This page contains my best works in ENGL 301 course, which highlights my academic achievements. I have revised all of these works according to my peer review and instructor’s feedbacks.
- Definition Assignment
The definition assignment tasked me to write three different definitions: parenthetical definition, sentence definition, and an expanded definition of a technical term. The purpose of this assignment is to explain the term in a way that is non-insular. The term I chose is from my Chinese major–“Dao”. In revising the definition assignment, my key takeaway is that there’s more than one way to explain a term, and the expanded definition really challenges the writer to THINK what questions that the reader might have. Perspective shifting is the key!
301 Definition Assignment Initial
- Formal Report: proposal with surveys, outline, progress report.
A formal report is a major assignment in this course, we begin to brainstorm about the kinds of volunteer and work experiences that we can draw upon for formal reports at the beginning of unit 2. It takes a lot of self-inquiry when doing this assignment, below is an infographic for my brainstorming process, my initial& revised proposal, outline, and progress report.
My Brainstorm Notes! (It’s lucky that I still have it!)
My progress in writing the formal report:
1. 301 Darius Zhang Formal Proposal,
2.301 Revised Formal Report Proposal Darius Zhang,
3.301 Formal Report Outline Darius Zhang,
4.301 Formal Progress Report Darius Zhang
- Peer Review Revisions
Below are my first peer review assignment, and my revised peer review for the definition assignment. As the semester progresses, we learn more and more about how to write effective peer reviews for our professional team members. The ‘tricks’ of writing an effective peer review are many, but I think the most important two are a. Edit out the pronouns–adopt a professional tone b. Make your suggestions as detailed as possible. Below are examples of my final peer review piece written for Catherine Yu’s formal report draft, by comparing these four writings, hopefully, you can see how my peer review ability has improved through this course. Key reflections: I think by writing peer review and seeing how others think of my work, really enhance my ability to think objectively. We can all learn from each other by sharing what we did in a course, and I think this is a very good way of learning. I haven’t experienced any peer review in my other courses, so this is definitely a fresh and educational experience for me!
1.301 Peer Review for Definition Assignment
3. 301 Peer Review for Formal Report Draft
4. Revised 301 Peer Review for Formal Report Draft
- Writing with the Right Attitude
A major component in unit 3 is to learn to write with ‘You Attitude’. So what does it mean? Basically, ‘You Attitude’ means ‘Reader-Centered Writing’. In business conversations, we don’t want the reader to feel like they are being offended. That’s not good for the business! Hence, we use some strategies such as a. make readers feel they are important in the business relationship; b. look at things from the readers’ point of view; c. Avoid using pronouns as much as possible so that the business writing could sound objective.
Below are some examples of my Writing with You Attitude assignments, and they all have been revised. Key Reflection: the context of our writing sets the tone, if we are writing from a position that makes recommendations for others, we need to be careful not to offend the other person. If we are writing complaints, control our anger, and make the readers feel that our complaints matter to them!
1.301 Best Professional Email Writing Practices: Writing with You Attitude
2. Revised 301 Best Professional Email Writing Practices: Writing with You Attitude
3. 301 Complaint & Business Letters
4. Revised 301 Complaint & Business Letters
- Link & Connect!
Another component in this course is to learn to build a professional learning network (PLN). Our professional writing team in the course is an example of PLN, with a network supporting our learning and professional life, we would have the opportunity to expose ourselves to diverse opinions and make positive contributions to a larger dialogue.
Below is my revised 10 Linkedin Practices:
Revised 301 Ten Best Practices for Using LinkedIn