In English 301, I learned the skills and techniques that have a life-long worth of value. Whether the skill was to learn about writing with ‘you-attitude’ or to create a profile on a social networking site, the value of all these skills are priceless. I have always been hesitant and nervous when it came to writing letters to professionals or creating a sophisticated document. Now, with the help of Dr. Paterson and her guidelines, I am confident to present my technical writing skills to the professional world. This blog will sum the areas of weakness’ and strengths that I encountered throughout the course of ENGL 301.

The major weaknesses that I faced were: being too practical and uncomfortable with my writing, being too wordy and repetitive, and forgetting to incorporate ‘you-attitude’.

I used to take hours to complete an assignment in the beginning of the term. The process of translating my thoughts into clear and concise sentences was difficult. I was more focused on the flow of the words, rather than the content being presented. To overcome this problem, I wrote a rough draft for every assignment and jotted down ideas without any tension about the sentence structure or word choice. For the final copy, I would edit my rough draft in a manner that retained all the important points. This way, I was able to remain focused, and above all, I learned to express my thoughts in a limited amount of words. To tackle the problem of ‘you-attitude’, I reviewed the online textbook and assessed my peers’ writing until I became comfortable with the concept. I had never written with ‘you’ before because I always thought documents seemed more professional if written in third person. As you can see, I was wrong!

The strengths that I have are: being organized in my writing, providing excellent constructive feedback, and working hard to improve.

I am always determined to create an articulate and polished final document. I follow given instructions carefully by creating a checklist to ensure all aspects are covered. This strength will be useful when writing and editing scientific papers. In addition to being ‘miss-perfect’, I am a very optimistic and encouraging person. This trait was valuable when writing peer reviews for fellow teammates. I always tried to highlight the strengths in my peer’s writing while kindly providing suggestions for improvement. I made sure not to overwhelm my peer by imposing my opinions and above all, I made sure that I was following my own advice. For this reason, I would revisit my work and edit to perfection.

Overall, the skills that I have acquired in ENGL 301 will benefit me when applying for jobs, writing and reviewing scientific papers as a research assistant, and eventually, when applying for medical school. As a future research assistant, I am now able to express my ideas in a concise and meaningful manner, as well, I am able to provide constructive feedback to fellow researchers regarding their findings.

In Unit 4, we were asked to create a Web Folio that showcased our work in English 301 to the social network world. I remember in May, when I first heard about the Web Folio as a term-end project, I thought the task will be a complicated and daunting one to complete. This is because I am not an expert with computers and the idea of a Web Folio was unheard of. However, as I complete my Web Folio, I realized I underestimated myself and the experience is quite rewarding and enjoyable.

I choose to modify my original English 301 blog on the UBC Blogs site. Having worked within the blog over the past 14 weeks, the process of transforming the blog was much easier. Unlike the earlier weeks of this course, I know how to insert hyperlinks and pictures, create new pages and posts, and navigate the toolbar in an effective and efficient manner.

Dr. Paterson provided clear instructions for organization, layout, and content requirements. I chose to follow the given directions and fulfill each technical requirement with precision. After I completed all the requirements, I realized my blog looked quite generic and dull. To add a personal touch, I included a few pictures of myself and my interests to make my Web Folio appear original. This not only enhanced the appearance of my Web Folio, it gave my readers a better understanding of my personality and present/future interests in life.

I perfected and edited each page and post of my Web Folio according to peer reviews and Dr. Paterson’s suggestions. In addition, I noticed that I had some editing and formatting errors in previous posts that needed to be fixed. For example, my application letter on the Blogs page had severe spacing problems and the hyperlink was inserted incorrectly. Since this was my first blog, I was unaware of the different tools on WordPress. I asked my fellow teammates for help on how to remove excess spacing and insert hyperlinks. This reinforced the importance of reviewing my work with a critical and thorough eye.

To my fascination, I enjoyed developing and creating each page of my Web Folio. In particular, the ‘Application Package’ page is my most favourite. This page showcases my resume, cover letter and reference letter requests for a research assistant position in proteomics that I hope to attain. I have never created a searchable resume before, so this was a useful and worthwhile skill. In addition, I love how my paper resume turned out. I always wanted to alter my resume to make it more appropriate for the professional world, but I never knew what changes I need to make. Now, I can present both resumes, scannable and paper, to any employer with confidence.

In the future, I can always change the layout of my Web Folio and alter the credentials according to a particular job or graduate school application. The change in colour, content and pictures will make my Web Folio appear fresh and maintained for all my readers.

