English 319: Persuasion

Peer and self review- Monte, Mitchell, Kate, Victoria and Melissa

Monte,

What I like most about your pieces is that they weave an image and throughout all of your papers you strengthen that image with words. I fell that it is easy to tell that you are an art major. In your memoir you talk about your 3rd grade self being a magician, at first I thought that was all there was to the story until I got to the end and you included the analysis. It was like I was tying my shoes for the first time again. The way you include the image of yourself and the feelings of those around you and tie it in at the end is some pretty top notch work.

Mitchell,

You let no detail go by unaddressed. The mark of a true journalist. Although, you aren't afraid to add yourself into the equation and that helps with this kind of thing. You've made the writings more personable and humble. You explain what everything means and why it means that way to you in a way that doesn't expressly put yourself over the top and that is something I think we will all take away from this class. What I like the most out of your portfolio is your memoir, you grappled with concepts that not many people would want to have to do for a grade.

Kate,

Your writings are fairly balanced and on target but the most striking piece is your memoir. It is a very personal subject that you handled fairly well in writing. It also shows just how there are some experiences that can sober people right up. This is your strongest piece, the emotion that you use inside of it strengthens your voice and is a trait that most people lack or just can't use. If it is something you'd be willing to do you should try using that voice inside of a creative writing class, it's been a long time since that event but I imagine just thinking about it brings you right back to that phone call.

Victoria, The best part about Victoria's writing is that it is really easy to get sucked into. It's almost as if she is using a stream of consciousness. I feel what she is thinking and the way she explains everthing inside of all 3 of her papers really makes me get inside of her mind so-to-speak. I can also tell that she has spent time improving her works for this class, from draft 1 of paper one to the final of paper 3, her thoughts have developed and matured and the writing propels the reader.

Melissa,

You say you aren't a writer but this portfolio proves otherwise. You've produced writing that not many people of your generation will willingly produce. Like I have said to you before, I think you should try another stab at it. Through the progression of your writing it is clear that you left your comfort zone and tried handling something new, and with work can possibly be something much greater than you are making it out to be. The language and voice inside of your memoir convey this message again but at the same time is a bit contradicting because you can use that language and voice like that. Not many people who aren't writers can't do that.

I learned many things about academia inside of this class but not really that much about my writing styles. Something I've mentioned time and time again is that I believe I've found my voice and that I can use it consistently. I did notice that this class has helped streghten my voice and at the same time has helped me be able to analize material more critically than I really have cared to do before. The first writing was something I tried to gloss over but took me more time than most of the other writings I have done before, the second writing was completely new to me and in the end helped foster a sense of stability inside of my writing voice, and the third piece, something I've always wanted to do, helped me understand that writing is much much more than what I've made it out to be. It's fun (for me) to recount how I've grown through the years and this was a perfect place to test out the voice that I'm eventually going to use to write the story of my life.