Thlog 3

In Monday’s class we focused on preparing for WP1 and learned a few tricks along the way. We discussed the use of dashes and hyphens in writing, which was very educational. I have actually used hyphens a lot in my writing, but I have never used a dash. Monday’s class was actually the first time I have heard about using dashes in writing. The differences that it could make in just one paragraph in comparison to a comma is remarkable. I actually attempted to use both hyphens and dashes in my WP1, and realized that using dashes made my essay look slightly better. It was not confusing, and it separated the important from the extra without changing the meaning of the sentence. That is of course if I used them correctly.

In Wednesday’s class we went over our WP1 drafts and received additional help from our peers. From our journal, I realized that most students were having the same difficulties as I was. ID 14 said, “I found myself struggling with writing my intro. I spent hours trying to figure out how to start my first paragraph.” Like ID 14, I also have trouble with my introduction, and wasted a lot of time thinking of ways to begin my first paragraph. I have this really bad habit of overthinking my introduction. Which makes it really difficult for me to complete essay assignments, because I cannot move forward with my paper unless I have an introduction. However, I think I am starting to get better. For the wp1 draft, I took forever to get an introduction on paper, and it wasn’t even that great. However for my final paper, I completely changed my introduction, and took less than half the time it took me the first time. I think the reason for this improvement was my draft. From the draft, I knew where I was trying to go with my essay, which made it easier to write an intro to my paper.