Reflective Essay

Jasmine Franklin

WISE history 201

Professor Underwood

December 3, 2010

Semester progression

                                    Reflective essay: Semester Progression

            At first being in a WISE history class seemed pointless to me because I didn’t get why technology mattered when dealing with history. I could not get over why we had to write in a  blog for our assignments or do our quizzes over webct if we could turn them in or do them in class. As the semester continued I got why we used technology in our history class. It was a base for understanding how to write in a matter that gets straight to the point and so we could see how as a whole we evolved from technology.

             With the cultural analysis it was kind of difficult to grasp the concept because I had to take a point in history and analized how they survived in various circumstances. Though it was hard, it made me a better writer for history. For one, looking up quotes that pertained to my thesis was difficult because it had to relate to my point. I could not just throw a random quote without a meaning to it, I had to analyse what was going on. Also with citing the quotes it was a challenge because not only did we had to use notes, we also needed to format a proper bibliography. It was tedious and took a great deal of time and work.

             The cultural analysis, allowed me to have a more focused mind that was needed for historic base writing, because it needs to be straight to the point. When writing the paper I noticed how I became more in tuned with tying ideas and concepts together with the utilization of quotes. After I finished with the paper I felt satisfied because with writing the paper I learned about a civilization’s history and I also learned how to properly write with historical context. The paper also aided in my growth by giving me practice in citing in CMS citation.

            I thought writing the civilization essay was joyful because not only could we use regular sources, we could incorporate our experiences from the civilization game. With this essay I had to emphasize how a civilization as a whole survived and what elements were needed. I understood why we had to form our learning experiences from playing the game. It gave me as a student understanding of how much work it really is to keep a civilization at its prime best. When I had to sit down and actually write about how a civilization uses its resources to live, I found it easier for me to display the aspects that they needed.

            A weakness that I have in this class is trying to explain the historical significance in all of the writing. I am a good writer overall, but when it comes to interpreting history it gets confusing because I have to make sure I hit the “why is this important” and the “who cares” aspects in historical writing. Though it is a challenge I noticed that I am getting better at conveying my ideas historically. Some of the strength that I had in the class is actually getting my ideas across.

            In the beginning of the semester the blogs were assignments that I did not get. After I started to write them it became clear why we had to use this form of technology in our writing assignments. Blogs got me to stop adding unnecessary detail, and just get straight to the points. The outcome that I have now with writing blogs is having more effective writing without the unnecessary specifications. I have a new outlook on blogging because I thought I was not going to enjoy writing them, but I do because it taught me how to write differently.

            In the WISE history class I learned how to use technology for basis of writing. Overall I enjoyed the class because as a student I become engaged in the lectures and that allows me to understand what has happened over periods of time. Being in this WISE history course has allowed me to grow as a writer and shape my over all writing skills when it come to getting straight to the point.