Reflective Dialogue
Julia Seavey
ENG 100
Reflective Dialogue Q&A
Due: 3/10/14
Reflective Q&A
This I Believe: Writing Process
Sabatino: Can you describe the scene(s) where you wrote the This I Believe (TIB) essay. Be descriptive. Is this sustainable?
Julia: The majority of my This I Believe essay was done in my dining room on the computer, when no one was home or everyone was asleep since my dining room is passed through a lot and it gets pretty distracting. Heck, I tried to keep the room set up like no one was home; with the lights in the dining room off and the lights in the living room on. It was my final paragraph that really tripped me up, and I wound up writing this part in my bedroom. My bedroom is a usually a huge mess, but it's the place where I generate ideas the most, because of that mess. I feel pressed for ideas in a neat room - my dining room, for example, is fairly neat, and I'm not allowed to make a mess of it since I tend to forget to clean up - so whenever I'm really stuck, I go up there.
Sabatino: You wrote a blog post about six strategies to become a better writer. Have you used those strategies when blogging and writing the TIB essay? Please discuss which of these strategies helped you the most when you wrote your TIB essay?
Julia: Back in my Writing blog entry I did mention six of my writing processes. I did end up using a few of them. The first, wearing comfy clothes, is pretty much a given; it wasn't the most helpful, but it was definitely used the most. Otherwise, I probably would've taken longer to finish each draft, and it no doubt would've shown in misplaced sentences. The most helpful one was definitely the fourth one where I say that I need to have sound off. Sound just irritates me for some reason when I'm writing. The silence I surrounded myself with was definitely the most useful. Otherwise... Well, I'd probably still be stuck writing a second draft.
Sabatino: Describe your process for writing and revising the TIB essay (freewrite, list, found poem, etc.). What helped you the most?
Julia: The lists and freewrites were definitely the most useful. The lists allowed me to actually generate ideas, which I tend to get stuck on easily. I'm alright when I'm given a boundary to work it, but when I'm given to write about anything, I tend to get confused easily. The freewrite, on the other hand, gave me a chance to hone in on my writing and really see what worked and what sounded right. It gave me a chance to test my writing before I started my essay. So definitely them.
Sabatino: How has the blog impacted your writing process?
Julia: My blog's given me a space to try out a few different styles of writing, as well as helped me feel more open about my writing. I don't feel as nervous writing about my experiences and thoughts as I did when I first learned we were going to be posting our writing online. I think the blog has done a lot more for me than formal classes about how to structure your writing.
Sabatino: Please share your thoughts about the revision techniques we've used in this course (peer review, show and tell, five senses, found poem, etc.)
Julia: Peer review is always helpful, since it gives us a chance to see what the class thinks. A third party view helps to fine tune it. I really dug the Show and Tell method as well. It really helped to give a sense of where I was in regards to how much I was putting you into the story instead of just talking about it. The Found Poem... I don't honestly know how I feel about it. I struggled with it and still don't really see the point of it, so I guess my opinion of it isn't good.
Sabatino: What specific revisions have you made to your TIB essay?
Julia: My first draft had two major problems; it was too long, and it had two scenes in it. I was giving you too much information about the setting, and that in itself made it feel a little more telling than showing. In the second draft, I cut away the first paragraph and started it with dialogue. I cut away the excess and just threw you into the story from the beginning. In my third draft, I revised the story after the initial dialogue. Part of me really didn't like how it was done, so I thought I would try rewriting it. I even cut off the end dialogue from my dad. It felt out of place.
Sabatino: What is your plan for future revisions to your TIB essay?
Julia: I'm really focused on figuring out how to reword my belief paragraph. I don't really feel like I'm spot on about my belief, and the overall composition of it feels sloppy to me. Other than that, I might go back into the body and fine tune it, maybe add more dialogue. I'm a little iffy on that though. We'll see.
Sabatino: We have used a farming metaphor to conceptualize a sustainable writing process. What metaphor would you use to illustrate your writing process thus far?
Julia:
This I Believe: Writing Product
Sabatino: What is your belief statement (word-for-word)?
Julia: I believe in siblings.
Sabatino: Do you think your belief statement grabs the audience’s attention? Why?
Julia: Hm... Half yes, half no. Anyone with siblings or people they call their siblings knows the strength of a brotherly or sisterly bond, but the sentence is just... I don't know, vague? Awkward? I think it does grab attention, but it also doesn't.
Sabatino: What is your scene?
Julia: The scene is a day I saved my brother from falling into the creek at my dad's work.
Sabatino: How does your scene illustrate your belief?
Julia: I can't say that me saving my brother was a conscious decision. It was more of an unconscious reaction. If it was someone that I didn't feel particularly close to, I might not have reacted, or I would've reacted too slow. And I was six; back when I was six I thought that my older brother was this guy that could do anything. So for me to just automatically react in a split second to save him is why I believe this.
