Reflection Blog

Writing:

My first challenge was determining a specific topic to write on. I wanted to choose something related to my major and that my target readers could understand. However, I found it difficult to find a term that wasn’t too simple but at the same time wasn’t too hard to understand. Using history as a foundation I decided on picking the word “Recession,” relating it directly to what happened in 2008. Defining the term in a very vague way for the parenthetical definition and then broadening the topic was also quite difficult. By researching a way to better communicate my ideas I ended up digging deeper on the knowledge of the topic, which gave me a deeper understanding. At the end figuring out how to present an economic term as a figure made me realize that a great way of learning is by diversifying what you read. Therefore, the choice of a mockery cartoon, where the image is clear and concise without being overwhelming.

Peer Review:

Peer reviewing in particular didn’t present many challenges. I was paired up with Abdulellah and he decided to define the term “Chromosome.” Since I had studied the term in high school and had a standard knowledge of it, I felt his descriptions were simple and easy to grasp. Overall, his work was well-written and very detailed. However, adding transition words would have made the sentence structures more concise and easier to understand. The visual representation was also well placed as it demonstrated a clear picture of the topic discussed.

Self-editing:

Self-editing was a bit challenging. Since I received two feedbacks it was hard to grasp exactly what both of my peers were recommending while implementing that into my writing. Most of the recommendations were formatting issues or expanding the knowledge under a specific topic. Therefore, I had to expand my sentence definition in order to give the reader a better sense of the term without being too direct. Overall, I believe it was beneficial to analyze Abdulellah’s documents and incorporate some of my suggestions into my own paper, in order to make it more complete and concise.

The Unit 1 writing process took me out of my comfort zone and made me think “outside of the box.” I am looking forward for our next units and to be able to see down the line how my writing has evolved in comparison to that of the beginning of the course.

Peer Review: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30199ctechnicalwriting/2018/01/23/peer-review-of-assignment-13-recession/

THREE DEFINITONS EXERCISE

To: Dr. Erika Peterson
From: Joao Pedro Neves
Date: January 20, 2018
Subject: Application Letter Memorandum

Dear Dr. Erika Peterson,

As directed on our class blog my Letter of Application has been posted on my personal blog page. The letter was composed for the main purpose of finding an English 301 writing team. I also wanted to highlight my main interests and accomplishments in order to draw the attention of people with similar interests and experiences. By drawing people that share the same interest as me I believe I wil be able to better communicate with them, while learning from their own experiences.

This Letter of Application Highlights:

· The desire of finding an English 301 writing team.

· My main interests and accomplishments.

· My form of writing.

· My most positive and negative traits when writing.

· How I work as a team.

Please feel free to contact me if anything is unclear. A copy of my letter is also attached below.

Thank You,

Joao Pedro Neves

301JoaoNevesApplicationLetter

Dear Antonio Imperial,

I am writing to you to express my strong interest on creating a writing team with you for our English 301 class. After further review of your application letter I believe that our experiences and interests complement each other in a way that will beneficial for our group members.

I personally believe that your multitasking and time management skills will be extremely beneficial to the team as we are consistently working on different projects and have to juggle different courses in school. Your way of writing is very similar to mine, so I expect us to grow our writing skills and expand our knowledge base by helping each other more.

My application letter is included below. Thank you for your time and consideration and if you have any more questions please feel free to send me an email. I am Looking forward to joining a team with you.

Sincerely,

Joao Pedro Neves

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Dear JM Doyle-Waters,

I am writing to you to express my interest in forming a writing team with you for our ENGL 301 class. After review of your application I believe we have a lot in common and there is a lot we can learn from each other.

First of all, your Bachelor of Commerce really came to my attention since that has been one of my interest since joining UBC even though I decided on pursuing Economics. Secondly your work experience at the BC Government will be extremely beneficial to the team as you may already have seen most of the forms of writing we will be dealing with, and that will help us all grow as Individual writers and as a team. Lastly, I believe your form of writing mirrors a bit of mine and I think we may be able to help each other “fine tune” it a bit further

My application letter is included below. Thank you for your time and consideration and if you have any more questions please feel free to send me an email. I am Looking forward to joining a team with you.

Sincerely,

Joao Pedro Neves

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Dear Abdulellah Altayar,

I am writing to you to express my interest in forming a writing team with you for our ENGL 301 class. After review of your application I believe we have a lot in common and there is a lot we can learn from each other.

Just like you I am also an international student, so I believe we can relate on the struggles of the language and adaptation to the place we now call home. I have noticed through your application that you have a really good choice of words, So I look forward to working with you and expanding my writing vocabulary as well. I believe your business minded approach and experience will be a great asset to our team. It is extremely important to have a team member that wants to listen and wants to learn as much as he wants to help, therefore I believe we would be a great fit as we share that same characteristic.

My application letter is included below. Thank you for your time and consideration and if you have any more questions please feel free to send me an email. I am Looking forward to forming a team with you.

Sincerely,

Joao Pedro Neves

January 12, 2018

ENGL 301 99C
UBC Department of English
2329 West Mall
Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4

Attention: English 301 Students,

I am writing to introduce myself as a candidate for your English 301 writing team. I will detail my educational background, professional experiences, some personal interests and my strengths and weaknesses in writing in order to give you a full overview of my skill set as a writer and professional.

I am currently in my fourth year of my undergrad, studying Economics at the faculty of arts. During my first year of university I studied at UBC-Okanagan in Kelowna, therefore I have seen the best and worst of both UBC campuses. Before joining UBC I also studied one year of engineering, which I thought was my passion at the time. After graduation my aim is to find a job in investment banking, where I can gain some valuable work experience before moving back to my home country, Brazil. Since year one I have spent my summers doing various internships in Brazil. I have worked in different firms and in different sectors such as: HR, Financial, Administrative and Commercial. These were able to give me a better understanding of how a firm operates and the steps necessary for it to be successful. Tying it back to my major I was able to notice every single step that is important for a firm and therefore be able to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses when building my investment portfolio.

Due to my great passion in numbers and problem solving my writing style is very direct and concise. Even though English classes have never been my strength I believe I excel in business related writing due to my background knowledge in the area. My papers are organized but due to spending too much time organizing ideas I sometimes lack attention in detail when editing and re-wording. My main challenge is to word my ideas in a way that they are organized, concise and thorough.

My learning philosophies are curiosity and application. Curiosity enhances our skills and memories it sparks the want to learn and to be better. Application on the other hand helps us formalize in long-term memory what we have learned. By applying new ideas we are getting our brains used to that topic, therefore learning it in a deeper sense. I believe the combination of both makes a great learner, as you will always be curious about new possibilities while also learning to the point where you can apply and use that knowledge to your benefit.

I believe that with my business background, problem solving skills and concise line of thought I will be a great addition to any team. Please feel free to reach out through my blog in case there are any outstanding questions or comments at jp.noronha.neves@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Joao Pedro Neves
English 301 Student

301JoaoNevesApplicationLetter