Self Evaluation

1)

I enjoyed my first semester at Penn State as I have learned and been able to experience so many new things. The English 15S course has changed my perspective on the arts community, specifically on what constitutes something as art. The course opened and narrowed my eyes to things here at Penn State, where if not for the class I probably wouldn’t have gone out and experienced. For example, we went out to experience the art of the arboretum and a local student based play, and though I didn’t enjoy some of these activities I was able to see the creativity that went into developing each piece of art.

I have always been a great patron of the arts so over the course of this semester my appreciation has only been enhanced. I consider the art world to be a part of my present and future, probably not as a profession, but certainly as a source of entertainment. It is something that I will pursue for my personal delight, especially arts revolving around music and canvases.    

My writing style has improved in all aspects after this course. The reason for the radical improvement was all due to my Professor Sheila Squillante’s efforts. I’ve learned how to apply myself in different rhetoric situations, like analyzing advertisements, writing a memoir, and even entering the blogging world. By going through helpful readings, and by having Professor Squillante share some of her professional work, has really cemented the techniques that we learned. For example she has taught and shown me that concise sentences do a lot more for when trying to make a statement, than long sentences with redundant, out of place adjectives. One of the most critical and useful advices I obtained was during the memoir unit. I learned how to format my story to maximize persuasiveness and fluency, specifically by ending in scene. This causes a cliffhanger which was so eloquently demonstrated when Professor Squillante showed this technique from one of her works.

Throughout this semester I have learned that I work a lot better in a group setting. This class has brought about many opportunities for group projects. The blog that our group had to create for the final project was both fun and helpful as it demonstrated how to properly manage your time in college.

Though I was very reluctant to the idea of having a blog, mainly due to preconceived stereotypes about bloggers, it actually allowed me to voice my own opinion. It was something completely new to me, as though I’m in college it still has the school type atmosphere where things are monitored so you have to be careful about what you write. The blog was useful in a way that it took away some of the boundaries and restrictions that high school had placed into my mind. This first semester has given me the base for forming my own opinion which I find is one of the objectives and advantages that comes with college.

2)

1)         http://bryancarse74.blogspot.com/2012/10/old-school-movie-review.html?showComment=1355111044995#c7237834948068991328

2)         http://tarasaverageblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/7-peanut-butter-disaster.html?showComment=1355111467142#c6968219453040389130

3)         http://rebeccacommisso.blogspot.com/2012/10/artscultural-response-zac-brown-band.html?showComment=1355111927650#c5502389032404994729

4)         http://derosag5050.blogspot.com/2012/12/artscultural-event-barstool-blackout.html?showComment=1355112258629#c7790706479625735318

5)         http://derosag5050.blogspot.com/2012/10/animal-house.html?showComment=1355112816027#c7279587299530447532

6)         http://carascornerthearts.blogspot.com/2012/11/extra-blog-post-2-my-photography.html

7)         http://ideasoninspiration.blogspot.com/2012/12/shark-teeth.html?showComment=1355162373536#c4048633044775235914

8)         http://theartsynittanylion.blogspot.com/2012/11/artscultural-response-bruce-springsteen.html?showComment=1355162799480#c3088695730571762708

9)         http://artandrhetoric.blogspot.com/2012/09/extra-post-comic-book-coffee-table.html?showComment=1355164439511#c8775182708116779516

10)       http://derosag5050.blogspot.com/2012/12/harry-potter.html?showComment=1355165007605#c719931231575487345

11)       http://tarasaverageblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/5-movie-review-graduate.html?showComment=1355165397004#c669099349570057694

12)       http://bittyjade.blogspot.com/2012/10/were-going-streaking-will-farrell-one.html?showComment=1355165803932#c8979713548520898186

13)       http://joewater.blogspot.com/2012/12/random-post-christmas-decorations.html?showComment=1355166190887#c4774219654803241369

14)       http://tarasaverageblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/arts-cultural-response-rock-vote-concert.html?showComment=1355166652438#c1631643269923729646

3) Done.