Sabatino: What questions do you have for me about your TIB essay?
Writer
Personal Website
Sabatino: Discuss your experiences with creating and maintaining a website for this course?
Julia: It's definitely been different. I was a bit shocked and nervous when I learned we were going to be keeping websites. It's hard enough to speak in front of the class for me for crying out loud. But, as time went on, it got easier. The technology is really easy to figure out. I'm getting a little more comfortable with actually changing the banners at the top. My only issue is remembering to update things, and that's more of a me problem, not the website.
Sabatino: Do you think your site is organized and easy to navigate?
Julia: I do. I have all the tabs I need, they all link to the right pages, my blog's tags all bring you to the things on that topic... I'd say it's easy to navigate and organized.
Sabatino: What type of identity have you constructed through your site?
Julia: I think I've given myself this kind of weird, quiet identity. I mention my love of traveling on my About page, I mention that I like painting - heck, the banner picture for my blog is one of my paintings! But then I sort of go on about society and people. I think I come across as thoughtful, but that thoughtfulness also puts me as someone that's quiet and just watches, instead of participates. As for the weird... Well, I do have my website header as "Are you lost, Traveler?" That in itself stems from video games. And my "Song of the Week" is generally something you wouldn't hear on the radio. So I've made myself out to be a little strange, I guess.
Personal Blog
Sabatino: What are your thoughts about creating and maintaining a blog? Is your blog organized and easy to navigate?
Julia: I have to say, I was really nervous and put off by the idea of creating and maintaining a blog. But, after the first few posts it was a cakewalk. I have all of my posts set to a tag, so it's easy to find whatever post you or anyone may be looking for. The only problem I have is that I usually forget to give my posts a tag when I first publish them, but I usually go right back in and fix that a second after I do it.
Sabatino: What are your thoughts about blogging? Please consider the public, social network nature of a blog as well as your initial thoughts in the beginning of the semester as compared to now.
Julia: I can't really say I'm a fan of blogging. It's not my thing, not just because I'm a private person by nature, but because in any journal or blog experience I've had, I usually forget to update it and then ultimately ditch it. I also am not too fond on how disrespectful some people can get when responding to something personal someone may post about. Not that that's happened to me, but you can see why. However, this site has given me a bit of a better opinion about blogging. There's a lack of that disrespectful nature some people can have. I'm still kind of bad about keeping updated, but I have been enjoying blogging on here and sharing stories and just writing. I can't say I like blogging, but for this site, I do like it a lot.
Questions for Midterm Conference
Sabatino: Parting comments? Questions for me?
Writer:
Sabatino: Can you describe the scene(s) where you wrote the This I Believe (TIB) essay. Be descriptive. Is this sustainable?
Julia: The majority of my This I Believe essay was done in my dining room on the computer, when no one was home or everyone was asleep since my dining room is passed through a lot and it gets pretty distracting. Heck, I tried to keep the room set up like no one was home; with the lights in the dining room off and the lights in the living room on. It was my final paragraph that really tripped me up, and I wound up writing this part in my bedroom. My bedroom is a usually a huge mess, but it's the place where I generate ideas the most, because of that mess. I feel pressed for ideas in a neat room - my dining room, for example, is fairly neat, and I'm not allowed to make a mess of it since I tend to forget to clean up - so whenever I'm really stuck, I go up there.
Sabatino: You wrote a blog post about six strategies to become a better writer. Have you used those strategies when blogging and writing the TIB essay? Please discuss which of these strategies helped you the most when you wrote your TIB essay?
Julia: Back in my Writing blog entry I did mention six of my writing processes. I did end up using a few of them. The first, wearing comfy clothes, is pretty much a given; it wasn't the most helpful, but it was definitely used the most. Otherwise, I probably would've taken longer to finish each draft, and it no doubt would've shown in misplaced sentences. The most helpful one was definitely the fourth one where I say that I need to have sound off. Sound just irritates me for some reason when I'm writing. The silence I surrounded myself with was definitely the most useful. Otherwise... Well, I'd probably still be stuck writing a second draft.
Sabatino: Describe your process for writing and revising the TIB essay (freewrite, list, found poem, etc.). What helped you the most?
Julia: The lists and freewrites were definitely the most useful. The lists allowed me to actually generate ideas, which I tend to get stuck on easily. I'm alright when I'm given a boundary to work it, but when I'm given to write about anything, I tend to get confused easily. The freewrite, on the other hand, gave me a chance to hone in on my writing and really see what worked and what sounded right. It gave me a chance to test my writing before I started my essay. So definitely them.
Sabatino: How has the blog impacted your writing process?
Julia: My blog's given me a space to try out a few different styles of writing, as well as helped me feel more open about my writing. I don't feel as nervous writing about my experiences and thoughts as I did when I first learned we were going to be posting our writing online. I think the blog has done a lot more for me than formal classes about how to structure your writing.
