Summary Assignment - Revision Checklist Kristina Hanson

1. What is the thesis statement? Is it an accurate reflection of the author’s thesis

statement? Is it stated in your own words? How could you refine it to be more clear

and concise?

My thesis statement is: “Joan Didion writes in her journal to create a new reality through making up events or changing events that did happen to make them more interesting.”

It is stated in my own words.  Reading it now, after having typed more papers, I could have done a better job on making it more clear and concise.

2. How is the essay introduced? Do you mention the article’s title, author, purpose and

audience? Does it clearly set the tone for the paper and accurately reflect what is

discussed therein? Could it be improved?

In my introduction, I mentioned who the author is, what the name of the Essay is and the purpose of it.  I did not mention the audience it was written for.  I believe it does clearly set a tone for the paper and reflect what I will be talking about.  I definitely could have improved the thesis statement.  I think the rest of the introduction is pretty good.

3. What are the main points of the summary? How do you recognize them? Do you

leave out minor points and repetitive points for emphasis? Most importantly, do you

leave out your own opinion, feelings or conclusions on the subject of the article?

I do leave out my own opinions, feeling and conclusions on the subject.  The main points are that Joan was taught as a child to not draw attention to her.  Life wasn’t about her, it was about everyone else.  She was writing stories in her notebook to remember events and changed the events so she would remember them better.   I have the main points at the beginning of the paragraph, but reading the paper now, I realize how bad my transitions are…

4. How is the essay organized? Does it follow the organization of the original article?

What transitions do you use? Think of some additional possibilities for more logical

organization.

I did not use any good transitions.  I have a better understanding now what I’m supposed to do in a transition.  I believe I followed Joan’s Essay pretty well when I did my Summary paper.  Now I wonder if it would have been better to organize it different though.  Maybe start with the beginning, the way she grew up and then lead into her notebook.  Reading her essay was very confusing at first because of the organization.

5. After your reading, can you say the thesis statement accurately reflects the topic and

focus of the essay? How is the essay concluded? What technique do you employ in

the conclusion? How is that effective or not?

My conclusion states why Joan thinks she is actually keeping a notebook.  I believe it is a good conclusion and is effective.  I could have done a better job with the thesis statement to pull it all together.

6. Make sure to fix any major grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors.

I fixed all the major grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors as far as I can tell.  I did go to the writing center to get help with that.

7. Is the sentence structure varied and interesting? Do you have any weak, overly

wordy, awkward, or confusing sentences? Does the essay strive to use active, direct,

present tense verbs?

I feel like my sentence structure is varied and interesting.  I don’t think any of the sentences are weak or confusing.  I do use present tense verbs.

8. Were the textual passages (quotes and paraphrases) well-chosen? Remember you

should try avoiding direct quotations when writing a summary.

I did not use quotes.  I paraphrased certain sentences that were important in my paper.

9. Is the essay written in third-person? Are all instances of first- and second-person

removed from the piece?

The essay is written in first person.  I did not see any instances of first-and second- person in the essay.

10. Is the draft two to three (2-3) pages typed, double-spaced? Are all the margins oneinch

(1”)?

Yes, the draft (final paper in this instance) is 2 pages and double-spaced.  The margins are one inch.

post # 4 - Kristina Hanson

I really haven't had too much peer pressure in College. I'm not a traditional student.  I moved here from Germany when I was 21 years old and started taking classes about 6 months after. However, I only took about 6 credit hours a semester and worked full-time.  In regards to finances, at first it was hard as my husband was going to College full-time and working part-time and I made okay money, but not a lot.  I was always paying for the classes as I went.  I changed majors several times (Business, Accounting, IT to finally Nursing), soI have taken classes I don't need for my current degree program I'm in.  My parents and husband have been supportive.  My parents are very proud of me doing so good with English being my second language.  I never had a student loan until I went to school for the LPN.  I didn't work then and took a bigger load (program lasted 10 month and was about 16 hours per semester).  For my prerequisites for Washburn, I did pay as I went (credit cards), but now in the nursing program, tuition is too high to pay for it as I go.  So I do have a student loan, which I don't like to have.  I don't experience any peer pressure in my classes.  I think we have a great class of 80+ students.  I haven't met anybody who is not nice or willing to help.  A lot better atmosphere than I had in the LPN program.  I really do feel supported by friends and family.  Everyone has been great.  My husband is doing more of the household chores to help and my friends help with the kids.  My parents are in Germany, so they can't really help that much, besides being supportive on the phone.  They will however, come next week and help me for 3 weeks, which will be very nice.

blog #3 - most difficult class - Kristina Hanson

In the Spring I took Statistics online at a local community college.  I love math, but taking this class online was not the best decision.  I was also taking chemistry online at the same time and 2 other classes.  The instructor I had in statistics was never answering emails.  The few times I sent her an email it took weeks to get an answer.  Students were asking how to do things, but didn't get answers.  Other students tried to explain how to do things.  The instructor didn't really explain how this all worked.  Instead of using the school website, we had to install the program that came with the book and take quizzes on there.  I have taken lots of classes online, but never had as little interaction with the instructor as in this one.  It was very frustrating.

blog post # 2 from 8/24/11 - Kristina Hanson

I don't think that keeping a blog or notebook is an exercise in narcissism.  Personally, I don't keep either.  Well, I guess that's not true any longer.  I do have this blog now.  I would say that keeping a notebook is about "keeping in touch".  You can go back and read it and remember what happened back when.  You will remember the events better when they are written down as the written events will reflect the mood better than your memory.  I don't think that keeping a notebook is an exercise in narcissism.  Usually it doesn't just involve the person writing.  It is about family events or events with friends, things that are important to remember.  I do think that social media changes the way we record the world around us. When people kept a notebook, it was personal.  When you keep a blog that is open to others, it is not just personal anymore.  You can share your feelings with people all over the world, you can now have "friends" all over the world.  People are more aware of what is going on in other areas of the country or other countries because of social media.

Myself - blog from 8/21/11

My name is Kristina Hanson. I was born and raised in Germany.  I got married to a US citizen and moved to the USA when I was 21 years old.  I have been here for 16 years now.  I have two children, Niklas (8 years) and Katarina (6 years), two dogs and a cat.  I worked in office jobs until after I had my son, then decided I wanted to go into nursing.  I started out by becoming a CNA.  I worked on pre-requisites for nursing school and got my LPN in January of 2009.  Right now I'm working at a local hospital on a medical-telemetry floor and I'm in the BSN program at Washburn (first semester).  I'm pretty busy with school full-time, working 24 hours and my kids activities.