Latin American Short Stories

12 responses so far ↓

•   Hannah // Nov 30th 2014 at 6:00 am

  I would say that the most important thing I have learned in this course is how to use research to support what I was trying to say. In high school, we hardly ever did any research papers, because there just wasn’t enough time in the curriculum with all the other things we had to learn. But here, I really learned how research can be incorporated into a paper to support what you are trying to argue. I know how to cite my sources well, what sources are the best to use, and how to find those sources. Another important thing I learned is that I don’t have time to do all the meticulous things I did in high school. In my previous English classes, we would write all over the paper in order to get the most out of the reading. We would read and reread a piece to make sure we understood it. I’ve learned here that with the amount of other work I receive, it’s not really possible for me to devote that much time to do that. So, I realized that the most effective way for me to read a work is by slowly reading it and making a few notes, double checking that I understand everything. So I have started managing my time better with that.

  Overall, I think my habits have changed a good bit. I realized that while at home I can easily work at night, quietly, by myself, this is totally different at school. So I now know what times are the most productive for me during the week (after certain classes, before practice, etc.) and how I can manage this in my daily schedule. Also, I have figured out that while I can do basic flash cards and reading at night, I cannot effectively work on my essays at night when I am very tired and not thinking at maximum capacity. The way I write essays has also changed. Before, I would write every “quote sandwich” on index cards and then organize the essay that way. I did that for the first essay, but it took so long that I had to stop with that. The most important thing I have learned is that I work best with an essay when it is divided into sections, though. That has been really helpful with figuring out how I can best organize and rewrite things.

  Learning these things about myself will be extremely helpful in the future. In future classes, I definitely have a better idea of how I best structure my time, how I research, and how I best focus while at school. These will be extremely important for success. I really liked how this class taught me almost individually how to use things like the library databases and what sources are most reliable. For example, before coming to college, I had never heard of a peer reviewed source. Now, it is something I constantly think about when I need to research something. Even just in other classes, the things I’ve learned in seminar have helped me tremendously. I found it very helpful for my Dickinson experience so far.

•   jimminkc // Dec 3rd 2014 at 1:22 am

  I have learned so much about myself and about college in the first year seminar. I think the most important thing that I have learned is to use my resources to the best of my ability and to always ask for help. I came to realize that the more I used the writing center and office hours the better my papers were. At the beginning of the semester I didn’t use my resources as much my habits have changed in the sense that for every paper from this point on will be reviewed in the writing center. I think that I will find myself using the “Writing Analytically” in the future for tips on my writing skills.

•   Madeleine // Dec 4th 2014 at 4:56 pm

  The First Year Seminar class was a great experience for me because I feel very prepared now for continuing to write college level essays. Through reading Latin American short stories, I learned about Latin American history and culture, but I also learned how to write a college-appropriate thesis statement, strategies for writing compare/contrast essays, and I gained a foundation for researching through the library’s JumpStart data base. For me, the most influential part of the course in terms of writing was learning about prewriting and utilizing various prewriting techniques. These really helped me to delve deeper into the stories we read, make connections, ask questions, and gain greater insight. Theses strategies will help me write papers for future college classes.

  Also, my writing habits have improved throughout the semester. In high school, I typically wrote one rough draft and one final draft. Now, I realize the importance of prewriting, outlining, creating a working thesis, writing a rough draft and then another draft, editing/revising/peer reviewing, and finally creating the last draft. I learned to take my time writing, and to constantly revise and improve my papers. I feel as if my writing has become stronger and more clear through these steps, and I definitely plan on using this process for other papers and essays in my other classes. Especially if I chose to continue studying spanish, and since I registered for a religion class and a psychology class next semester in which writing is crucial, the tools I obtained through the FYS course have given me a solid foundation for writing in higher level classes.

•   jacobsoh // Dec 4th 2014 at 6:09 pm

  First Year Seminar has definitely been a great learning experience. Seminar, overall, had taught me how to write for a college level. Writing these past three essays has really challenged me and forced me to become a better writer. I found the pre-writing activities very helpful and will definitely use those in the future. I also found it help that when beginning to write an essay to just get out your thoughts and then to go back later and edit. It made writing less stressful by not trying to make the paper perfect the first time. I also found the writing center to be an extremely helpful resource that I will continue to use in the future. The skills I learned in this class will help me in the rest of college as well as beyond college. Writing is such an important skill and now I feel like I am much better at it. I will use these techniques and resources in my future classes.

•   chicasi // Dec 4th 2014 at 10:25 pm

  First Year Seminar was a very helpful way to help me improve my writing skills. I was able to understand how to apply arguments to essays and how to use sources to support my argument with the help of this class. This learning experience has now made me understand what college expects of me after transitioning from high school. The many different amount of writing techniques I learned from this class can help me write higher level essays in the future.

  The most helpful thing that I learned is that providing arguments, something I can’t say that I had in mind when writing essays in high school. I also learned the importance of outside sources to support my arguments. Pre-writing techniques also helped me organize my essays, since I often avoided doing so and went straight to writing in high school. I will always keep this class in mind whenever I start new essays in a future literature course to remind myself of the helpful techniques I learned so I can write a scholarly essay.

