The Meta Post

       The semester is over, and it's time to get meta. I've reviewed and reflected on my posts over the past semester, and written about some patterns and themes I noticed in my writing.
       The first thing i noticed when scanning my blog was that all of my posts fall into two categories. I write either extensions of discussions or material from class, such as posts on online grades and Clybourne Park, or analyses of news or media, such as posts on an article about Egyptian Christians or the Clash song "Rock the Casbah." Looking back, I realized that I haven't written a single post based primarily on personal experience, with the semi-exception exception of my post on online grading. I noticed that a lack of personal connection pervaded my blog. When writing, I tend towards being analytical. I often write about things I have strong personal opinions on, but rarely on topics that I have a personal connection to. I feel that that is the biggest problem in my writing. I'm good at writing in-depth analyses of topics, like my most recent post on the NDAA, but in the future, my blog could be made stronger by writing at least a few posts about events or themes in my own life.
       Thematically, most of my posts tried to connect to a broader philosophy, and make a larger point, and while writing my blog, I usually had that goal in mind. It is certainly a good thing to attempt to make a broader argument with whatever I'm writing about, but I realize now that not all of my attempts to connect specific material to a theme were successful. Some of my posts could have benefited from a narrower focus. In particular, my post on the Colbert segment about Rush Limbaugh probably would have been just as strong if I had written only about Rush Limbaugh, instead of attempting to draw broad philosophical implications out of his gaffe.
       The last big thing I noticed when I reviewed my writing was how much stronger and more interesting the posts which connected to specific material, especially the two that were based off of a video or a song.  My weakest posts were those that were solely based off of class material, such as the post on Clybourne Park. When i didn't reference additional materials, I noticed that I often wrote shorter posts that were, predictably, much more vague. By contrast, one of my strongest posts, the one about the Clash song "Rock the Casbah" include specific quotes, and made a much stronger point because it was based off of material easily available at the beginning of the post. In addition, I thought the post was also simply more interesting because of the inclusion of a song.
       And that is my first semester of blogging in one post. Thanks for reading.