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Ellie Ostler
UWRT 1101
Ms. Ingram
October 1, 2014
Midterm
A. For my first blog post, we were required to ask any questions we had about the upcoming
semester of our first writing class as freshman in college. Most of my questions referred to what
we should expect in the class. I now know that UWRT 1101 is more than just reading and
writing essays. We do not need time in class to read because the assignments are short enough to
read in our own time and then discuss in class. Our class gives us the opportunity to discuss
different texts- whether it be our own, another students, or a professional authors- in a
welcoming environment for us to not only understand the information but for us to be able to
apply what we learn to other topics. These discussions are held for everyone to work together to
improve our analytical thinking and prepare us for when we complete tasks on our own. Another
concern of mine mentioned in my first blog post was how difficult the class was going to be.
Every writing and reading assignment is made for us to learn from; moreover, we are not just
working to receive a grade, rather we are learning from our mistakes and experiences to improve
ourselves. I have realized that I do not need to worry so much about my grade as long as I focus
on improving myself by applying what I learn in class to the tasks assigned outside of class.

B. Some of the most difficult of the nine key concepts are thinking critically and independent
inquiry. These concepts would also be considered as getting out of my comfort zone which is
another key concept. These two concepts get me out of my comfort zone because in high school

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we were trained to simply memorize and regurgitate information. Teachers set many limitations
on assignments which I believe hindered our writing experience. Now that we are in college, we
have the freedom to do more with the tasks given to us. This freedom allows us to think critically
and make connections on our own which can be difficult at times because we are retraining our
brains to think in a new way. Another key concept is the writing and revision process. I found
that this is the most interesting concept because of how helpful other people in the class are with
providing feedback. During writing workshops, everyone there plans to improve and realizes that
we must take responsibility for our own learning. From writing workshops and class discussions,
I feel that I am best at growing in intellect and maturity. Moreover, I like making the most of
every situation and I have realized that classes are about expanding knowledge and improving
yourself.

C. My favorite Literacy Narrative draft was draft two. I have written many essays in the past but
I have never had the ability to truly make it my own in the way I did for this draft. I loved having
the freedom to depict a memory in the form of a story. It felt like a masterpiece and rather than
following guidelines of writing a thesis and arguing a side I could focus on the sensory details to
make the story an escape for whomever read it. Mrs. Dellinger- even to someone taller than 4
feet- was intimidating. Over 5 and a half feet tall with a permanent scowl on her face, she would
lean over us to look us right in the face. This always made us lose whatever train of thought we
had when we looked into her grimace filled with wrinkles and smelled the pungent resonance of
her last meal. It was interesting remembering the situation and people from my past and putting
it into words for other people to see. One of the main changes I made when revising was adding
similes and metaphors to better describe how I felt in the story rather than just putting quotations

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or descriptions. For instance, instead of me describing how I was nervous in one part of my
narrative essay I wrote It was like there were drums in my chest that pulsed through my body as
my heartbeat began to quicken.

D. I read through Son Huybhs e-portfolio and found that he had a wide range of work. He
seemed to keep his focus of audience on his professor because his writing sounded very
professional; however, it could also appeal to other audiences such as his peers and other people
reading blogs on the internet because he maintained sounding natural throughout the majority of
his pieces. The genre of Huybhs writing would be e-portfolio because it has such a variety of
work from UWRT 1101 and UWRT 1102. Huybhs purpose, like any student, was to receive an
exemplary grade which reflected through his work. There are few limitations to his writing. For
instance, Huybh is only a college student posting pieces of writing online which limits his
audience. Also, he did not add much personality to his portfolio. He used the generic pictures
that came with weebly and did not add much extra other than what was required. His advantages
of his e-portfolio are that he has a target audience of his peers and his professors to narrow his
writing to this specific audience. To me, his e-portfolio is successful. He knew his audience and
tied in similar interests in his writing such as shows from Netflix in order to appeal to his peers.
He did not add much pizazz to his e-portfolio; however, he did have a wide variety of pieces
ranging from informal blogs, pictures with captions, formal essays, and many other texts to keep
his e-portfolio multimodal.

E. I honestly think I have earned an A in this class. I may not be the best writer, but I feel that I
have grown so much in my writing. Ms. Ingram explained to us in the first few days that this

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class is not just for us to do the work and receive good grades. Instead, this class is meant for us
to apply ourselves to what is being taught in order to improve ourselves and get the most benefit
out of our work throughout this semester. Because this is my first college writing class, I was
never truly given the opportunity and freedom to follow my own rules in writing. In high school
teachers set limitations and guidelines to have us write research papers and persuasive essays.
Now, I have learned how to be a better analyzer of writing when it comes to other authors
pieces of writing- through writing workshops, chapters in our textbook, and other texts- and my
own. I have learned to better appreciate assignments and complete tasks to learn something
rather than just for a grade. I have put forth the effort to better myself as a writer and worked to
improve in the nine key concepts of this class.