Midterm Portfolio

http://english101portfoliobyjohncosta.weebly.com/index.html

Revise your work

After reading Revising Your Own Work on pages 386-391 a whole new world of revision was brought into my world of writing papers. Many new techniques were introduced to me during this chapter. Right away I learned that a first draft can be quickly prepared and then to edit it. This was interesting to me because I always write my entire paper and then usually go back and really pull it apart and edit it. This was a significant lesson to me because when I write an entire paper like this when I am reading it after I find out that I have gotten away from the main topic of my paper or that there is essential information missing. Another very important lesson I learned from this chapter is that after writing a draft,  is to put the paper aside for a few hours or a day or two. This is a useful technique because it give your eyes and mind a break. When you come back to the paper your eyes will be fresh and you may notice errors that one would not have noticed before. Overall the key to a successful paper is to take the time and edit so the audience is addressed and everything flows. This chapter has been very helpful to me I plan on taking these techniques and using them to my advantage. These techniques are going to help me get ahead on papers so that I am not rushing to get them done.

A Twisted World

In "A Twisted World", I think James McMorrow Jr. argues that although America would love to see celebrities run the United States it is out of the question because there would be to many ridiculous changes. I thought that this whole essay was constructed very strategically. It was interesting that rather than starting with his opinion he writes the whole essay with examples of what the United States would be like if celebrities ran it. McMorrow's conclusion surprised me at first because after reading this I thought it was clear that he would want celebrities to run the United States. At first when I read this I looked at all of his details as positive points. However after looking back at it I realized he was using examples to show how ridiculous and drastic the changes would be. I liked that he came to absurd conclusions to get his point across. I agree with McMorrow that I would love to see the United States run by celebrities. It would be a dream come true. I would follow all of the political aspects if this were to happen. However the country is already in a hole and I do not see a drastic change such as this helping the situation.