•   applegsa // Dec 4th 2014 at 11:23 pm

  This class has taught me more about writing and has helped me to further develop specific writing skills. Throughout this semester, I have learned a lot of useful tips from the book we read from, “Writing Analytically”. One particular writing exercise from the book which I used frequently this semester is the 10 on 1 exercise. That exercise is one that I hadn’t tried in high school or any time previous to this course and using it helped me develop my thesis statements for my second and third essays. I wrote in my “prior knowledge” post that in high school I struggled with creating thesis statements, so I think this has helped me to fix that problem.

  In this course I have also learned to take more time preparing what I’m going to write about before actually beginning to write my rough draft. I think taking this time to do the extra steps of preparation helped improve the overall quality of my essays in comparison to those I wrote in high school. I will continue the writing habits that I developed in this seminar as I continue in college.

•   Estiven // Dec 5th 2014 at 2:21 am

  In this first year seminar I feel like I have learned the expectations of what a college paper looks like and how to write a paper at the college level. For example, in high school most or all the resources that were needed to write a paper were usually given to us and there was not much freedom of what to write about. However, for the papers we did in first year seminar there was a lot more freedom of what we could write about because there’s a larger selection of sources that we had available from the library to enhance our paper. Being able to use the library is essential tool for me because the resources I have used from the library have always better supported thesis. I feel like my habits have changed more than the work because I am writing the same types of papers I wrote in high school. After first year seminar when writing an essay I think more about the process of writing because before I never started with a working thesis and detailed outline because I use to directly write a draft of the paper. Writing an outline helps me figure out if the ideas I have supports what I’m trying to prove in paper therefore I have paper that is better put together.

•   danona // Dec 5th 2014 at 2:45 am

  Beyond learning new and helpful writing skills in this FYS, I have learned how to approach my assignments. I now space my work out over a couple of days or weeks depending on the assignment, giving me more time to work on it. I am also less stressed when not doing it last minute and I find my work to be much better. I also feel more confident with my work because I allow myself plenty of time for different reviews such as peer editing, proofreading, and visits to the writing center. I have become much more efficient with my work and getting it done.
  I also feel very prepared for whatever other writing classes I will take here at Dickinson. I am supplied with multiple writing techniques to start my paper as well as various techniques to edit and improve my work. Focusing on the construction of the thesis statement was extremely helpful to me and as the semester progressed, it not only became easier for me to create a thesis, but to formulate a strong, interesting, coherent thesis. Overall, this FYS has prepared me very well for my future classes.

•   medinaeg // Dec 5th 2014 at 3:44 am

  Throughout the semester I have overcome the fear of writing essays. That was one of my goals I wished to have completed in this course. Now I have a better understanding of what the essay procedure is and how I must work to finish an essay. You need a good thesis, which will decide all the format of the essay. I now know having a solid thesis helps, as it is simple to know topic sentences and conclusion sentences. Having the idea and thesis is the hardest part. I now know I need time to develop my idea and find evidence to support my claim. The next challenge for me is to become better in my grammar and recognize how I can change as a writer. My habits have changed from when I was in high school. I know the Writing Center is a great resource, which can be useful to brainstorm as well as for refining your ideas. Also going to office hours was useful as I would see the format in which my ideas would further my claim. With the knowledge to find resources and using all the resources available to me I know I can do any essay, which will be required of me. I learned there are many great literary works in different languages and their meanings are universal. I liked the messages each story gave and how the literary format changed with time. Some of the ideas written in the past are still relevant today and we can discuss ways of how to change some things as we do not wish to repeat the past but rather make different ideas come about.

•   Kienan // Dec 5th 2014 at 4:16 am

  I have learned to prepare before writing, not only by reviewing the topic that I am writing about but by creating an outline of what I’m writing about. Also, a key point in my writing that I have sharpened in seminar is focusing on my one topic and not diverting to add more information. The main thing is about zeroing in on my one thing and making it prime with evidence. This will help in the future with my writing in regards to staying focused on the topic.

•   Cailin // Dec 5th 2014 at 4:44 am

  From this seminar, I have felt my writing strengthen throughout the whole writing process. The prewriting activities we practiced were definitely the most helpful, and I have learned to be more creative in the writing process. I have learned that the process is much more dynamic and changing than I had originally thought, and that the steps don’t have to be rigid, even in going back and revising. The writing center has been a very helpful resource for me, and I will continue to go for future papers. As a whole, I have become a more motivated student with better time management skills this semester, and this seminar definitely influenced this change. I have begun to spread my work out more, which has made my end results better. I have also enjoyed the course content very much, and have gained a better appreciation for Latin American culture, literature, and how messages are conveyed through different literary techniques.

•   Aden // Dec 5th 2014 at 5:50 am

  I would say that I still write similarly to how I did before, but I have learned to make outlines. That is the biggest and most important change I have made. I still like to use a number of sources and research fully before I write anything. I believe that is one of my strengths. I have also changed my writing in terms of the amount of content vs. analysis. I have been cutting or paraphrasing quotes and injecting my own voice more. Adding more of my own voice makes the essay more individual and unique to me. I have also learned how to use my sources in more powerful ways by picking better sources. I learned to pick apart sentences and explore the deeper meanings of pieces. The environment of the author is often reflected in their work, and that provides a powerful lens to look through. My habits are essentially the same. I research, write and then look back over it. I now try to reread my work twice and rewrite some of the weaker parts. I will write more organized using an outline and write more assertively using more of my own voice. My sources will be strong and rereading will lessen mistakes.

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