Blog #4

Part 1: This week, I only had a tutorial session with one student. She was a foreign student looking for help on her cover letter and resume. She was applying for an internship at a medical center and needed help with her papers. From what I saw, she wasn't sure exactly should be present in either of them, and was getting them confused with each other. She was placing personal experience, education, and work experience within  her cover letter while putting why she wants to apply for the position in a resume format. Her writing style wasn't very well defined or made much sense, probably due to English not being her first language. Looking at her work allowed me to understand more about what specifically should be included in each paper without crossing over too much. The cover letter needs more focus as a letter to the employer, and how to express how one personally would help the place you are applying for. The resume is much less specific to the the job one is applying for, and instead explains more personal information and experience. After explaining more of this information and what I learned from class, as well as my own cover letter and resume, the student understood more of what needed to occur and expressed she would make changes. I am starting to feel more comfortable with these tutorials, they are interesting to sit in on and also just express and exchange ideas.

Part 2:
Some video game companies and developers have taken risks to express their art, and have received several slaps on the wrists for having controversial content, which deteriorates other’s visions about how mature video games are, and thus making the art within the game unnoticed. Other forms of art depict violent scenes, sexual situations, and sometimes inappropriate material for some people, however they are rarely yelled at or considered as controversial as video games.  There are several video games, even some which are widely popular among gamers today, and are considered extremely violent, include sexual content, racist remarks, or even go as far as “‘glamorizing’ or ‘glossing over’ the real-life massacre at Fallujah” (Vega, Nora). Since these video game developers come under such pressure from the news, government, and people alike, it makes it difficult for the developers to defend their work without help or assistance from others. “Six Days in Fallujah” was one video game that never even made it to store shelves due to the controversy it kicked up, and without the defense of a video game company behind the developers, merely folded under pressure and stopped the production of the game. This game was meant to depict a real life event in Fallujah, Iraq where many Iraqi and American Soldiers fought and died. It allowed the players to experience the actual battle without ever actually being there, similar to what other art medians do. While it was meant to be somewhat of a memorial/documentary by the developers “Atomic Games,” it received lots of criticism for being too realistic, too soon and “in bad taste,” and would “disrespect those that died there” (Floyd, Daniel. “Video Games and Facing Controversy”). While movies and other media may depict similar circumstances and controversies like those presented in “Six Days in Fallujah” and many other games, one might wonder why video games like this are given lots of criticism. 

For this paragraph, I ended up using lots of active verbs and had an active voice. The active voice fits for this paragraph in my opinion because it expresses many details in a strong way. Being assertive with this idea helps the reader to understand what is so wrong about the situation I am discussing. It also tries to explain the positive nature of the game and what it was trying to do without lessening or demeaning the events that occurred in Fallujah. I feel that this paragraph needs to active verbs to get the point across more directly. I do feel that a passive voice doesn't work well for this assignment in general; much of what is important is the actions that video games face as well as the impacts they have. However, I feel passive verb usage would be good when discussing specific games more in-depth for this assignment, which I do later on. I do not have many passive verbs in this assignment, adding a few may be beneficial to express other points. Where exactly I may use passive verbs over active verbs, I am not sure quite yet. It might be better to include passive verbs in sections where I discuss a games review from other sources. 

Part 3:

Placing verbs early on within my sentences helps to express my points clearly and with more enthusiasm than placing them later on in sentences.

Sentences with verbs placed early on can express my points clearly and with more enthusiasm. 

Modifiers allow me to give more in-depth detail within my writing.

I can go in-depth in my writing using Modifiers. 

Blog #3

Part 1: Going to the writing center on Wednesday was very enlightening. I learned about the processes the writing consultants go through to try and provide help. The consultants don't edit other students work at all, only make comments about what should be changed and why. Proof-reading was the last thing people would get help with. Instead, focusing on the assignment was top priority, followed by things like organization and support. While there, I helped and sat in with 2 different students and consultant sessions. Both knew English as a second language, so mistakes  in grammar and wording was common in their work. Much of what needed to be worked on outside of the English was the assortment of the information in a way that made more sense. I feel I did learn a little bit more about what I should do to help my writing; I need to focus on my organizational skills, rather than just blurting out random information throughout my paper. This is what the writing consultants attempt to help student with regarding their writing anyways. If I apply what the writing consultants try to teach for my own writing, my writing could get better. 