Sabatino: Please share your thoughts about the revision techniques we've used in this course (peer review, show and tell, five senses, found poem, etc.)
Julia: Peer review is always helpful, since it gives us a chance to see what the class thinks. A third party view helps to fine tune it. I really dug the Show and Tell method as well. It really helped to give a sense of where I was in regards to how much I was putting you into the story instead of just talking about it. The Found Poem... I don't honestly know how I feel about it. I struggled with it and still don't really see the point of it, so I guess my opinion of it isn't good.
Sabatino: What specific revisions have you made to your TIB essay?
Julia: My first draft had two major problems; it was too long, and it had two scenes in it. I was giving you too much information about the setting, and that in itself made it feel a little more telling than showing. In the second draft, I cut away the first paragraph and started it with dialogue. I cut away the excess and just threw you into the story from the beginning. In my third draft, I revised the story after the initial dialogue. Part of me really didn't like how it was done, so I thought I would try rewriting it. I even cut off the end dialogue from my dad. It felt out of place.
Sabatino: What is your plan for future revisions to your TIB essay?
Julia: I'm really focused on figuring out how to reword my belief paragraph. I don't really feel like I'm spot on about my belief, and the overall composition of it feels sloppy to me. Other than that, I might go back into the body and fine tune it, maybe add more dialogue. I'm a little iffy on that though. We'll see.
Sabatino: We have used a farming metaphor to conceptualize a sustainable writing process. What metaphor would you use to illustrate your writing process thus far?
Julia:
This I Believe: Writing Product
Sabatino: What is your belief statement (word-for-word)?
Julia: I believe in siblings.
Sabatino: Do you think your belief statement grabs the audience’s attention? Why?
Julia: Hm... Half yes, half no. Anyone with siblings or people they call their siblings knows the strength of a brotherly or sisterly bond, but the sentence is just... I don't know, vague? Awkward? I think it does grab attention, but it also doesn't.
Sabatino: What is your scene?
Julia: The scene is a day I saved my brother from falling into the creek at my dad's work.
Sabatino: How does your scene illustrate your belief?
Julia: I can't say that me saving my brother was a conscious decision. It was more of an unconscious reaction. If it was someone that I didn't feel particularly close to, I might not have reacted, or I would've reacted too slow. And I was six; back when I was six I thought that my older brother was this guy that could do anything. So for me to just automatically react in a split second to save him is why I believe this.
Sabatino: What questions do you have for me about your TIB essay?
Writer
Personal Website
Sabatino: Discuss your experiences with creating and maintaining a website for this course?
Julia: It's definitely been different. I was a bit shocked and nervous when I learned we were going to be keeping websites. It's hard enough to speak in front of the class for me for crying out loud. But, as time went on, it got easier. The technology is really easy to figure out. I'm getting a little more comfortable with actually changing the banners at the top. My only issue is remembering to update things, and that's more of a me problem, not the website.
Sabatino: Do you think your site is organized and easy to navigate?
Julia: I do. I have all the tabs I need, they all link to the right pages, my blog's tags all bring you to the things on that topic... I'd say it's easy to navigate and organized.
Sabatino: What type of identity have you constructed through your site?
Julia: I think I've given myself this kind of weird, quiet identity. I mention my love of traveling on my About page, I mention that I like painting - heck, the banner picture for my blog is one of my paintings! But then I sort of go on about society and people. I think I come across as thoughtful, but that thoughtfulness also puts me as someone that's quiet and just watches, instead of participates. As for the weird... Well, I do have my website header as "Are you lost, Traveler?" That in itself stems from video games. And my "Song of the Week" is generally something you wouldn't hear on the radio. So I've made myself out to be a little strange, I guess.
Personal Blog
Sabatino: What are your thoughts about creating and maintaining a blog? Is your blog organized and easy to navigate?
Julia: I have to say, I was really nervous and put off by the idea of creating and maintaining a blog. But, after the first few posts it was a cakewalk. I have all of my posts set to a tag, so it's easy to find whatever post you or anyone may be looking for. The only problem I have is that I usually forget to give my posts a tag when I first publish them, but I usually go right back in and fix that a second after I do it.
Sabatino: What are your thoughts about blogging? Please consider the public, social network nature of a blog as well as your initial thoughts in the beginning of the semester as compared to now.
Julia: I can't really say I'm a fan of blogging. It's not my thing, not just because I'm a private person by nature, but because in any journal or blog experience I've had, I usually forget to update it and then ultimately ditch it. I also am not too fond on how disrespectful some people can get when responding to something personal someone may post about. Not that that's happened to me, but you can see why. However, this site has given me a bit of a better opinion about blogging. There's a lack of that disrespectful nature some people can have. I'm still kind of bad about keeping updated, but I have been enjoying blogging on here and sharing stories and just writing. I can't say I like blogging, but for this site, I do like it a lot.
Questions for Midterm Conference
Sabatino: Parting comments? Questions for me?
Writer: