Marie Parent

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Blog 12: Final Course Reflection

For this post I would like you to reread and analyze comments I have provided you on assignments throughout this course. In doing so I want you to write your own feedback in response to my comments focusing on things like:

         comments you found useful and why:

The comments I found useful were for me to connect the dots while avoiding redundant writing. To work on being concise and be mindful of using inverted pyramids. 

         comments you did not find useful and why:

Avoid introducing new errors after editing, perhaps a notation of the error would be helpful.

         what you have learned from comments I have provided:

I learned from the comments to organize my thoughts more, to analyze my material making sure every word is critical to relay my point.  This will help me untangle sentences and deliver the message briefly and to the point.

Then, answer these questions again, but this time thinking about your peer review editing partners. How did all of these interactions help you to reflect, revise and improve your writing over the course of the semester?

Lastly, reflectively analyze your writing throughout this course by:

         Identifying what you learned about writing this semester:

I learned many different strategies when writing, one of them being the difference between editing and revising. This semester I did peer editing for the first time, the feedback I received was constructive and helped me to gain confidence in writing. In terms of editing my peers, I needed to expand on  the suggestions I made to edit peers.

         Addressing how your writing has developed throughout this course:

My writing has improved by me reading my material out loud and questioning every word. I have become more aware of the impotence of quality and relevance of content.

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Blog 11: Multimedia Advertising Reflection

1. What writing strategies or techniques did you learn that helped you prepare to create effective multimedia advertising materials?

The techniques I learned in this week’s reading were unethical, persuasive and ethical use of language. The choice of words can become an ethical matter. When writing a difficult document, always remember the basic points to not mislead or manipulate the reader. It is important to keep in mind who will be affected by what is written. 

2. What problems or struggles did you have with this field?

One thing I struggled with was to keep my work clear and make sure the language was not confusing in any way.

 3. In what way(s), if any, did working with editing peers in class help you deal with these struggles?

Working with peers on editing in class helped me deal with making a good choice of words. Because we have so many persuasive techniques, I had to choose my words carefully. 

 4. In what way(s) did working with editing peers help strengthen your writing/creation between the first draft and final version? Why do you think this was?

Peer editing helped me strengthen my material between the first draft and final version by analyzing each word to use persuasive language ethically.  This was a new style of writing for me, so comments from my peers allowed me to achieve the objective better.

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Blog 10: Multimedia PR Reflection

•The writing strategies I learned to prepare me to create effective public relations material are to tell a story straight forward using inverted pyramids, concisely and to use news release format.

•The problems I experienced creating my story were keeping my story clear without wordiness.

•The peer editing was helpful and constructive because it helped me to focus on my weaknesses in writing such as being clear and how to use AP style correctly. 

•Working with peer editing helped me strengthen my material because I had to read over my work a number of times. I was able to hear the words that were redundant by reading my story out loud.

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Blog 9: The power of persuasion

The persuasive strategies I learned this week are Ethos, Pathos and Logos. I would use Ethos or credibility as a technique to create an effective advertisement. Using Ethos would show that the content in the ad is reliable and trustworthy, so that viewers are less hesitant. I would also use Logos or logical appeal in various forms of advertising to present the facts to people that would persuade them to go along with the advertisement. 

A possible ethical quandary involved with persuasive communication is subliminal advertising that tries to force people to do things. This was found to be dishonest and potentially manipulative. This form of advertising was banned in 1958. Using dishonesty and trickery to convince viewers to do something or spend money is not genuine and could lead to bigger problems.

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Blog 8: Multimedia Journalism Reflection

1. What writing strategies or techniques did you learn that helped you prepare to create an effective multimedia journalism package?

The writing strategies that helped me prepare to create an effective multimedia were keeping in mind the importance of quality and relevance of content. Before you write you should be clear on what is the purpose of the story you are writing about. 

2. What problems or struggles did you have with this media field?

The problems I had with the media field were the key style elements, punctuations, limiting the use of adjectives and adverbs and redundant phrases. Making these revisions allowed for my work to be more concise. 

3. In what way(s), if any, did working with editing peers in class help you deal with these struggles?

Reading my work over and incorporating the feedback I received helped me a lot. Peer reviews helped me to apply the rules of thumb for writing a good lead, to be brief and to make the point clear in a few words.

4. In what way(s) did working with editing peers help strengthen your writing between the first draft and final version? Why do you think this was?

 Editing with peers helped me to strengthen my writing between the first draft and final version helped me with the wordiness and omitting the non-essential words.

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Blog 7: Press Release

A scenario where I would use a press release would be to promote a fundraising event to support families affected by the 2021 earthquakes in Haiti. The desired outcome of this genre is to bring immediate attention and awareness to the devastation in Haiti and to collect funds for immediate action to send over life saving assistance and aid to that country. 

The direct target audience is anyone in affluent communities who would like to donate to this cause. The secondary target audience would be compassionate and professional people who would be willing to volunteer their time to help the cause.

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Blog 6: Website reflection

1.      What writing strategies or techniques did you learn that helped you prepare to create an effective website?

With appropriate headers you can direct readers to exactly what they are looking for while organizing your site simple enough to navigate. 

2.      What problems or struggles did you have with this genre?

A problem I had was making the site visually appealing while not too flashy or distracting from the purpose of the site. Also making sure the website links work.

3.      In what way(s), if any, did working with editing peers in class help you deal with these struggles?

Peers had similar issues I had, so seeing that I’m not the only one showed that while we are virtually learning, we are still in this together.

4.      In what way(s) did working with editing peers help strengthen your website between the first draft and final version? Why do you think this was?

One peer helped me with my site by telling me that expanding my site to several pages will help with navigating through it. This has helped me because while still editing my website, I am looking into how others view it as well as myself. Keeping in mind to be concise but not too brief has also helped me.

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Blog 5: Writing a Good Lead

In this week's reading, I learned that a good lead is an introduction paragraph to your story. It is the most important element. Some of the rules of thumb for writing a good lead are to deliver a brief message in 30 words or less, that isn’t too complicated. A good lead is used to introduce important facts first and determine the big picture. This is known as an inverted pyramid structure. A good lead has to directly affect the reader and choose an angle to approach the topic. 

I can ensure my lead will meet all of these criteria by discerning what is the purpose of my story, what impact my story will have on someone, following the rules of thumb and applying feedback that I receive from my peers.

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Blog 4: Designing websites

I have not created a website before. My overall experience was exciting. The most difficult experience was making sure the links worked for the pages. I chose Wix to create my site. The strategy I have was that you should continuously press the “preview” button to make sure your layout is how you wanted in real time on the site. I chose Wix because the site seemed relatively simple to use and I’ve seen a commercial about it once before. In showcasing my media materials, I hope this website will help me display my sentiment and passion I have for the work I do.

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Blog 3: Engaging in peer review

I do not have much experience with peer review. I have not conducted a peer review other than reviewing my children's homework many years ago. I learned a few different strategies of peer review this week. One of the strategies I learned that I will apply when peer reviewing in this class is the difference between revising and editing. I feel like this strategy will help me a lot to pay attention to detail moving forward.

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Blog 2: Process Writing

Over the course of this semester, I hope to improve my writing by having better sentence structure. Some of the difficulties I was having are with tangled sentences and punctuations.  Eliminating run-on sentences and avoiding unnecessary wording will help me write clearer and more concise sentences. I hope to gain the ability to proofread my work, recognize the correct punctuations and avoid wordiness.

This week I have learned how one word or the misspelling of a word can easily change the context of a sentence. It can completely change the meaning of what you're trying to say and be confusing to the reader. I also learned the importance of having a writing process. Having a writing process helps to be better organized and efficient. Putting your thoughts down on paper can be challenging at times. A writing process can be less overwhelming such as taking the writing in small pieces and having an idea of what your writing about may help develop the key points more effectively.

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Blog 1: Writing goals/Fears

My personal writing goal for this course is that I would like to improve in organizing my thought process and to have less run on sentences. My personal belief is that writing helps me explain myself better. Because I am not a good speaker, my thoughts become clearer when I write them down. 

One habit that I have is when a bible verse or song comes to my mind when I wake up in the morning the first thing I do is write it down in my bedside journal. These factors might help me to organize my thoughts better, but on the other hand because I am so shy and afraid of speaking in public this might keep me from practicing public speaking more.