Assignment 1:3 really helped me to understand just how important clarity is when it comes to writing about a certain subject. By defining my word, historiography, I was able to see that sometimes a simple definition is not sufficient when attempting to express my argument. It is important to write academically, but also to remember that the audience might not be as familiar with a chosen topic. Keeping this in mind, this assignment has allowed for me to see how much elaboration is important when trying to connect to an audience that might not always necessarily seek out an article on a subject they are not familiar with. An author must take into account that proper explanation of a subject helps the author’s attempts of reaching a wider audience. I found it quite helpful to read about and execute particular expanded definition techniques, which in turn not only helped my audience learn about a certain topic, but also helped myself learn something new about a topic that I thought I knew quite a bit about already.
Upon completion of my definitions assignment, I partnered up with Writing Team member, Lia Slager. I found this exercise quite helpful, as I was able to see how my team member executed her assignment, which helped me further understand the requirements for the Unit. Lia wrote very well, and I found her assignment to be easy to understand. I was able to suggest a few things that I believed would help her assignment be even better. Likewise, Lia reviewed my own Definitions Assignment, and was able to give me some constructive criticism that I took in and used to revise my original assignment. She helped me see how my parenthetical definition was not a proper representation of how a parenthetical definition should be presented. I re-read the section in our textbook, reviewed her own parenthetical definition again, and revised my original work to better fit the requirements for said definition.
Before starting this assignment I felt confused as to how I was to take one technical term and define it multiple ways. I felt as though one term could be limited to only one way of defining it. As I read through the section in our text, I quickly began to see the many ways in which a term can be defined. I started thinking about other technical terms that I have come in contact with throughout my time studying history, and began applying different expanded definitions to these terms. Not only was I able to discover a new way of writing technically, I was able to learn more about my major field, which was quite nice.
I especially enjoyed the peer review aspect of this assignment, something that will come up again in this course. Lia was very informative, and professional, in the constructive criticism she presented to me, and I have walked away from this assignment feeling like I have acquired a valuable asset in technical writing that I believe will transition well into both my academic and professional careers.
Edited Definitions: 301-Taylor-Smith-Definitions-Revised
Hyperlink to Lia’s peer review of my assignment: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99c-2018wc/2019/01/30/peer-review-for-assignment-13-taylor-smith/