Before college, most English classes I had taken were pretty much the same. We read a book, the teacher went through the whole book during class, and then we wrote a paper about it. Some teachers also made us take quizzes on the readings, which I did not enjoy at all. But the assignments were very easy, so I didn’t mind doing those assignments. All of these teachers also had “rules” for writing papers of any kind. Using the word I just wasn’t allowed.
The only exception to this was the College Writing Class I had taken senior year. That class was very different from any other we had taken. My teacher focused on creative writing. At first I did not enjoy this because it was hard improvise and come up with things write on the spot. But throughout the semester, I started to enjoy a lot of the assignments that were given. I think this class would have prepared me more if I took more creative writing classes in college, but it did in fact help me out. I realized that writing took a lot more thought, it wasn’t just a bunch of words written on a page. The meaning of those words are very significant.
English 102 was different from those other classes. Engaging the texts covered in this course, was one of the main goals we covered. It is important to realize what the author meant by their writing, why they wrote it and who was the intended reader. This was something that I did not have to do in the other English courses, like I said before; my teachers basically told us what to write in our paper. English 102 also didn’t have the “rules” like my previous English courses. This course was more about focusing on my understanding and the text we read and my opinions of the text. So right off the bat, I knew this course was going to be way different and a lot more challenging than the courses I took in high school. Throughout this semester, I have learned that writing is based off of the choices that we made.
Walking into class on the first day, I learned that the topic we were going to be focusing on was technology. This was another thing that factored my already, not-so-psyched-for-this-class kind of feeling. I had no clue how I was going to survive a whole semester of writing and talking about technology. Technology was definitely something that I was not very interested in discussing. So I figured that writing a 10 page research paper would be torture.
After reading the Human Factor, by Kim Vincente, I realized that maybe this semester wouldn’t be so bad after all. Human Factor discussed the effects that humans have on technology. A plan for the use of technology can be perfectly planned out, but if the person operating it does not fully understand how to use it, then the plan is not going to work out flawlessly.
One of the main points that Vincente discussed that stuck out the most to me was that technology does not have to be complex. Anything that makes life more efficient and helps an organization or business function can be considered technology. A work Schedule is one of these tools that can be considered a simple technology. David Nye also discussed the simple things in life that can be considered technology. He also agreed that simple things, like an ax or a happen can be considered technology because they are used to make thing easier.
In Technology Matter: Questions to Live with, Nye also discussed how technology was getting way too advanced. He analyzed different stories, where societies were being controlled by Technology, be it had become way too advanced. Technology was being created that completely eliminated the need for human workers. One of the novels Nye discussed was Player Piano. Reading about this was very interesting to me. Is it possible for a society to become way too technologically advanced, that eventually machines will be created that completely eliminate the need for a working class?
Doing research on this topic was somewhat challenging. I didn’t realize at first that papers that I wrote throughout the course of English 102, would come so handy in writing my final research paper. So I tried starting from scratch. This was difficult. I did not know where to start or what kind of research I was looking for to back up my topic.
I turned in my first attempt at this paper and like I thought, it was not a quality paper. So I tried again, this time using the information and the texts that were analyzed throughout the semester. Using the other material from the course made things so much easier. There were different topics that Nye, Vincente, and Vonnegut covered that related to my topic.
The Disney/Pixar movie Wall-E, was another source I used for my paper. I actually did not come up with using this as a source, my teacher actually suggested that I consider using Walle-E in my paper. Discussing Wall-e actually fit pretty well with my topic. But I never would have realized that because I didn’t think that using a Disney movie would be a legitimate source for a college level paper. But then I realized that writing a paper is a way for a writer to really express their thoughts, feelings, and opinions. I actually enjoy Disney movies, so I was very excited to used something like this in my research paper.
Throughout the semester I learned that writing is a lot about the choices we makes. There are not certain rules to follow. A writer has to decide what is best for their paper. A paper, essay, short story, novel, etc. are just ways for a person to express their feelings.
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