Thanksgiving Tasks

     Thankfully, we didn't have to meet up for class this week. Thanksgiving was really fun and a great change of pace since I haven't seen many of my family for about 2 years now. We weren't able to get together in the recent past because of the virus, but I feel like that all added to the experience this year. Of course, the food was great and my family and I all had a good time. 

    However, I still have things I need to do for class. I have lagged behind in progress for my exploratory essay, and I have an entire speech to make as well. So even though I really don't feel like doing any homework for the rest of the weekend, I guess I'll at least have to work on something. 

All Up to Me

    Hello again. We actually don't meet for class this upcoming week, but that doesn't mean there is nothing to do. I will still have to work on my exploratory essay and create blog posts as per usual. However, because we don't meet for class, I am unable to properly gauge how much I should be working on this project. We are supposed to have a rough draft finished for when class starts up again, but I am unsure how much work I should do. Like do I work on it a little bit every day, or wait until the last couple of days and grind it out?

    These choices are what I normally have to deal with, but I'm able to kind of check my progress when we meet for class and have other people read over my work. I suppose I could get one of my family members to read my work, but I will have to set the pace at which I work myself. It might be challenging, but I have to establish a work pattern on it now.

    Unfortunately, most classes are unloading projects after projects for students to complete as the end of the semester is approaching. That means that I have a lot of work to do, so I'd like to finish as much as I can as early as I can. I'll try to work as much as possible on this essay before I get drowned by all of the future projects that are waiting for me.

Content and Exploration

     This week in class, we were finally able to submit our documentary projects. It feels like we have been working on this project for a long time, and it feels good to be able to turn it in. Since we were given so much time, I was able to make my project the best I could make it, which is definitely reassuring for grading purposes. 

    Our teacher has since graded our projects, and I am pretty happy with the grade that I got. However, we are quickly moving on to our next project, which is the exploratory essay. This one seems interesting, but I feel like the hardest part will be to pick out a topic. I'm looking forward to the end of the semester, but I have to get through the work in this semester first.

Needing More Time

     This week in class, we were originally going to finish the documentary project by Wednesday, but we were graciously given some extra time to make sure our analyses are the best they can be. I'm not going to complain about it, in fact, I'm grateful that we don't have to turn it in as early so that I can get some more feedback on how my paper is coming along.

    Additionally, my brother came home from WIU last weekend, but he had to go back on Sunday. It didn't really feel like two days. It kinda flew by without us really doing anything special while he was here. We were able to talk, so it's not like we didn't do anything together, but I'll be able to see him again on Thanksgiving break. Then we should be able to do more stuff and be around other family members I haven't seen in a long time because of the pandemic.

A Summary of Halloween

     This week in class, we were tasked to finish our summaries on a documentary that we watched. We were luckily able to get a deadline extension for this assignment, but I completed the assignment early so that I could focus on upcoming exams. However, I am thankful for the extra time because I was able to revise and fix most of the mistakes I made in the summary.

    Regardless, Halloween is coming up! Normally, my family is big on Halloween, but this year we aren't doing as much. It's kind of disappointing, but I'm not too bothered by it because I know it'll be different next year. With Covid being a thing, it makes going to a haunted house a little less appealing, but hopefully next year I can enjoy a normal Halloween again.

The Greatest Scene

    This week in class we were supposed to write our two-to-three page summaries in preparation for the rhetorical analysis. I don't know if anyone else had to do it, but I actually had to rewatch some of the documentary in order to complete the summary. I was able to look up the characters' names online, but I didn't remember what role most of them had in the film. 

    So, after a longer time than I wanted, I was able to complete the summary and have it be slightly more than three pages long. I might've been able to reduce it a little bit, but I feel like it should be good enough. 

    The final step to our multiple-week-long documentary project is the rhetorical analysis. That means we are supposed to select our favorite scene in the entire documentary. Personally, my favorite scene is the one where the team shows pictures of the Great Barrier Reef before and after the coral bleaching event. It was just an excellent display of what they are trying to fight against. They have pictures of beautiful coral reef environments flourishing with life, and then they juxtapose an image of the same reef after it dies. The difference between the two is actually disheartening, and yet the divers had to see it happen firsthand. I think I should be able to write a lot about the scene, so hopefully, the rhetorical analysis goes rather easily. 

The Next Steps

     During class this week, we were told that our documentary projects would be a work in progress. That is, there would be multiple steps to fully complete the project. The first step of our project was in last week's blog post. It was the guided reflection questions, which helped us gather our thoughts about the documentary we chose to watch. Those questions will also help us later on in our project.

    The next task on the list is to write a two-to-three page summary of the documentary we watched. This might actually be pretty hard because there was a lot of content in the documentary that I feel I would write down. I'll have to minimize the amount of detail I put into the summary. Also, another problem is that we are supposed to include the names of characters, which I know none of. This might mean that I'll have to rewatch the documentary in order to find out the names of people.

    After our summary, the final step is to make a rhetorical analysis of a certain scene of the documentary. It should be our favorite scene or one that was a real eye-opener that spoke to us on an individual level. It should take an additional two to three pages, but I think It will be easier because we get to focus on a certain scene and personalize the writing content a little bit.