Reflection

In the explanatory writing unit I learned how to write a good listicle. I learned that in a good listicle you need to present relevant and interesting information to keep the reader enticed and wanting more. To do this, you have to project a good supporting idea. Some components of good supporting ideas are: elaboration and source integration. For source integration I learned about STAT(an acronym for source integration), STAT stands for Source Title Author Topic. Learning how to write a proper source integration will help me in foreseeable future, because when I write essays in the future this skill will prove helpful in keeping in mind. In this unit I also learned a lot about happiness such as: emotional well-being, positive psychology and experiences vs material goods. I learned that money only influences your happiness to an extent, after the point of $75,000 per year money does not help your emotional well-being. Money can still buy happiness if you buy an experience. According to research, experiences make people happier than material goods. In this unit it was brought to my attention that informational writing does not always have to be in the form of an essay but can be in many forms. As you can see this unit was full of learning, the knowledge gained will be indispensable especially STAT.

For the final writing piece, I treated the listicle as a sort of robot. First, I “programmed” the listicle by writing the introduction and the controlling idea. Then, I “built each of the limbs” separately and put them together, this step was writing the supporting ideas”. Next, I added the motors and moving parts, such as the source integration and the elaboration. Finally, I added the “wires” and other finishing touches to flesh out the listicle and put it all together, by adding a little bit humor to make it interesting and enticing to read.

I have a good feeling about doing really well on parts like elaboration and source integration because there were a lot of good sources I could use and elaborate upon. The source integration was especially easy because the STAT acronym that was given was easy to follow and to use. Some challenges I faced were writing an enticing hook because the story hook that I planned to use in my opinion, was not as enticing as I would like. If I was to do this assignment again I would like to “program” the story a little better or more precisely. To do this I would like to spend more time on the introduction to have convincing hook.