Reflections and Judgements

My response to Chapter 5 of Keith Hjortshoj's The Transition to College Writing fulfills the course outcome of "reflect on and make judgments about...texts and writing processes." Chapter 5 was one of the most interesting chapters for me because it had to do with commas and writing in first person, which are the two things in writing that I struggle the most over.
            The reflections that I made in my response were about my own experiences with commas and first person, such as how I use more commas than I need to because I have a difficult time finding where they belong. Hjortshoj claims that listening for the natural pause in a sentence is a false rule, and my judgments can be seen when I wonder if reading sentences aloud actually helps find where to place commas. Another judgment is visible when I state that I wished Hjortshoj had gone further in depth about when it is appropriate to use first person and when to use third person.

I believe that proofreading by ear is really helpful because when I proofread I tend to zone out and think about more interesting things, but if I was reading the paper out loud it would be easier to pay attention and look for mistakes. One of my biggest problems in writing is figuring out where to put commas; I often use more commas than necessary in my papers. I read the sentences aloud when placing commas to find the natural pause, but after reading Hjortshoj's opinion I am unsure if it is actually helpful or not.

Even though I am using first person in this paper, I am not a fan of using it because it was drilled into me in high school that first person is not acceptable. I know that I need to use first person in papers about my experiences, but for other papers I try not to use it because it seems unprofessional. Even with opinion papers I was taught that a writer makes a stronger point when they do not use "I." I wish that Hjortshoj went further in depth about when it is acceptable to use first person because it is slightly confusing for me.