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Final Self-Commentary: Step by Step
 

Read these directions carefully--they've changed from those for an earlier self-commentary. Note that in response to Step Six, you need to synthesize notes that you've written down in response to the first five steps into two succinct, well-written paragraphs.  This self-commentary must be published by the end of the time-period slotted for our final exam, that is, Monday, December 20, at 5 p.m.; final fine-tuning of your web site is also due at this time.
 

As we have noted before, successful writers do not simply produce texts out of thin air as if by magic; they go through a more or less specific process, moving step by step towards a finished document. As you probably know by now, good writing involves moving from an initial assessment of the writing task to a series of drafts, some of which are shared with collaborators.

Once the project is complete, successful writers spend at least some time reflecting on their writing, and on articulating what they feel are both their accomplishments and their ongoing problems. Finally, successful writers use these reflections to reformulate their methods for the next writing task.
 
In this sense the writing process is best thought of as a kind of circle or spiral rather than a straight line; the last stage of any writing process, your self-reflections, are in effect the first stage of your next writing task or assignment. This assignment will formalize this last/first step by using a guided “self-commentary” at the end of your extended writing process.  When you answer the questions below, refer to anything you have written over the semester, from homework to rough and finished drafts to peer critiques. NOTE! again, the first five steps are items you should fill out on your own, but NOT post to your web site in that form; the final draft that you link to your assignment index should be a polished synthesis of notes you took in response to the first five steps (as described in the sixth step).

 

Step One: summarize your assignments

Begin by going back to the original assignments since the last self-commentary--they’re on the web site's "handouts" page--and write a two to four sentence summary of what you believe to be their overall purposes and goals. What writing tasks have you been asked to complete, and what, in your view, were their main aims? (Remember, this is not yet the point at which you should do any evaluation; simply summarize succinctly.)
 

Step Two: summarize your texts

 
Next write a two- to four-sentence summary of the texts you have written in response to assignments since the last self-commentary. Which of the specific purposes and goals do you feel you have accomplished this semester? (Again, this is not yet the time to do any evaluation; simply summarize succinctly.)

Step Three: compare the assignments to your texts

Once you have completed Steps One and Two, write a summary describing how well you feel your texts met the main purposes and goals of the assignments you have been given this semester (this should  be about a paragraph in all). Finish off with some evaluative remarks on what you feel you did well, what you feel you did not do well, and what you therefore feel your goals for repeated improvement and success ought to be for future writing projects.

Step Four: review your writing process

Begin by describing your own writing process as honestly as you can.  In particular, as you answer these questions, address them in terms of any changes you have noticed this semester in the way you do these different stages of the writing process. Some of the questions you might ask and then answer include: In this section you can also include any comments you might have regarding your own process of learning the writing technology included in this course. Finally, finish with a few sentences outlining what you feel are your strengths and weaknesses in the writing process, and what you therefore feel ought to be your goals for future writing projects.
 

Step Five: review grammar and mechanics

 
Review selected samples of your texts to see if you can locate sentences that are unnecessarily passive, fragmentary, grammatically inaccurate, indirect, and so on. Identify and write down two or three sentences that have these problems; rewrite these sentences to illustrate how you would rewrite them. For each original/revised sentence pair, provide an explanation for the revisions you make. (If you feel that you cannot find any grammatical problems of this sort, pick three especially long sentences and practice revising them in a more succinct way. Remember, you must still provide some explanation for the choices you made in your revised sentences.) Finally, compare some of your writing from early in the semester to some of your most recent writing--do you see particular improvements?  Incorporate discussion of at least one of these examples into the document you finally produce for Step Six below.
 

Step Six: put it all together

 
In effect, you now have enough material to produce between 400-700 words of succinct self-commentary on your writing and your writing process--do so in two new paragraphs that synthesize what you wrote for the above steps (do not merely write five or six paragraphs, one in response to each of these steps). Decide how you will organize this material. What do you want to emphasize?  What answers that you came up with in response to the five steps above do you think will most help your writing practices if you try to keep them in mind?