Russell Marion

Ms. Ingram
UWRT 1103
September 30, 2015
Midterm
One key concept I feel I am strongly engaging with in this class is getting out of my
comfort zone. Before starting the class, I felt like the subjects I was researching and writing
about werent interesting to me so I didnt put enough time into the work. I was doing that partly
because I was never asked about my interests and given prompts that would restrict me from
pursuing my interests. Now that I am starting to get out of my comfort zone, I feel like I can
write about some interests I have that I never researched or wrote about before and not get
penalized for it. For example, in blog post #3 I researched golf and I saw its on the decline in
the United States and around the world, so I wanted to find out why and then how it can be
reversed. This is just one interest I am able to pursue now that I am able to get out of my
comfort zone.
Another key concept Im strongly engaged with in this class is making connections. For
blog post #2, I read a section in the book on ways of destroying your ethos in writing. I made
the connection that without ethos the author is no longer credible and there is no reason to read
an authors work if that is the case. So, its important to have a good balance of correctly cited
information and explanations of your argument because you want to be credible.
One key concept I am finding challenging to fully understand is composing processes. I
am finding it difficult to use multiple writing strategies to conceptualize, develop, and finalize
my writings. I dont have the right approach when it comes to starting and working through

certain processes like researching topics or looking for appropriate information to use in my
writing. I might be able to get better engaged with this by seeing how other writers processes
and get ideas of how to work through certain processes by doing them myself.
Critical reflection is another concept Im having trouble with because I feel like Im not
giving proper feedback to fellow classmates. I need to do more workshops so I can distinguish
what is working in their writing and what is not then give that feedback in the proper way. One
comment I got was the second paragraph seems like a mixture of two different topics of golf
that can be split up into at least 2 paragraphs. After reading this feedback one classmate gave
me on my exploratory essay, I know what I need to aim for because the feedback helped me
write more and gave my essay more flow.
The other key concept that is proving tricky is responsibility for your own learning. In the
past, the ideas or subjects I studied were chosen by the teacher. Now, I chose what I want to
research and write about in my essays so learning about the subjects and then writing about them
is put on me. I need to start researching more and putting more time into my writing including
the processes such as drafting and revisions. Drafting helps because you can workshop the draft
and find areas of the work that need improvement.