EVAluating EVA

WON: ...that my RAs at first aren't going to be anywhere near perfect. And to perfect my work, to make that ideal pot, I gotta throw a lot of pots. Which is why I think it's awesome (as much as I hate it at 2a.m. the morning before it's due) that you're making us write so many RAs! Hmm that doesn't help me any except that maybe I'm asserting my ethos as a truthful character... I've learned that nike really knows what they're talking about when they say "Just do it." You gotta put your RA out there, write it out and stop being afraid of it! I've learned through confirmation in my brain piece that a second draft works wonders on my papers!!! I've learned that past 12a.m. I can't really think anymore. Oh yes... And I've learned about Vietnam. And I've learned that what I'm doing now as a major might not before me. In general I've learned a lot about myself and this class has been the medium of my growth.

TOO: Learning more of.... I'd like to learn more about structuring our writing. How to go about writing. But I think you answered my question already today when you said, "You wanna get better at writing, you gotta read." I think Mr. E.B. White is gonna be my new best friend. Clarity is exactly what I need, and our friend E.B. White apparently has truck loads of it. I want to learn more about other people's writing, more essays, so I can mimic and find my writing style. Yeah, I want to learn what my writing style is and my answer is: read and write.

TREE: RAs RAs RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Specifically, getting detailed on a thesis and pin pointing what it is. I think I fight myself too much when I'm trying to write RAs. But I think sample essays and sample analyses are the answer to my question.

FLOUR: MORE DISCUSSION. I also would like more from YOU. I'd like it if you told us what YOU thought after we finished analyzing the texts on our own. I get to hear and read what everyone else is thinking, but rarely do I get to hear YOUR take on everything. I understand why this is, you want to give us room and time to discover things and come to our own conclusions, but I'm curious: what do you think about these texts?

FIVE: Useful: That excerpt from our course packets that showed us how to evaluate movies. That was awesome because it gave us the tools for movie analysis by telling us about point of view, camera angles, themes, characters and then it demonstrated how to use these tools by showing us samples essays.

SIX: HEARTS AND MINDS HEARTS AND MINDS HEARTS AND MINDS. HEY AND DID I MENTION HEARTS AND MINDS?!?!?
POR QUE? Because I've watched parts of it at least 5 times and I discover more and more what the message is. But I suppose if I saw any other movie or read other texts I'd discover new thing about them. But for some reason I'm drawn to Hearts and Minds emotionally and because it seems to have so much craft and I feel I dont just see a new face or object in the filmed I didn't see before, but instead I discover a new argument each time within the greater arguement.

My Preformace:
1.) Blogs: Hmm I've missed a few times. I put more effort into some blogs than others but I think progressively, my public blogs have become more insightful and thoughtful versus just blabbing off about what I think and not backing my statements up. Personal blog is well, just that- 'tis mine. I don't know what to say. I think it's great because it's me and if were to put ME down that would just hurt, but that doesn't mean that I can't critique myself. You... I don't know if my blogs have gotten any better. I think I've become more afraid of them because you Mr. Piekarski are looking at them. I know this sounds stupid, but sometimes when I've blogged my heart out towards the beginning of the school year and got nothing in response it was disheartening. I know I would say a lot and God you might have been thinking, Eva stfu already, but I NEED FEEDBACK. I want to know what am I doing well with, what am I doing bad on, so I can improve myself, my writing, my ability to think critically, my approach to analysis. I want to better myself! I started off very emotionally in my blogs. I responded with immediate feelings, and observations, and there were lengthy, long winded. And then I moved to okay no, I need some detachment. And I responded visually and then went into some analysis with the response to Letter to America movie. I think they are getting better in the sense that I have become more reflective, and it helped me the other day when you responded to my post on Tim O'Brien. I loved that. But I feel more withdrawn. Or maybe not. I don't know. GIVE ME SOME DIRECTION OH CAPITAN DE RHETORIC!!!

2.) DISCUSSIONS: ahhh I love them. I realize that discussion is part of our grade and any time it's a part of my grade in any of my classes, I make sure to speak up despite being shy or afraid because well, my grade is on the line. But in this class I can't help but say things, I can't help respond to them verbally, and I can't help that I have so many question for people when they respond in class the way they do. I like to know what everyone is thinking and why they think it so I can see how to approach my writing or my way of thinking. I love the collaboration of though because I get hear new perspectives and think about things I might never have noticed or thought about otherwise. I get a different view on everything from hearing everybody in class. I think I deserve point here because my curiosity and my response to texts take a very tangible, audible, visual form that show, Eva does do at least a little bit of thinking now and then.

3.) RAs: hmmm biggest weakness. I'm able to respond verbally, blog-like-ly, visually, but when it comes to writing and putting all of my thoughts into a formal setting (our RAs) I have trouble. You hit it right now the nail when you told me, You have a love of all things (very true. I find everything fascinating!), but Eva, you need to zoom in and focus in on one or two things in your RAs instead of trying to cover everything (so true. I even feel overwhelmed because I feel like there is soo much to say and I don't know where to begin.) But I'd like to say that I think I did awesome on this last RA that we are supposed to wring another draft on. I wish you could see the first draft and tell me how I could improve or if I'm completely wrong (which could be very right) in thinking that my RA has gotten any better.

4.) GRADE: Because I am still struggling with getting this RA thing down, and because I haven't turned in 3 RAs which are supposed to benefit me (but I didn't do them because I couldn't figure out where to start and when I did it was too late, but who needs excuses since "the road to hell is paved with good intentions").... I deserve no more than a B. And I say a B and not a C+ because, I HAVE been thinking, I'm active in class, I'm active with our texts outside of class. I really think about our texts and respond to them emotionally and thoughtfully and I overcome my fear of speaking or being wrong by voicing my thoughts and not becoming discouraged when I am wrong. That Mr. Piekarski takes guts. People don't like being wrong but I'm completely open to it. I want to be corrected when I am wrong. I want criticism because it will only help me! And I want to improve!!!

5.) O.K. so when you said Eva, "I see that you are a very visual person" you couldn't be closer to truth. For my final project I was thinking big posters, crafted with a message, a meaning, a truth that I'm finding as we go further into this class. So I've been feeding myself with the Wall Street journal to bring immediate relevance to the topics we find in class. I'm pulling from rhetoric as well... How do I not only craft my message visually, but how do I convince my audience that the message in my poster ia important. I have examples of posters/art that I find from the internet and good ol' Corrbit that I stole from my bro to help me with the word aspect. What would be cool is that I'll be incorporating words (like we do our R.A.s) and images to convey a message that speaks without speaking. It's going to be tough but I could work it out, and it will be awesome. It has to be because I won't accept anything less than that. BAM. What do you think? I'd like to discuss it with you and get some.... dun dun dun... (r u ready for this) FEEDBACK. ;] But I suppose my end of the deal is that I need to produce more R.A.s.

What say YOU Mr. P?

Also, Fabulous play list this morning.