Here is MY PROJECT #3, the piece that I'll be reflecting on.
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| Ekamanganese. "Pond Reflection". 2-11-08 via Deviant Art. CC A-NC SA 3.0. |
Definitely the language I was using changed from one draft to another. But I think the biggest shifts occurred as I went through the paper and realized that I actually wanted to argue something else. Originally, the intent was to provide methods for increasing gender equality in the workplace and to show how the different methods would improve everybody's quality of life. But then I found myself starting to shift away from that and emphasizing more how the gender gap is a real issue that must be addressed. Although I had originally intended on writing to an audience that already believes the gender gap is a problem that we as a society need to confront, it seemed almost natural in my writing to place more emphasis on convincing people of that fact since I know there are millions of powerful people in the United States alone that don't believe the gender gap is an actual problem.
Point to global changes: how did you reconsider your thesis and organization?
I'm still debating changing my format from a paper to a powerpoint. I think the pros of that change would be that I can more easily split up information into chunks and then present the facts concisely. However, part of me feels like a paper is the better way to go (but I can't necessarily pinpoint why). From a personal development perspective, I want to improve my essay writing but I've been working on that for the past ten years. I think I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea of making a powerpoint as a big project like this but at the same time, I think I would be able to grow more trying to work in a different format than I'm used to. The thesis has still stayed the same (after shifting from ways to help to why the gender gap is a problem) but this organizational dilemma is definitely what I'm thinking about most right now.
What led you to these changes? A reconsideration of audience? A shift in purpose?
I don't think a reconsideration of audience was necessarily the reason for these changes, but a shift in purpose might be. After deciding that I wanted to demonstrate why the gender gap matters instead of how we can fix it, I think that changed the way I would want to present the information. If I'm trying to convince my readers that the gender gap is a real issue, then it's pretty safe to assume that they don't care too much about it already. That's fine, but it means that they're not likely to pick up a five page paper about the gender gap and read through the whole thing. However, I think they would be pretty likely to click through a presentation that describes the gender gap and illustrates quickly and effectively why it needs to be dealt with.
How do these changes affect your credibility as an author?
I don't actually think they affect my credibility at all. Authors revise their work, don't they?
How will these changes better address the audience or venue?
I don't think the changes are necessarily audience specific. However I do think that they will make the piece much either to follow and hopefully increase clarity.
Point to local changes: how did you reconsider sentence structure and style?
I went through each sentence and read it to myself to make sure it sounded right. I made a number of changes but I think I also left a good amount of it as is. I know I should have paid more attention to the specific names (from the clarity section) for the things that I was changing, but honestly the changes I was making felt more natural and I didn't worry about their technical terms.
How will these changes assist your audience in understanding your purpose?
When sentences are easier to read, they're easier to understand. So changing the language around will help my readers get a feel for what I'm actually saying and that should make the whole piece more impactful.
Did you have to reconsider the conventions in the particular genre in which you are writing?
No. Not really. I don't think there are any conventions (since my audience is really just a collection of regular people) that I was supposed to consider so I'm not sure this question is entirely relevant.
Finally, how does the process of reflection help you reconsider your identify as a writer?
It helps me to actually think about what I'm doing in my writing and the ways I can improve. Sometimes I just write and turn things in and without the reflection time, I don't think there's really any growth occurring. But even the reflection in this blog post has helped me consider the ways that I revise my work and how that is making me a better writer. Like I've never considered how my revisions actually affect my audience and the way they're understanding my message, so that was super cool.
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