ENG 2150: Writing Through New York

I’m still working on the thesis part of the paper. I’m trying to be as specific and related to the rest of my paper. And as for the body, I’m adding more actual quotes from the main poem itself. And I should concentrate on my grammar so I don’t make any obvious mistakes. I wish to find more sources to expand my paper. I’m mostly concentrating on trying to be more specific and answer all the so? Why is this important? questions.

As for the digital essay, I’m doing it with Jenny. It is almost done. I just need to put in the transition footage and edit out any unnecessary parts. The background song is already put in and I also need to insert a little text on some of the parts and it will be done.

My essay is going well and I have edited some things and added a lot of information to clarify my paper. I think it’s a pretty good job all around about a subject that is important.

The digital essay is another story. I’m doing the best I can, but recording film and piecing it together is not even close to being my forte.

The 1 on 1 meeting was helpful. I thought I already had a good thesis, but now i realize I need an even more specific one that answers the question “So what?” Two words I’ve grown to hate xD. I have a better idea on how to create a better thesis. I feel that my body paragraphs already do a good job on providing evidence and details, but I will try to include more quotes and analyses.
For the digital essay, I’ve started on it, but haven’t had time to get more done. I’m trying to create an animation of root three and it going through the love story of the poem, but I might end up just doing a flip book and recording myself drawing it. I’ll probably recite the poem as I am drawing the book.

I think I’m doing pretty good actually. That conference I had with Professor Kaufman actually really helped. She helped me find a bunch more sources and now I can add a bunch more stuff to my essay. Right now I’d say I’m about 80% finished with my final draft.

My digital essay situtation is a little more complicated though. I still have yet to find a place to edit my video so I need to get on that ASAP. I did take all the shots I needed though. I’m happy I made a storyboard before hand though, it really helped me organize my thoughts (since I had so many). I think it’ll all come together.

So far my paper has made huge strides; it went from being uncollected thoughts jumbled up on a peice of paper to a more structured way of writing. Thanks to the one-on-one with Ms. Kaufman I do know where to take my paper, the problem is I feel that my thesis is not clear enough. My message can be very broad and when I try to pin point it I find that it can go in many different directions. So I am struggling with that, I am also still looking for a good source to support my new train of thought and main points. The paper is definitely not ready but it’s on its way there and I really think it may be my best one yet, I’m excited for it!

The digital essay all depends on what I decide to be my main thesis, because like I said my broad general thesis can go in many different directions. I have already started filming but since I’m not a video person I’m struggling putting them together. I’ll eventually get the hang of it since I’m a fast learner but what I am aiming for is to record a majority of different races, class, and gender for my video; that will help with my message. The kind of editing I want to do is going to be difficult but I need it to be THAT kind of editing because that’s what makes the video. I am also planning on borrowing the schools camera just to get the defined HD clips.

So I was having a lot of trouble with this paper and I was extremely worried but the meeting with Professor Kaufman really helped. With the suggestions, I feel like I’m making progress with the essay. I feel like I have a new perspective and my thesis seems a lot more clear now . I have to really get cracking on it because I want to finish it soon so I can go over it and make sure its pretty close to perfect 😉

I’m a little worried about the digital essay because I’m really not tech savvy and I don’t really have an idea on how to make a successful video but I’m really going to try. I started filming already so I have a few clips and I just have to start figuring out how to put it together.

All in all, I’m hoping that everything turns out a success

After the individual conference with Professor Kaufman, my thesis seemed more clear. I was told to take the thesis one step further. I think I know where my essay is heading. Although my thesis isn’t complete, I have a better sense of how I want my essay to end up. I know exactly what I want my thesis to be, but it’s harder to put on paper than I thought. With a few more revisions, I think I will be satisfied with the essay. Although my paper will be longer than I expected, I will utilize the poem more throughout my essay.

With the digital essay, I know what I want to do. It’s going to be a bit of a montage with photos from present day New York City as well as the 1960s New York City. The essay will circle around how the music scene has changed since the 1960s. I plan to include video clips of some streets of New York City as well as add videos of jazz musicians performing at Minton’s. Hopefully, the editing will not be difficult. I plan to end the video with a photo of 1960’s Minton’s as well as present-day Minton’s, or just the building where it was.