Reflection of the writing and editing process

Looking back in retrospect of the past 9 weeks, I realized I had improved so much more in terms of my writing skills as well as developing a better understanding of proper grammar usage. Definitely, the course of the past 9 weeks had made me realise how much more I had to learn, but also showing areas where I had improved on. I had not only learnt how to extract important information from sources and apply the skills I picked up along the way, but also the significance of group/peer evaluation. Through the practice of peer evaluation and group work that Dr Cook has implemented, I am able to learn from the mistakes that my peers made, as well as learning from the errors that my peers had pointed out to me. There is no doubt that it was a beneficial 9 weeks, however I believe the journey of learning does not end here.

For week 10-12, I would probably like to learn more about evaluation/critical response of problems/solutions in an article as I know I am much weaker in this aspect. I am fairly confident of my use of language, albeit with some room for improvement, but I do need to work on proper usage of SVA and transitional conjunctions. As I tend to make errors like incoherent transitions, it is important that I work on this area and if appropriate, I would like Dr Cook and my peers to aid me in improving.

Going through the comments on the summary and reader's response, I was enlightened as to where had I went wrong and corrected the appropriate mistakes. There were no confusion as to the errors I made because I understood what was wrong. When asked to rate my grade for content, organisation and language, the only aspect which disappointed me was the organisation. It was worse than I expected it to be, however, I am still working on the organisation to a better flow of ideas for my future academic writings.

I think audio and written feedback is an excellent way to get feedback. I understand that this may be a very tedious process for the assessor/marker, Dr Cook, but this form of academic feedback beats just ticks, crosses and underlined phrases on our piece of paper. The audio and written feedback not only provides us personalized commentaries on our writings, but also the ability to playback and see where did we go wrong. It is indeed a very useful tool and I believe it would help us significantly if we had this form of academic feedback in our other courses.

Verb Tense and SVA links

Here are some links to get a better understanding on verb tenses and subject-verb agreement!

1: http://writingcenter.emory.edu/resources/grammar_resources/verb_tense_and_subject-verb_agreement.html

2: http://grammar.about.com/od/correctingerrors/a/SpecSVA.htm

3: http://grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/prinptsterm.htm

Hope this helps!

Reflective Writing

When I was little, I used to wander into the kitchen and was intrigued by the way my mother prepared food for the whole family. It was seemingly effortless, as if no big feat to whip up delectable dishes every meal. As I grew older, I started to embark on my culinary journey as I set foot in a bustling kitchen.

Before working in the kitchen, I used to believe, like the majority of people, that being a good chef requires mainly superior skills and experience in the culinary line. However, I grew to comprehend the complexity of delivering food, worthy of being termed palatable, not to mention perfecting each dish. Through months of intense gastronomic experience, it dawned upon me that food preparation requires high levels of concentration and meticulous effort. Apart from the skills required to dish out delicacies, the one preparing it has to meld their heart and soul into the process of preparing them.

As observed in cooking competitions on reality television programs like Hell's Kitchen and MasterChef, not only the experience and skill-sets one possess matters, but the amount of heart and effort put in, is tantamount to the appeal of a dish. Even the slightest bit of overlooking any detail would cause the mistakes to be magnified in the final outcome of the dish. Having gained useful insights to being a good chef whilst working, there is no doubt that one has to be endowed with a requisite set of skills to be crowned as a good chef. Through these, I believe that in all aspects of life, success lies mostly within the attitude one has, and not the altitude he possesses. Possessing high altitudes does not guarantee and determine the success and capability of oneself, albeit earning admiration and envy of those who are fairly inferior in comparison. Through enhancing the work attitude and reinforcing it with positivism in everything one sets foot on, not only altitude can be nurtured, respect and trust will be duly gained.

Howard H. Stevenson once said that "If you want to find direction in life, you have to start from the end." Through seeing yourself in the eyes of others at the end of your life, only then can you grasp the measures of your own success. Personally, I feel that success is not measured by tangible achievements in terms of monetary assets and properties, instead it should be evaluated by what one can leave behind to inspire others. Now, I have learnt to live by the saying, "If you are cooking for the sake of cooking, people will eat for the sake of eating." Perhaps by stepping out of my comfort zones and attempt in treading the paths of other cuisines I had never encountered before, challenging myself to encompass passion & my love for food into every dish I conjure, only then can I hone my skills and achieve my goal to be a better chef.

Such elasticity in the human mind, capable of bearing much, but which will not show itself, until a certain weight of affliction be put on it, and only in the face of adversity, will one's desire to survive spur him to pierce the atmosphere of stagnancy.