The process of writing to a specific target audience and editing a peers writing has been a new experience for me in unit one. I personally found some challenges with taking a technical term which most people in my field would understand and simplifying it to a level that most others would understand. I learned a lot about my writing style and had to be conscious of the technical terms I used.

The editing process was very helpful to simplify and clarify my writing. I also found that this exposed me to other classmates writing styles and how I could improve my own writing style to make it more efficient and clear. Blaine made some very helpful suggestions to my writing piece and it allowed me to clarify it to the reader more effectively. I also found that editing Blaine’s work was helpful to me because it taught me to read more critically and thoroughly. This gave me a better understanding of the topic that he was defining.

The self editing process opened up my eyes to complicated terms that I had used in my definition as well as some jargon that was unnecessary. Throughout this process I made my definition more clear and efficient and actually ended up shortening my writing a bit and taking out some points that may not have been necessary to fully define the term. Blaine’s revisions helped me to think more critically about my writing and convey my definition more effectively to my intended audience.

Overall I enjoyed the assignments in lesson 1. I have learned a lot about my writing and look forward to future improvements.

Revised Definition Assignment:

ENGL 301- Lesson 1.3 definitions

Definition Review by Blaine Smit:

http://engl301.arts.ubc.ca/2017/02/01/assignment-13-peer-review-blaine-smit/