Reflection: Self-Publication

I knew the time to self-publish one of our works was coming. However, it was seemingly so far off, I didn't give it much thought. The Spring quarter managed to fly by, as it always does, and I was faced with the assignment. I have turned many assignments in to teachers and professors, but this was new. I was naturally a bit apprehensive about it, especially seeing that I had no idea what I was going to publish or how I was going to do it.

I thought of writing another parody or submitting one of my works from this quarter. I then decided I would write an original poem and submit it to Poetry.com, which is both free and simplistic. I wrote a poem called, "Ode to the Summer," which reflects the excitement students share for the upcoming Summer break. It also accurately reflects some meloncholy feelings we have as we say "goodbye" to instructors and classmates. I usually don't associate too much with classmates outside of school, but being in the same classes for ten weeks allows you to somewhat form a small bond with them. I enjoyed this quarter, as it was not only an interesting one, but one of discovery. I changed my major to Communications and finally feel good and confident about the track I'm on.

This was a highly enjoyable English course and probably one of the best I have taken. I enjoyed the new and interesting format which involved web postings and non-traditional assignments. This class allowed me to finally be able to express myself creatively and have a little bit of fun with the assignments. I appreciated the fact the assignment requirements were flexible enough to allow students to write things "their way" rather than adhering to strict rules and guidelines. In addition to this, I found our textbook and corresponding assignments somewhat a breath of fresh air. Even though I came in a good writer, I learned a quite a bit about writing cohesively and concisely and feel I have come out a slightly better writer than when I went in. I basically honed my skill over the quarter.

With that said, below is proof of my submission to Poetry.com - It is a screen shot of the submission confirmation:

Link below, just in case the above is too small to view:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhcrxj5x_23fh2pbpgj

Self-Publication: "Ode to the Summer"

"Ode to the Summer"

As the summer begins
The classes end
Students head back home
Others stay in town
Some attend summer class
Others work to make cash

Although they are looking forward
They reflect on this quarter
Students share excitement to come
But won't forget what this Spring has brung

The people they met this term
The people they may not see 'til Autumn
Even though a nice Summer is ahead
We must not let it escape our heads
That this year was a good one, indeed

Reflection: Policy Assignment

The gathering of ideas for this assignment was a bit tough at first. It took me quite some time to decide exactly what I wanted to do. I have a strong belief that true friends should honor and value one another, so I decided I would write a friendship policy.

I made it not only formal, but fairly practical, too. My policy discusses ethics, and even throws in a clause which allows a friend to go above and beyond ethics in order to help the other, which all friends do at one time or another. In addition, it strongly advises against the two friends ever becoming roommates with one another. This comes from my experience. Several years ago, I became roommates with my best friend from high school. While this seemed like a great idea at first, we slowly began to get on each others' nerves and conflict shortly ensued. We learned a lot about each others' negative aspects, and it basically ruined the friendship. To this day, we rarely speak.

I feel my friendship policy is fairly practical and touches upon the important aspects of friendship which two people should respect. In addition to this, the policy strongly reflects my personal feelings and experience, which I believe allowed me much ease in completing the assignment seeing as I never came to a "writer's block." This assignment was one of the more enjoyable ones.

Policy Assignment Link

Here is the link:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhcrxj5x_21cr6gt6mr

Re-cast Reflection

I decided to use "A Poem to the Man Who Shot My Father" by Patricia Smith again for the re-cast. I originally was going to somehow turn the poem into a newspaper article describing the event that is discussed in the poem, as well as describe her feelings. However, my thought process went something like this: "Newspaper article authors get their information sometimes through what? Interviewing." Thus, I decided to turn the poem into an interview.

During this interview, the interviewer (whom I imagined to most likely be me) is interviewing Patricia Smith. She replies to my questions about the murder of her father in a manner similar that of the poem. I wrote her as replying to my questions in a fairly strong and emotional manner, as I imagined any person would under similar circumstances.

I enjoyed this assignment almost as much as the parody assignment. When I'm bored, I'm guilty of thinking of silly parodies to song lyrics, movie titles and/or scenes. I'm adept at creating parodies during times of boredom, and I felt these two were the perfect assignments for me.

Re-cast

Link:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhcrxj5x_19c6x58zfh

Link to the Parody:

Here is the link to the Parody:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhcrxj5x_18cjdcjbfh

Google Docs: 0, Me: 1