Reading Response #11

1) How did you find the process of working on one long piece throughout the whole semester? Do you think you learned anything valuable about how to write? Why or why not? What has stuck with you in terms of attitudes to writing or practices of writing?

• Having only one piece to work on for an entire semester makes me feel an incredible amount of pressure to deliver. I usually procrastinate, because I always want to add things instead of being happy with what I have. It is counter-productive because even if my final work will have, maybe 5% fewer mistakes, I’d pay for it with the late penalty. I think I learned that procrastination is bad, but it’s a lesson that I will always forget.

2) Which of the techniques of writing (description, narrative, analogy, etc.) that we learned in class do you think will be useful to your writing going forward? Why has this particular technique resonated with you?

• I wish I had the chance to practice more Narrative Techniques, especially in plot, like foreshadowing, simply because I think it is fun. I think most of the lessons in writing for this class, I’ve already used before. Because surprisingly, a professor will give a student a lot of leeway if s/he hands in a humorous academic paper. It’s an oxymoron, but they’re people too. A teacher of mine for this semester claimed she drinks when reading submitted essays. She gave me back my paper with more red pen marks than there were black printer ink, and for that she’s my favorite. I see myself writing in the future mostly, just for school. Then I’ll likely only use imagery and metaphors when writing heartfelt birthday cards for loved ones.

3) Do you feel your writing improved over the course of the semester? If so, how? If not, why not?

• It is unfair to say a hard no, because I have been writing a lot of essays for other classes too, I probably am getting better simply because of the virtue of doing more writing. That said, there wasn’t any great valley that I’ve crossed with this English class unlike my first two where I either learned something that will stick with me for the rest of my life or I got to produce work that I’ll be proud of forever. I would have definitely preferred a more fiction-oriented class but it isn’t easy getting one when I have to prioritize the classes I need to graduate.

4) What’s one aspect of writing you think you’ll continue to try to improve in future writing projects?

• Getting it done on time and being wary of my affinity with long winded sentences.

Lab #11

Titles:

The Toilet Habits of the Modern World

Can Toilet Paper Kill Our Children’s Futures?

Don’t Wipe, It’s Better For Everyone!

What Happens When We Poop?

Toilet Paper: You Would Never Believe What Happens Next

Flushed: How Our Toilet Habits Can Ruin The World

Toil, Toilet and Trouble

Bidet, Hooray!

Downloading Software: How The Next Best Innovation Is Happening In Bathrooms

Pooped.

 

 

Lab 10

Paragraph

I learned by research that there is no perfect sanitation system in the world. We are humans and any action we do creates consequences, unintended or not. But if any can come close to the ideal, I think it can be found in Japan. Ada is one of the 13 million inhabitants of Tokyo, the largest city in the world. The cultures and values in Japan is different, she says, people pay particular attention to cleanliness. People respect their sanitary officers and kids are trained at a young age to keep their surroundings tidy and neat. Visitors to Japan would be impressed with the country’s particular attention to detail in everything, especially with their public washrooms. I remember being befuddled in Busan, South Korea, as I stayed in a beautiful loft apartment owned by a Japanese man using the popular website AirBnB. He had the Toto washlet installed in all the bathrooms, it looked like it had more computing powers than my pithy little Samsung phone.

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Revised Paragraph

Ada is one of the 13 million inhabitants of Tokyo, the largest city in the world. The cultures and values in Japan is different, she says, people pay particular attention to cleanliness. Sanitation maintenance workers are accorded the respect they deserve. Japanese kids are trained at a young age to keep their surroundings tidy and neat. Their mentality towards modernity translates in how they manage to innovate the way people pooped for centuries.

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Ending

The prudish sentiments people may have that prevents them from discussing about poop in a critical manner, or their reluctance to change, hinders progress. Perhaps, it is because of cost, Toto washlets- with the heated seats and blowdryers, that completely eliminate the need for toilet paper to pat-dry, can be bought in US and Canada at a steep 600$. For most people, hacking their bathrooms to be greener is not feasible. But it can be done, and that change starts with being curious and open about how the rest of the world does their business.

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Revised Ending

People have prudish sentiments that prevents them from discussing poop in a critical manner, but this reluctance to change, hinders progress. Toto washlets- with the heated seats and blowdryers, that completely eliminate the need for toilet paper to pat-dry, can be bought in US and Canada at a steep 600$. For most people, hacking their bathrooms to be greener is not feasible. But it can be done, and that change starts with being curious and open about how the rest of the world does their business.