Writing this essay was
a struggle for me. At first, I didn’t understand what it meant to use a lens
and therefore didn’t know what to look for when I went to make my observations
at the Memorial Union. Once I made my observations and looked them over I began
writing my rough draft. I struggled a lot because I hadn’t understood that I needed
to quote the authors of the readings. I had initially thought that we were
supposed to make our observations in a similar way to the authors and write our
essay in a similar way as theirs. After we got feedback from the professor and
went to a workshop I understood what we were supposed to do with our essay.
This is when I realized the type of observations I needed in order to write my
essay. I went to my place again and re wrote my observations which allowed me
to focus on the lens that Frank Vanclay used. Once I understood exactly how I was
supposed to write my essay, I began writing again. I pretty much had to start a
new essay because my rough draft was only a list of observations I had made and
it had no argument or lens in it.
Writing my final draft
was a little easier because I knew and understood how I was supposed to use the
author’s lens. I wrote for a while but couldn’t seem to get the full length
required. I went to the editing workshop and got help from a professor. I was
told my final draft was only a discussion and that I needed more observations
and details. This is when I realized I had to put my rough draft, which was
only a list of observations, with my final draft, which was only a discussion
of the lens.
Through this entire
process I learned how to deeply analyze a place and find something unique about
it. I learned that everything has other purposes aside from their main
functions but we really need to pay attention to notice it. I also learned that
the workshops are very helpful and it is very important and helpful to get
other’s input on your work. Next time I have a writing assignment I will make
sure that I understand what I am supposed to do before I write the rough draft
so that I don’t have to write my final draft basically from scratch. I need to
put more effort in my rough draft so that I can just tweak it and edit it at
the end. It took a lot of persistence and focus for me to complete this project
but I have learned from it.
I too found the application of lens to my analytical essay to be difficult. Not only was trying to understand how to use it effectively a daunting prospect for me, but applying it to my observations of the Dean’s Patio proved to be a real challenge when I was writing both my rough draft and final draft.
ReplyDeleteMy initial rough also was fairly poor in its execution. I found that it was more or less nothing more than a list of observations with one or two names of authors thrown in but without really any good interpretation of the lens of the authors that I mentioned.
While I didn’t really have much trouble with the overall length of my writing, I found that typing up the final draft was much harder than creating my rough draft. This is more than likely do to the poor nature of my rough draft and my general lack of understanding of how to properly use a lens.
What I hope to take away from this difficult life experience is the ability to link my paragraphs together in a more meaningful and insightful way which will better get my point across to my intended audience.
You definitely were not alone when it comes to understanding what a lens was. I think that is what threw a lot of people off when writing their papers. However, once I asked our professor to explain it in a different way, it made much more sense to me. I used Frank Vanclay as well; I believe he was the most compatible with a lot of people’s papers. I read that you had to combine your rough draft and your final draft together. If it helps any, think of an analysis as your interpretation on a particular topic. Explain how you interpret something to be to your readers. I have a system that may be of a help to your future analyses. I actually just gave this advice to the previous blog post I just commented on. I think it is very helpful. I know I use it in my analyses and I usually do pretty well on them all. The system has three parts to it: Statement, Proof, and Commentary. You use it in every paragraph except for the introduction and conclusion. After your topic sentence, you claim your statement. Your statement is what you will be talking about in the paragraph. Then of course, you have to have support of your statement. That’s where your proof comes in. The proof can be anything that you can elaborate on; the safest route to take when choosing proof is choosing a quote. Once you have your proof, your commentary comes in. Your commentary is the most important part for which you elaborate on your proof and statement, tying the two together. The commentary is where your true analysis comes in. Commentary is normally lengthy and will make your paper longer.
ReplyDeleteFor a while I felt as if I was the only one who felt very confused about the assignment however while reading your experience with the project, I know realize that many of us felt the same way. I was too afraid to ask questions about the assignment and I did the exact thing you did, by writing my first draft completely wrong. I simply listed many surface details of the Devils Diner without trying to find any meaning of the actual place. I also did not use any of Frank Vanclays quotes, nor did I know what was meant by “Lens”.
ReplyDeleteI also attended the workshop where I had a list of questions to ask Professor L., and that made all the difference. I quickly began to understand what the lens was and how we were supposed to relate Vanclays’ theory of a place to our paper. He also helped me brainstorm ideas and with the organization and structure of my paper. Going to the workshop really helped me a lot, and I am glad it helped you as well. It is also good to know that I was not the only one puzzled about this assignment. For the next project, I will definitely not hesitate to ask questions.
I completely agree with feeling confused at first. I had no clue how to incorporate a lens to my project or really know what I was writing about besides an observation. I also made the mistake to not quote the author in the rough draft. I had mentioned the readings and talked about how they pertained to my essay but never actually thought to quote the author. I also had a hard time meeting length but I had the opposite problem as you. I had enough observation and needed to incorporate more lens into my final draft. We have similar views on what we got out of this essay. I also believe that everything has a purpose aside from their main functions. I also believe that we are to caught up in what we are doing in this world, to stop and realize the weird things that actually stand out in a place. We would not normally notice these things because we are to concerned about everything else. I would also like to change how I approached this essay. I believe for me not to stress out as much as I did in the beginning of this essay, I need to realize exactly what I am being asked to write about.
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say that I can completely relate to everything you just said about this paper. I was also so incredibly confessed at first. I thought the description part and observations were the easy part, but then when it came to analyzing each and every one of these aspects was where I got completely confused and had no idea what to do. Incorporating a lens into this project was difficult in my opinion too, i knew what the lens was for, but didn't really understand fully how to use it as proof or back up in my analysis part.
ReplyDeleteMy first rough draft was completely off track when it came to what was actually required to make this paper into what the professor was looking for. It seemed I had a lot of descriptions but that I didn't include what these descriptions meant and how they are significant into making this place in my eyes so important. I had a difficult time including the lens and also going into depth on what each detail truly meant.
I agree that I need to put more effort into my rough drafts so that I can get the most help and feedback to make it that much easier to write my final draft in the end. I hope that this class will help me become a better writer and that I learned from this project that I need to take a lot more time when it comes to writing these essays.