the ads were to the side so that they did not distract. When I went to some of the links to other pages I was able to perform many different functions. Riley would help me write a resume or actually find a job in my field. This site also offered partners who were able to help with the job hunt also.

On final analysis, the two sites did pretty much the same thing. The biggest different was that the Riley site was much easier to use. Also, I was not inundated by overly bright colors and useless advertising. The links to other sites were much the same for both.

Journal Entry Fourteen: Notes and Citations.

MLA

APA

Journal Entry Fifteen: Course Reflection

I have actually learned a lot about writing in this course. I am still not able to spell that well, but I guess that takes more time than I have given it. I liked the last few the best. It seems very useful to be able to read a website and evaluate it. I also thought that this would be a difficult course. It turns out that it was not.

I was actually scared to take the course in some ways. I have never been a very good writer, and I was afraid that I could not achieve the grade I wanted. One other issue I had with writing is that I had a bad history with writing courses. It all seemed like too much grammar and spelling. Since I am not good at either, I felt that this would not be a good course for me. Unfortunately, I had to take it.

I was pleasantly surprised by the course. I had enough time to complete the exercises, and it did not overtax me. I learned to write better (at least I think so) because I paid attention to what was taught. I learned that writing is not all about grammar and spelling. It can actually be fun.

I think one of the most helpful parts of the course was that I was able to write papers that had meaning to me. I was able to think about my own life. It is much easier writing about something I understand than what so many other writing courses have the students do. I was glad that I could reflect on what I knew rather than some book. It made the course more personal.

Also, I was able to glean from the lessons some things that I needed to work on. I had no idea where to start myself. I realize that my writing could use work, but it is hard to change it on your own. This course gave me some insight into what I needed, so I could change it. I had a really good time.