Unfortunately, I find myself making more lexical changes than semantic changes in my essays. Sometimes, I refuse to change some of my ideas because I'm afraid that once I change it, I will have to rewrite that whole paragraph or more. And, if it sounds weird, I just rearrange the words instead of actually looking at the logic behind it. I have to start changing actual points and evidence if it doesn't make sense, even if I have to restart the entire essay.

I found this statement interesting because I've always wondered whether or not writing your arguments out was better than talking about it in a speech. I realized that revisions can only be used in writing. This makes me think that writing can be way more persuasive than a speech, especially if you are able to revise it correctly.

This point resonated with me as I sometimes write whole paragraphs that shouldn't even be there in the first place. I would only notice it when I finally read the entire draft and because of it, I have to change it up. It usually happens because sometimes I forget to look back at the outline and stuff and make sure the points are all there. When I write, I tend to just go wherever my mind takes me even though I already have an outline made.

I've never tried to visually plan out my argument with a sketch before. Reading this, I realized I may have missed connections that I could've made in the paper. For this paper, I am definitely going to sketch my argument first and jot down all the points, evidence, etc., so that my paper will be coherent.

I would say the thesis is the most important part of writing a paper. Like what it's said so far, a good thesis will tell you your reader and yourself the whole plan of your essay. It should always be the first thing you do when you write a paper as you can write down all the points you want to talk about in that thesis. I always try to rewrite my thesis at least 3 times so that it is well-written.

This is something that I have to work on because I've never been too critical when responding to someone's paper. I would be less critical if the paper was written by a friend. It's important that you tell the author everything you thought about their paper. When you hold back opinions that you think might hurt them, it could prevent them from becoming a better writer or getting a better grade. Of course, you can't be rude to them, but rather give them options to pick from and try to understand what they're getting at in their paper.

When grading my peer's paper, I will look for the rhetorical devices that they use. Since this upcoming paper is focusing on rhetorically analyzing a visual text, it's crucial that they explain and analyze their points thoroughly. I will be pointing out things that I liked when reading and some things that I believed were a little weak in their reasoning.

The next time I will be responding to another student's writing, I will definitely incorporate this goal. I realized how important it is to tell the author what you got from their paper. The main message that you understood after reading it. You would do this so the author can know if their paper actually does what they intended it to do. If the author's message and your message don't match, that means the author needs to continue working on their paper and tweak it so that the message will be clear. The other points like what you found interesting, confusing, or where information should be added is all good as well. But, I think stating the message at the end of the paper is most important.

In high school, I went through the same thing. Actually, most of my education revolved around the three main point essay. As a result, it became something I would do and would never question. Now that I think about it, it was silly to believe that a good essay can only have 3 points. There are plenty of other silly rules that I followed throughout high school like not using the word "because" because the teacher said it wasn't very appealing. I was a freshman, so of course I believed him since I didn't know any better.

I stand by what the author says when he states that rules might be the central element in complex problem-solving behavior. In my experience, whenever I have a problem in my life, the solutions to that problem are always in the boundaries of the rules that I follow and believe in. I never realized this until I read this paper. Most of the decisions I've made in my life were because I was basically following a certain rule. For example, when I'm up at night playing video games, I could keep on going, but I decide not too because I thought sleep was more important. My parents, doctors, teachers, and even my friends tell me sleep is important so it became a rule I followed. It's interesting to think about the everyday choices I make in life and that it really depend on what rules I'm trying to follow.

Unfortunately, some of us have experienced this feeling when writing an essay or paper. For students who are perfectionists or have high standards in general, receiving harsh feedback on a paper that you thought you perfected can be disheartening. Especially if you spent weeks to prepare for it and had classmates peer-edited it. That's why it is advised for many not to be harsh on themselves. I told myself this plenty of times during high school. I was a horrible writer when I was a freshman, and it took a lot out of me when I would receive my graded paper. I soon realized that the main reason why I was not getting the grade that I wanted was that I was so worried about being judged by my writing skills. After this, I finally gain to confidence to just write to the best of my abilities. Of course, I would still have writer's block, but it wasn't as bad as before.

The use of "we" in this simile by Lamott pulls in the reader to make them relate to what Lamott feels about writing. It is most likely true that everyone has felt like they are pulling teeth when they are writing, but when Lamott emphasizes "we", the message behind the simile is much more powerful.

As a writer, it can often be difficult to organize your ideas and decide which ones are the most beneficial for your paper to flow together. Lamott suggests that using your first draft as a way to vent out all of your ideas is crucial in writing a strong paper. From here, you can pinpoint all the irrelevant ideas and build up the stronger ones. As a result, your second draft will already be better than your first. All in all, it is perfectly fine to write down ideas that don't make sense because it could lead your brain to think of something better.