A Summary
The purpose of this blog is to share my work and experiences from English 2311. This site contains posts in which I reflect on previous assignments and discuss what I have learned from each. I will attach a link to view each assignment on the corresponding blog entry. You may also skip to a specific entry by clicking the title listed under the “Categories” list to the right.
At first, I was aggravated that I had to take another English class. I was even more aggravated when I learned I had to make this blog site. However, as the semester progressed, I found myself enjoying coming to this class. Many required classes are full of useless information, but this technical writing class was actually filled with things I wanted and needed to know.
At first, I had trouble switching from a literary kind of writing. The technical writing style we learned to use in this class is very different than everything I have been taught in the past. Transitioning from trying to come up with long sentences with ‘50 cent’ words to short, to the point sentences was tough. Now that I have had practice, I feel confident in my technical writing skills.
Now, I see how much I have learned. I can accurately analyze documents to find the intended audience and goal. By learning how professional documents are created, I now have the knowledge to create my own. I also learned how to control the tone of a document by learning to target a specific audience.
Also, I now know how to professionally write e-mails and memos. E-mail correspondence has always been my preferred means of communication when it comes to business and school. Looking back on how I used to write e-mails, I almost feel embarrassed. No matter who I e-mail now, I will always include an appropriate subject line (just one of the many helpful things stressed by Dr. Fricke).
Finally, I learned the importance of teamwork. In the past, I usually liked to work alone. From my experience some group members often rely on others to meet deadlines and complete assignments. So I have usually completed projects on my own. However, the group assignment we did in this class showed me group projects can work out well. We took Dr. Fricke’s advice and divided up responsibility of certain sections of the project. By doing this, we ensured everyone was actively participating in the project and no one felt left out.
Overall, I feel that this class was very beneficial. I am certain that I will use the information I learned in this class in the future. As a landscape architect, I will have to write many proposals and correspond via e-mail often. Without this class, I would not know how to accurately perform these tasks.
