English 102 aims to benefit a student’s reading and writing habits, contributing not only to one’s college career, but one’s life career; whether a teacher, secretary, laborer, or doctor. The value of reading and writing has decreased, and not taken as seriously in America as it has in the past. Evidence shows this in Americas decreasing literacy rate, which has been on the decline for decades. The way I can make a change is to do my best improving my writing and research skills to pass my knowledge on to those who come in contact with my writings. While I still have much to learn, English 102 has gifted me with new skills I will continue to practice over my life time. In the last month studying English at Boise State University, I have developed a new improved reading strategy, my process of inquiry has changed in the type of sources I look for, and by using blogger I am able to gain experience using the internet as a medium to communicate with the masses.
The ability to read is tantamount in living and operating in society; one must be able to understand the world around him/her to operate in the technological culture we live in today. Narrowing this idea down to academic reading, understanding more than the words and basic concepts of the reading, a student must be able to see the underlying messages and identify himself/herself with the writer conceptually. This idea is crucial for successful writing, so one can be concise in clearly laying out the ideas, on more than a superficial level, to the reader. Writing Analytically provides a useful set of tips to become an effective college reader; I found the most useful tip to be while reading, is to understand the material like you would be talking about it with someone else, instead of reading to get the main points, making the information you read “stick,” and not be forgotten. Now, when I am researching a topic to write about, I always read with the idea of “how will I talk about this?” Using this strategy to become, as Writing Analytically says, a “conversationalist,” gives me as a writer an edge when communicating with my target audience.
Behind a well written academic paper is the research that sustains and maintains the arguments and ideas presented. For some people, research consists of typing random thoughts in to Google, seeing what “pops up,” then making a decision about which link to click on. While this type of research would generally be tolerated at the high school level, college professors will not accept or identify this type of research as acceptable. Instead, seeking reliable sources using academic programs to find critical essays or academic journals not only benefits the topic you are writing about, but shows the reader what you are writing is trustworthy and has depth. By using this process of inquiry while searching for legitimate sources, I have received very positive feedback from readers posting comments such as “I read the paragraph over and over I cannot find anything wrong with it” and “Dude you do a very good job all throughout your bibliography and I really have a hard time at finding things you can improve on, simply because you do such a good job.” While I need a constant flow of helpful critiquing observations to increase my writing, comments like these boost a writer’s self-esteem, and encourage diligence in the continuation of one’s work. If everyone could improve their process of inquiry in searching for sources, I believe everyone’s writing would significantly increase in topical structure and depth; not only would papers be written with an intent to captivate it’s audience, the information would go into detail about subjects many people would not venture into, potentially creating more interest in areas that need help which most people would never hear about or understand.
What sets apart a service learning program from a typical English class is the way students blog about their ideas and experiences which are open to the public. Blogging lets other users read and respond to whatever you blog about, this feature is very beneficial in the improvement of one’s writing. In the last month I have been blogging, I have received multiple comments that have helped me edit my work. One comment in specific, referring to one my bibliographies, said “I’m not entirely clear on what the argument is.” That statement let me know that my writing was too vague in one of the prompts I was working with, so I went back and restructured what I was trying to communicate so my words would convey a clear message to my readers. Now, my opening sentence designed to be extremely direct and concise, “Jill Hohenstein and Lynn Tran, professors from King’s College in London, aim to benefit children in cognitive development by evoking open ended questions due to the labels promoted by scientific exhibits.” The reader knows the goal of the argument and will not have to re-read the information. The second feature of blogging beneficial to me personally, is the experience of using the internet as a medium to communicate to the masses. Currently I am working towards becoming a dentist, and as a dentist, you are also a business owner; managing a staff and promoting your service. To be successful, a dentist must build up his clientele and have a steady stream of patients; this is where the experience of blogger will aid in promoting my office virtually by ads, websites, and if people like me enough, will blog about how well I fixed their teeth! While that idea might seem farfetched, the more people who talk about your service, the more people will remember your name. While other people involved in service learning will complain about how blogging is pointless extra work, I see it as an opportunity to practice public communication.
In conclusion, the way people read, whether academically or recreationally, always has an underlying strategy; that strategy can be improved by reading to be a “conversationalist” about the material. Reading as a conversationalist will create ideas which can be researched and developed into writings with ideas supported by academic journals etc. Through blogger, your ideas about a certain topic can be published and open to the public, where you will get feedback on your material and raise an awareness of your idea. Through this process of inquiry, can American society be improved holistically therefore raising the declining literacy rate by developing a greater interest in publishing ones ideas. The importance of constantly improving one’s writing is a lifelong task which can never be mastered, however, being an effective writer is beneficial to one’s career and academic success. In English 102 I have developed a new improved reading strategy, my process of inquiry has changed in the type of sources I look for, and by using blogger I am able to gain experience using the internet as a medium to communicate with the masses.
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