Famous Last, Famous Last Words (Week 15)

For this last famous last words assignment, I decided to have it as somewhat as a smorgasbord of all the different topics.  Also I threw in another pic of my cat because why not?

Skippy stuck in a empty pop case.  Personal Photo from December 2014

Your best writing for this class.
I felt like this last storybook was one of my better writings for this class.  After I had gone and looked at my older storybook assignments, it felt like as the semester progressed, each story I had put in there became more and more of my own.  For example, I felt like my first two entries were more of me copying and pasting my narrator into the situation whereas I felt like my last two were a bit more personal.

Other people's writing.
When I went through everyone else's storybooks for the last internet assignment, I was a little disheartened because all of the entries I had enjoyed earlier on didn't complete their storybooks.  I think out of the four or five storybooks that I frequented usually, just two really finished their assignment.  And both of those two that finished, one of them hastily drew their conclusion together and the other one, although he had all of his entries in, said that he was going to conclude his story in another entry.  I know that my storybook isn't perfect, but I wish that people at least saw their storybook through to the end.

Your other classes.
This week has been pretty frustrating for me at school because I've had three finals this week.  I know that instructors try to spread things out so we don't have everything within the same couple days but it didn't work out.  Now all I have is one exam Monday morning and then I am done.

Outside of school.
Not much is really going on, but of course I had to watch the Peter Pan Live! deal with Christopher Walken as Captain Hook.  It was wonderfully terrible.  Also, I saw a movie trailer for a new Disney Movie called  Into the Woods that reminds me of something that we would read in here.

Writing Post

* What did you like best about the writing for this class? What would you like to see more of?

 I really enjoyed the writing assignments for this class, it let me explore creative options that I haven't been able to pursue in a long time.  I thought the amount of writing was plenty.

* Did you choose the Storybook or the Portfolio? Are you happy with your choice? What information should I emphasize to next semester's students when they make that choice?

I chose the Storybook, and I was very happy with that decision.  I would say that the next semester's students should glance through all of the reading units so they don't get stuck with something from the very beginning.

* Do you have suggestions for the commenting process: suggestions about commenting on blog posts? suggestions about comments on Storybooks/Portfolios?

I thought the blog post commenting was fine but I wish that the commenting for the Storybooks were a bit shorter.  I felt like I could make meaningful comments fairly quickly but then I would have to ramble on after that to meet the minimum word amount.

* What kinds of comments did you find most useful as you working on your Storybook/Portfolio?

I found comments that were focused on plot issues were the most helpful.  You can fix typos and grammatical issues easily but if something in your story doesn't flow right it throws the whole thing out of whack.

* Do you think this class helped you to improve your writing?

Definitely, I felt like this class developed my creative writing ability a lot better than it was.

* What kind of writing do you see yourself doing in your future career? Will writing be important in that career?

I really don't know what I plan on doing and if it involves writing.  I doubt it however since I am pursuing a career in the sciences.

* As you look back on your writing this semester, what advice do you have for students who will be getting started next semester?

I would say don't rush it.  Sometimes I would have other work and then I would start doing stuff for this class and churn out something that I didn't like.

About the Reading

     For this assignment, I can't really think of a ton of things that would improve the layout of the class.  Everything was pretty streamlined and efficient in allowing us, the students, to choose which direction we want to go with the class.
     However, my main suggestion would be for the chosen reading units to still be grouped up in paired weeks, such as if you do Native American Stories you stick to them for both weeks, but I wish it was set up so you could read them at any time.  Personally, and I mentioned it earlier in another post, it was difficult with my storybook topic because I had to read essentially double because most of my stories were from one of the last sections.
     I also like the idea of having anthology units based on the themes.  It would give students a better idea on what to write about in their storybooks because they have a better idea what is in the untextbook other than just where it came from.