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I wasn't expecting a response to our critiques so quickly. It was cool to know that some of our suggestions may be used to make the web site better.

It is understandable that you can only do so much with what resources you have. It seems like most of our ideas were valid and that many of them could be taken into consideration. On suggestions that wouldn't work there was a valid reason for why not or why that approach was chosen.

What have I learned from 402??

I have actually learned a lot in this class. I too, was not the happiest when I realized I had to take another writing class, but am glad that I did. Most of my writing classes have been really boring and hard for me to get into. This writing class has always kept me interested. I focus more now on using an active voice in my writing and if I review it carefully I can notice parts that are more passive. Remembering to keep the reader in mind has been drilled long enough that I find myself asking who are the readers, what do they want to know, how will this benefit them. Advertising was fun. Realizing that more and more people are not watching commercials as much, they are doing more Internet ads and ads in the TV shows. Ill be watching TV and see everyone drinking sierra mist or Starbucks coffee and think to myself "advertising." It is awesome that I notice this now, before it never even struck me differently. It makes perfect sense though. The journalism project was really fun and I learned a lot. It also helped getting some feedback from Jesse Day. One thing I can say that I cant say for every writing class I have been in is that I will take what I have learned from this class and be able to use it in the real world.

Peer Response

It seems like many of us in this class have fears of presenting. As I mentioned in my blog, I always get really nervous, however, once it is done I always feel like it went better than I thought it would or it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
I think the most important thing is being prepared and to know what you are talking about. Rhiannon and Peter both make good comments in their blogs. I have often felt that looking at the audience makes me more nervous but it is important. It also makes you look like you know your material and are better prepared. I really like how Peter points out the energy of the classroom. Although I am not one that normally speaks out, I agree with Peter on how Kat does present our work to the class for critique and praise. I think that it has helped me provide a better end product. In doing this, Kat does it in a way that makes the class feel comfortable. I do think that because of the structure of this class will make it easier for us to get more out of it. I know I have.

Chapter 17 and 18 readings

Chapter 17
I have three presentations to give in the next couple weeks, it was a good time to read this chapter. Mainly because I got a lot out of it. A couple things that I think were helpful were focusing on main a few main points, looking at the audience, ways to overcome nervousness.
The book mentions that it is harder for listeners to concentrate for extended periods of time. This is important because in a presentation your listeners have nothing to look back on like when reading a paper. It is important to focus on a few main points, describe them clearly and talk at a steady pace so they can stay with you.
I have a lot of trouble focusing on my audience. The book provides a good strategies to help with this. Looking at the audience before starting the presentation, targeting a feature of your listeners face,establishing a rhythm when going from looking at your notes and your audience are examples of how to keep your eyes on the audience.
I always get nervous before a presentation. Every time. the book says to accept it. Its true though, I probably always will get nervous before a presentation and my goal is to just always try to improve each time. Guideline 11 is about what not to do. My biggest problem with guideline 11 is the fidgeting or moving around part.

Chapter 18
When designing a web site one of the most important things to do is to define its objectives. Who aer the readers? What do they want? How are you going to give that to them? When I am searching for something on the Web I want to find it easily and be able to get the information I am looking for quickly. If I end up on a site that I do not get that information quickly and it is hard to navigate I go somewhere else. This means you have to know a lot about your readers in order to keep people going to your sites rather than somewhere else. Similarly you have to also design web pages that look good but are also easy to use. This chapter gives a good list of tips on how to make it easier for your readers to navigate around your site.

Response to Melissa Bonneville's chapter 2 blog

I haven't made a resume either since high school and have to admit when I did write it I was more interested in what I had to offer then thinking about how to layout my resume with the reader (employer) in mind. I also did believe we were supposed to offer our references upon request as well. It makes sense to include them though because your references should re-enforce the ethos you are presenting to them about yourself. I also always thought that the reason your resume should be one paged is because when showing your work history it is better to see how long a person was with a company rather then how many jobs you have had. My parents always said it didn't look as good to have seven different jobs with little time spent with each company. Employers want to know that you are going to be dedicated and not jump around all the time. Melissa makes a good point and book did as well. At one point our resumes will be scanned depending on the company, and it will be extremely important to know what your key words should and will be. If you don't your application will be passed over.

Chapter 2, 9, 10 readings

Chapter 2 discusses the four main activities that should be considered when making a resumes. It also ties in the principles for writing in a reader centered format. Like Chris said in his response to my post last week. This point really is being drilled into us. It is a good thing because it is not just something I read and forgot about because it was never mentioned again. So I guess I am thankful that it is always revisited because it stays in my head and when I am writing I am thinking of the reader more often. The four activities in resume writing are defining objectives, planning, drafting, and revising. The first step is deciding what to say and how to say it. Know who your potential employers are and what qualifications they are looking for. By knowing this you will be able to show your ethos and hopefully it will fit with the qualifications of the job. Planning is when you decide what you should include in the resume. The book describes the drafting stage to be the most difficult. Figuring out the best way to design your resume is important. You want the employer to be able to find all key information quick and easy. And lastly, always revise your draft for usability, and grammatical errors. It also helps to have other people like professors or students in same career path to look over your resume before submitting it.

Chapter 9
This chapter is about how to effectively create a beginning to a communication. For example, email, research paper, or proposal. One of the guidelines provided is to give your readers a reason to pay attention. Make it something they want to know or have to know. I liked this guideline because it sounds relevant to increased amount of communication through email. The book talks about people get so many emails everyday and don't understand why they should read all of these. My email for example gets so much mail everyday that when i open them typically I am looking at the subject and if it isn't something I need asap I don't open it. This happens all the time i bet in the business world. This chapter gives some good tips on how to get "your" email opened. It says to grab the readers attention you must do 2 things. Announce your topic and tell your readers what they will benefit from after reading your communication. Opening sentences are of stressed importance but in emails more importantly your subject is of extreme importance. You want your reader to look at the subject line and immediately open the email. Making a strong subject sentence will help this happen.

Chapter 10
Like chapter 9 talked about the beginning of a communication, chapter 10 discusses how to end a communication. Most intersting to me is different types of communication have different types of endings. Some require conclusions and some do not. For example, most research papers require a conclusion of some sort in which your are restating your main claim and also mentioning again the most important points made throughout the paper. However, proposals or instructions normally end after the last point or step is made. No conclusion is necessary.

Response to Inna's blog

I agree that using these revising tools from the chapter will be useful for our individual papers. I also never really thought about reading the paper from the audiences perspective. I typically tend to focus on getting my point across as well, however, maybe not always in the most concise way. I now can see how letting time pass before revising again is important. After reading and re-reading you tend to miss errors. I was writing a reading analysis for my history class this past week and when I was revising it I kept getting hung up on certain sentences. I immediately remembered from the readings that if you can't read the paper, you audience probably wont be able to either. So I took some time to make it flow easier and I think that because of that my paper will have a better outcome.