Overall, the construction of a Web Folio was a wonderful experience because I learned another method, in addition to creating a LinkedIn profile, to expand my social networking skills. Throughout the process, I was able to improve by technical writing and editing skills that are necessary for both personal and academic growth.

In unit 3, the goal was to practice writing strategies and to create the first draft of the formal report. The title of my formal report is, “Construction of Canada Post at Mennonite Benevolent Society, Abbotsford BC.” I began the report by conducting important research via one-on-one interviews and surveys with the residents and staff of Mennoplace. The process of collecting primary research was not challenging because most residents know me well and anyone available was willing to participate. However, obtaining secondary research proved to be a challenge. After hours of research online, I managed to find some information regarding the procedure of opening a Canada Post outlet in an authorized location. Once all of my data was collected, it was time to begin organizing the draft. I decided that the best method of layout in the ‘results and discussion’ section was according to my survey questions. This helped to keep my report focused and structured. In terms of writing the draft, the incorporation of ‘you-attitude’ was difficult for me. I had never written a report in ‘you-attitude’ tone before, hence the process was different.

After the completion of the draft, it was time for peer review. The process of peer review was an informative and knowledgeable experience. I learned how to incorporate ‘you-attitude’ into my report in an efficient manner after reviewing Parynaz Adamy’s draft. She had done an excellent job at reflecting ‘you-attitude’ toward the identified reader. In addition, I learned that I need to develop my introduction more thoroughly for my reader. Mainly, the ‘purpose of study’ section needs a better transition and explanation. Overall, the method of writing the formal report draft was a unique experience and I look forward to making revisions.

Attached: Final Formal Report

In unit 2, the goal was to begin the process of creating two major documents: the formal report and the application package on LinkedIn. Personally, I had never used or browsed the LinkedIn website before, hence the process was quite interesting. I find LinkedIn to be an amazing site where I can connect with and follow my potential future employers. This type of professional social media networking profile is almost an asset to have these days, especially since social media is becoming a huge part of our daily lives. I will definitely use my created profile in the future as well.

For the formal report, we began the process by constructing a report proposal and a tentative outline. The initial process of brainstorming was somewhat challenging. I started by brainstorming very broad topics and then eventually narrowed them down to tackle a very specific problem at the hospice I volunteer at. My topic is, “A proposal to allow easy access to a Canada Post office for residents of Mennonite Benevolent Society.” So far, I am following my planned outline and everything seems to be moving smoothly. I have already conducted my interview and the surveys are near completion.

After submitting the report proposal, my proposal was peer reviewed by Parynaz Adamy. Her suggestions about providing more background information regarding the Mennoplace facility were justified. I need to keep in mind that not everyone is aware of the place that I am familiar with.

Similarly, I peer reviewed Parynaz Adamy’s report proposal. Throughout the reviewing process I have learned that I tend to be very descriptive and particular about details in my writing. I focus a lot of time on making sure my writing flows well and is concise. I noticed that my peer did some research and included statistics in her proposal, which was great. Overall, I think the peer reviewing process has impacted my writing in a positive manner. It helped me judge the relative quality and merit of my research.

Formal Report Proposal – Revised

Formal Report – Peer Review

As a writer, I tried to write in a simple, easy-to-understand language while defining the disease phenylketonuria for grade 12 Biology students. My goal was to use less scientific words as possible because I did not want to overwhelm my young readers. However, some scientific words were necessary to use, such as amino acids and tyrosine, in order to deepen the understanding of a biochemical disease. Although my peer reviewer, Tanis Lewis-King, suggested I eliminate such words or expand on their definition, I chose not to. This is because, most grade 12 Biology students have some sense of what amino acids are and I believe I provided enough background information not to overwhelm them. If I defined words like amino acids, then I would have lost my emphasis on the actual term being defined, which is phenylketonuria.

Also in the first draft, I talked about the history and discovery of phenylketonuria because I thought my audience may be curious to know. But after the peer review, I realized that this piece of information is not important as it shifts away from the actual definition.

As a peer reviewer, I noticed that my writing is quite similar to Tanis Lewis-King’s. It was similar because we both have an extensive science background, hence our writing is understandable to each other. The main difference between our writing was that I tend to include too much additional information that is unnecessary, while Tanis Lewis-King is very concise and to the point. After peer reviewing, I realized that I need to make my writing more organized and brief to the assignment.

Overall, this assignment challenged our inner writer and editor skills. It was a great learning experience to write for a specific audience. When we are familiar with or knowledgeable about a certain topic or term, we assume others may be aware of it as well. However, this is not always true. Therefore, this assignment was useful in teaching us to respect the skill level of our audience.

Revised Definition:

ENG 301 – Definitions (Edited) 

Peer Review:

Definition – Peer Review