Human Service Professionals Related to the Social Issue

As you prepare to begin drafting your researched essay this week, I’d like you to reflect on your writing process in the course thus far and in the future.

First, consider the importance of the writing you have completed in this course. As you begin drafting your Signature Assignment: Researched Position Essay, due at the end of the term, keep in mind that the issues, sources, and research in your Issue Proposal, Annotated Bibliography, and Mapping the Issue Essay all contribute to your final paper. As these assignments each build on the next, they underscore the important point that writing is a process.

Also, as previously discussed, feedback from your peers is an important part of the writing process. All writers need feedback from others in order to understand how their arguments might be perceived by potential audiences. As such, successful writers seek out peer critique and carefully consider peer feedback as they revise their writing.

Engaged writers also frequently reflect on what they can do to make their writing and the writing process more successful. For example, some writers prefer to write in a particular location and at a particular time of day. Ernest Hemmingway, for instance, choose to write in his Key West pool house early in the morning (rumor has it that he started at 6AM). No one was allowed to interrupt him, he confessed, during his writing time, except his beloved cats.

For this discussion activity, answer the following questions in your response.

• How do you plan to use the feedback you have received on other assignments from your peers to draft your Position Paper? Are there any trends you have noticed in your peers’ comments to your drafts?
• What habits have not supported your writing process? How do you plan to overcome these obstacles? For example, do you procrastinate? Is there a location that hinders your writing?
• What habits have supported your writing process? For example, do you have an ideal writing spot? A particular time you write? A specific invention or prewriting activity you use to start the writing process?

Don’t forget that in order to be eligible to receive full credit for this discussion post, you must complete the prompt above and support your claims. In addition to your original posting to the discussion prompt, you must also respond to at least two peers postings. Please consult the discussion rubric (located in the syllabus) for grading criteria.