Meta-Blog

When Mr. Bolos and Mr. O'Connor first announced that for our American Studies course we would be blogging weekly, I have to admit that I was a little skeptical of the idea. My first concern was if I would even have an audience-- who would bother reading a high schooler's blog for class? I have countless times seen the shirt that says "more people have read this shirt than your blog," and in all honesty, I was fearful that this would be the truth. However, what I now realize after a semester of weekly blogging is that these primary fears were completely irrational. I have not only come to appreciate the blogging world, but actually enjoy the process too! I've come to realize that this is a wonderful opportunity to enhance my writing skills, expand my literary horizons, and discover new interests as well.

Looking back on my blogs from first quarter, I see how necessary it is to tie a post to a text or a video or something like that. In my first three posts I talk about topics I am interested in, but don't link to a specific piece of work. I occasionally throw in a picture here and there with little to no explanation as to why I put the picture in the post. 

For example, in my second post, written right after the ten year "anniversary" of 9/11 titled What Will We Remember?, I talk about the memories I have from 9/11/01 in comparison to my parents' memories from JFK's assassination in 1963. I believe this particular post has potential to be an interesting idea, but it was poorly executed in the sense that I did not quote anything, did not tie it to any text, and simply threw a picture of an American flag in there for no reason besides just to have a picture. 

However, I think that the post What happened to "failing with honor" over "winning by cheating?" is a prime example of how anchoring a post to a text worked. I clearly site an excerpt from the podcast I discuss, and then analyze the part I quoted. Mr. Bolos and Mr. O'Connor have stressed the importance of not just providing evidence, but analyzing it too. Although it has taken some time to learn, I think that I now understand what they mean. 

Another issue I noticed from my posts are the lengths. My posts tend to be long and wordy, and I often try to cover too much in one post. In fact, Mr. O'Connor's comment on my post The Serial Quitter reads, "This post could be more focused (i.e. you could cut it by half)."  Mr. O'Connor is right in that this post lacked any coherent focus. The ideas were there, but they were all jumbled around and it was overwhelming to look at and read. Reading back on my other blogs now, I notice that many of them attempt to cover too much ground and lack focus, and that is why the posts seem to drag on forever. 

Another common theme I notice throughout my posts is that I continually mention the ways in which American values have negatively affected society. I talk about the stress Americans put on themselves to win and be the best in roughly five of my posts. It is not until my most recent post, World Peace Headed Uphill, that I tie in the more positive American value of America being known as the “melting pot.” Although it does have its faults, America does have many positive values, and in the semester to come I plan on including more of these in my posts.

The first semester is coming to a close, and as I look back on my blogs, despite the numerous mistakes I’ve made along the way, I am proud of the work I’ve done. I feel like I have come a long way in terms of using my voice as a writer, and also linking my posts to a text. I know there is still room for improvement, (there will always be room for improvement), but overall I am satisfied with my work and am pleased to say that this weekely blogging is no longer viewed as a burden but as something to look forward to.