Part 2: This chapter provided some useful tips which could easily apply to the development of my cover letter. A good tip I got was verb usage. Placing verbs early on within my sentences helps to express my points clearly and with more enthusiasm than placing them later on in sentences. My sentences and points will be laid out stronger and with more meaning, hopefully peaking the interests of the reader more. Complements allow me to give more description to things I am discussing in my paper, and are fairly necessary. Modifiers are more important in my opinion than many of the things discussed in this chapter. Modifiers allow me to give more in-depth detail within my writing. This could potentially provide more hooks  as well as description of things the reader wants to know. I often use modifiers within my writing to try and hook the reader. 

Part 3: 

 There was good advise on staying on topic with my writing, and not straying far from what needs to be said. 

The chapter provided advise about staying on topic in my writing; I shouldn't stray too far from the main points of interest. 

Allowing verbs to appear earlier in sentences may also make my writing appear much stronger.

I could strengthen my writing by placing verbs earlier in each sentence. 

Blog #2

Part 1:
Please consider my application for the lifeguarding position at the University Recreational Center. I have completed and been certified in Lifeguarding, First-Aid/CPR/AED training, and Blood-borne Pathogen. I am studying for my major in Sociology and understand the importance of rules, legal issues, punctuality, and conflict resolution. In my previous work environments, I have been a strong leader and example for others, on time, trustworthy, helpful, productive, and generally a good employee as well as a kind person. 

I perform well in stressful and professional environments, and understand the importance of providing services to customers while performing my duties in a responsible manner. If there is a problem or issue while working, whether it is customer or duty related, I am very good at problem solving or troubleshooting. Depending on the situation at hand, I always act accordingly to provide the best service possible. I am a quick learner, able to adapt to difficult situations which need my attention. With an opportunity like this one to apply my skills, I am sure I will be a successful candidate for this position. 

Part 2:
These first few chapters provided interesting information and provided good guidelines to help my writing. There was good advise on staying on topic with my writing, and not straying far from what needs to be said. It would be much better for me to continue writing only about myself and what I do as to not bore the reader of my cover letter. Allowing verbs to appear earlier in sentences may also make my writing appear much stronger. It would allow me to express my strengths better in my cover letter to express their importance.

Part 3:
 The quality of my writing is very important to me; I feel inadequate about my work when I don't finish or do well to focus on my writing.

My strength is discovering and displaying information relevant to my paper, and coming up with intriguing ideas and opinions.

Reading Response

In "What a Peer Consultant Is and Isn't" it was discussed that Consultants are better than tutors in that they provide more meaningful and helpful support for people in developing their writing. There are many differences between tutors and consultants, and a consultant provides assistance in a meaningful and honest way. I would agree that a consultant is a better person to seek assistance from rather than a tutor. This article also shows that consultants aren't just helpful at creating good writing, they can help develop better writers as well, teaching the necessary skills to those who want to learn them.

Assessment 1.0

Developing my writing skills is something I am focusing on in hopes that it will benefit my future in several ways. I often am writing research and analytically papers for classes, looking and reviewing articles and data as well as learning and researching new topics or ideas. The quality of my writing is very important to me, I feel inadequate about my work when I don't finish or do well to focus on my writing. I strive to do well and make my writing appear well done and thought out every time. Unfortunately, I have issues during the drafting and revision process, where I don't catch mistakes in my writing during revision or I leave things that I feel make sense but shouldn't be there. When I draft, I often just write ideas out in paragraph form while separating main ideas between paragraphs, and fill in the blanks as I think of them. I flesh out sentences more once I feel I covered my bases. Revision for me constitutes reading aloud what I wrote to see if it makes sense. My strength I feel is coming up with things to discuss during papers that are relevant, and coming up with ideas and opinions that are intriguing to read. However, I feel that sometimes I fall short in the editing and structure department. I also feel like I have problems transitioning between topics. Hopefully, I would like to get my sentence and paragraph structure up to par with how I feel my writing should be at.