Week 8 Progress

Looking Back

Although I am on schedule for an A in the course I have not kept my schedule as much as I would have liked to. I had planned on doing extra credit to get ahead but as my other classes have gotten more difficult I have had trouble finding the time to put in the extra work. I have most enjoyed the reading assignments because I have always enjoyed reading. This is a great opportunity to read things that I may not have been  exposed to otherwise.

Looking Forward

I would like some changes for the second half of the semester. I would really like to keep my schedule better and do more extra credit so I can finish the course a little early.

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(Keep Moving Forward, link)

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

Feedback In

As the semester has progressed I have found that the usefulness of the comments has continually improved. After the first few feedback assignments I think people really started to grasp the importance of the feedback and since I have received some great advice.

Feedback Out

I think that reading other people's work has definitely influenced and improved my personal work. Just as other people's comments have improved the further we get into the course, I think that my comments and feedback has also. I found the assignment on feed-forward very useful and I have tried to use some of the methods for giving useful feedback since then.

Blog Comments

I really have enjoyed both receiving comments and commenting on other people's work throughout this semester. Reading and commenting on the introductions give me a better sense of who people are than I have ever had in any class. It is also really nice to have people make comments on my introduction and say such encouraging and interesting things!

Looking Forward

As I move forward I feel as though I could try to dig a little deeper when reading other's blogs in order to ask questions and give feedback that could be looked over. If I were to change something about my blog it may just be the format of it so it is easier to follow. After looking at my other classmates' blogs I have seen so many that are truly impressive and I would use some of those to inspire mine.

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The reason I chose this image is because it can be very intimidating to receive feedback! When I first learned about giving and receiving feedback for this course I was nervous that it could be hurtful and I was afraid of hurting people's feelings. I have found that by using the right methods feedback is not as scary as you'd think. and it can be extremely useful!

(Feedback, link)

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Looking Back

To be completely honest, when we began this course I was generally overwhelmed. Being and engineering major I had never been exposed to a class in which we get to choose the topics and then are free to be creative and imaginative on assignments. To say the least I have been pleasantly surprised this far in the semester. 

 

At first I would struggle with each writing assignment since it has been so long since I have done any creative writing, but as the semester continues I am progressively becoming more comfortable with my writing. 

My favorite reading so far has been the section on Ancient Egyptian Myth and Legend. I have always enjoyed Egyptian culture and I found all of the stories to be just as interesting as I had hoped. 

Throughout the semester I have found that the key to a good story is great reading notes on the original. The stories that I have been the most proud of usually stem from using my more detailed reading notes to begin with.

My favorite part of the class so far has been the class project. So far I am really proud of the stories I have chosen and even my website itself. This is the first website I have ever created and even though it is not perfect I am happy with the progress it has made. 

My two biggest writing accomplishments, in my opinion, are both in my portfolio. They are The Man, The Moon and Isis and the Secret Name. I really enjoyed retelling the origin story of how a man became the moon because I had the opportunity to change the meaning of the story entirely. I also received a lot of positive feedback from my classmates about the new meaning so I gained more confidence in my writing. When I rewrote Isis and the Secret name I had the opportunity to change the image of Isis from a villain to a real person with honest emotions and motivations.

Image

One of my favorite images that I have chosen is of Isis in my story Isis and the Secret Name. I really loved using this image for my portfolio because I was able to design an entire webpage around the colors and themes of the photo. The original photo is a painting on the wall of a tomb that was discovered in Egypt.

(Isis, image from Wikipedia Commons)

Looking Forward

As I look forward I am excited to see how my portfolio turns out. I am very happy with the stories and formatting I have chosen this far and I hope to keep improving the site until it is something I am really proud of. To improve my work I feel as though I should become more creative and adventurous when retelling the stories. So far I have changed perspectives and themes but I have yet to do a major change of setting or characters.