Very short first draft.

2001: Space Odyssey, a film directed by Stanley Kubrick, was released on April 6^th, 1968. The film, said to be the best science-fiction film of all time, contains mainly imagery rather than verbal dialogue. Due to the lack of verbal dialogue, the audience experienced a lot of music, special effects, and visuals of what space looked like. This allowed the viewers to ponder their own meaning of the movie. Many viewers find the film boring and slow paced, yet still find themselves intrigued of the story being the film.

In the start of the film, I found myself very bored and annoyed. Bored by the fact that there was no dialogue, and annoyed because I was confused about what was happening. I thought once later into the movie, I would better understand. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I not only was still puzzled, I found myself even more confused. Yes, I understand the movie is about how man is dwarfed from technology, but the way it's approached, I do not get.

Outline:

I plan to better explain the film in more detail.

I plan to add quotes from the film.

I plan to add reviews.

I plan to add more personal thought.

Visuals Visuals Visuals

Our reading for today in the Norton Field Guide was on Media/Design. In this reading I chose to focus more on the print text, due to the fact that this is what I use most often. Whatever the text, design decisions are always present. You can choose to do different things your typefaces, layouts, paragraphs, lists, headings, and even visuals. Visuals are a big thing for me. I think it is very important to have pictures. It makes text easier to read for me so I do not easily get bored. Your visuals can be pictures, graphs, charts, tables, or drawings. Things you want to remember however are:

• Position visuals in your text as close as possible to your discussion of the topic in which they relate.
• Number all visuals, using a separat sequence for figures and tables ( Figure 1, Table 2 )

Reading Strategies.

Todays reading was over Reading Strategies. Since different texts can be read differently, its important to following some steps. These steps include:

• preview your text
• consider rhetorical situation
• think of your intial response
• annotating
• playing the believe and doubt game

I personally like the idea of the believe and doubt game. This allows you to see and understand both sides of the situation. It also makes you question even your own thoughts.

Annotating is also a key thing for me. It is always very helpful to highlight important things so I know what to look back on.

Do It the Right Way

Analyzing texts can be a difficult thing. Not only must you try and understand the text, you need to know how its being said. Texts have a big influence on what and how we think so it's crucial to know how to correctly analyze what we are reading.

In this reading, there is a guide to analyzing text. This guide talks of many things. The first being choosing a text to analyze. Though you willl usually be assigned a text to do, there will be times that is not that case. When that happens, it is important the text is not too large or complex to be anaylzed. Another important part discussed is generating ideas and texts. It says to skim the text and then to questiong it. This helps to get a sense of what it is saying.

Another part I found was important was taking stock of your work. This is where you answer some questions such as:

• what could have been improved?
• what would you do differently next time?
• how did you go about drafting your essay?

WAIT!! You are not done.

Today's reading was from chapter 26. It discusses editing and proofreading.

Your writing ability is determined by factors such as error-free and clear writings. The steps to such a writing includes editing and proofreading.

Editing, which is working on sentences, punctuations, and words, is vital to a good writing.
From the reading, I learned to make sure there is a main point and each paragraph relates to that point. It is important to make sure each sentence is complete and makes sense. One thing I had never heard before was to be careful when starting sentences with "it" and "there". The use of these words can hide information that is actually needed. Also, when using words in your writings, make sure you know the real meaning. There have been times I have used words in a story that I had only heard somewhere but was uncertain of the real meaning. You want your audience to know what it is you are talking about.

Proofreading is the next step in having a great writing. It allows you to double check your work and make sure all is good and ready to be viewed. Things that can be done to insist you on proofreading include:
*Grammar check
*Read one sentence at a time
*Have your paper peer edited

Writing the Perfect Paper

Revising: a very imporant aspect to any writing. Have you ever written a paper you felt was completely error free and once you read it aloud and found multiple errors? It happens to most people so don't worry. This reading was a very useful one. It explains many things and has answers to many common questions. It tells of not only revising, but also talks about having a clear thesis and outlines. The one thing that stood out to me was writing for yourself. That is a very true statement but I didn't realize it until this reading. It is so much easier to write this way.

Today for English 103, I was to read more chapters from The Norton Guide Book to Writing. These chapters were designed to help you get started on a writing and they also included many things in which could be included in the writing. It first talks about writing drafts and the importance of setting a deadline so you are not waiting until the last minute to write the entire thing. That not only rushes you, it also doesn't allow your mind to explore all the possibilities as it would if you first jotted ideas down on paper. Description was also discussed. It is very important for your writing to contain as many details possible. You want the reader to be able to picture what is happening. When writing, it is very useful to use sequencing such as chronological order, reverse chronological order, or flashback. One other thing discussed was dialogue. Dialouge is who you bring other's words into your writing. This allows your writing to provide visuals instead of just being told about them.