JessicaSmith

DePiero
Writing2
15March2016

MyJourneyinWriting2

Ihavealwaysthoughtofwritingasmystrongsuit.Icouldalwaysrelyonan
essaytobumpupmygrade,andwhatwasevenbetterthanthatwasthatIactually
enjoyedthewritingprocess.Throughouthighschoolespecially,writingwasaHUGE
partofmylife.Iwouldwriteassignmentsinclassalldaylong,gointothejournalism
classroomatlunchtoeditthenewspaper,andthenheadovertomymagazineinternship
whenthedaywasdonetowritearticlesthere.ComingintocollegeIwasreadytoapply
myskillsandtakeanyopportunityIcouldtopracticeandbetterwhatIhadalready
learned.Unfortunately,myfreshmanyearleftmedeeplydisappointedwithmywriting
endeavors.TheDailyNexusleftmeuninterestedandtheessaysformyGEclassesleft
meunsatisfied.WhenIsawthatIhadtofulfillawritingrequirement,Ihadoriginally
plannedontakingthiscourseoverthesummer,butwaitingforthisclasswasthebest
decisionIhavemadeincollegethusfar.
WhenWriting2isbroughtupamongmyfriends,Ioftenhearremarksalongthe
linesofthatistheworstclassIhaveevertakenorwowprepareforanabsolute
terribletime.Alright,nowthatmayhavebeenalittleharsh,butIonlyheardnegative
feedbackontakingtheclass.WalkinginthefirstdayIhadextremelylowexpectations.
Theinitialintroductioncirclealreadystartedshiftingmyviewoftheclass.Iamgenerally
areallyshystudentandIliketolearnbylisteningratherthanactivelydiscussing.From
thesecondthatIintroducedmyselftotheclassImadeapromisethatIwouldforce

myselftobeanactiveparticipant.IknewthatthemoreparticipationZackreceived,the
bettertheclasswouldbeandIwantedtogetthemostoutofthefirstcollegeclassthatI
wasactuallyinterestedin!
Ifoundthatthediscussionsintheclass,whetherasawholeorinsmallgroups,
greatlyinfluencedmylearning.Oneofmyfavoritestructuresoftheclasswasthe
journal/discussiontechniquethatweengagedineveryclass.WhileIlovedhowgeneral
someofourguidelineswereforprojects,becauseitleftsomuchroomforcreativity,I
wasleftwithsomanyquestions.Ourjournalingactivityforthefirstclassofweek4I
particularlyfoundhelpful.Ireallystruggledonmyownlearninghowtoformathesisfor
thistopic.Inourjournalswewereaskedtooutlinethemainpointsofourarticlesand
thendiscusshowwewerestructuringourpapersandhowwearegoingtoimproveinthe
nextdrafts.IwasabletodissectmymovesinmypaperandrealizedMaybethisisntso
relevantorWow,thispartisreallystrong.Thegroupdiscussionforthisjournalreally
helpedshiftmypaperintoagreatnewdirectionthatIwashavingstrugglingtofindby
myself.
AlthoughIwasfamiliarwithalotofthetechniquesthatweusedduringthisclass,
Ishockinglyhadneverheardofthereverseoutlinebefore!Ireallyfoundthismethod
helpful.FormyWP1,IdidnotthinkthatIwouldbenefitfrommakingareverseoutline
Ireallydidntthinkthatitwouldbenefitthefinalproduct.Iheldstrongagainstitfor
WP2aswell,andafterbeingdisappointedwithmyfinalversion,Idecidedtoemployall
thestrategiesIwasbeingtaughtforWP3andstartedwiththereverseoutline.Ifwere
beingtaughtthisinformation,itsgottabebeneficialforsomereason,right?Although

WP3wasanoddonetostartthereverseoutliningwith,Istillfounditextremelyhelpful
forplanningmyanalysisportionoftheproject.Therewerealotofquestionswewere
askedtoanswerinWP3,includinghowacademicandnonacademicwritingdiffered,and
IfeltalotcalmerdivingintotheassignmentwithaplanthatImadethroughthereverse
outline.OnceIsawhowhelpfulthissimplestepwas,IwassuperbummedthatIhadnt
appliedittothefirsttwoWPsbutreallyenjoyedbeingabletomakethemfortherevised
versionsformyportfolio.Iwilldefinitelybecarryingonthisskilltomyfuturewriting
projects!
AlthoughImentionedthatIhavebeeninvolvedinwritinginavarietyofways,I
hadneverstudiedwritingindepthbeforethisclass.Iwasskepticalofhowthislearning
processwouldgowhenIfirstexaminedthematerialinthecoursereader.RightwhenI
receivedthecoursereader,Istartedflippingthroughthepagesandwassoconfusedand
surprisedatwhatIfound.Whatcollegeclasswasgoingtoseriouslyteachmethrough
comicstrips?!ThelasttimeIrememberlearningfromateacherthroughanything
remotelysimilarIcanpegbacktomy7thgradescienceclass.Atfirsttheunconventional
materialalarmedme,butIleftanopenmindtoseehowitwouldbeapplied.Oneactivity
thatIreallylikedusingthesereadingswasthegroupactivitywithWritingIdentities.I
appreciatedhowthepicturesandstoriestaughtusconceptswithpicturesattached
becauseIhave,inaway,aphotographicmemory,soifIcanrememberanimage,Ican
reallydrillinaconcept.Ilovedhowthisreadingtaughtmewiththeadditionsofpictures
andIfoundthatsomeconcepts,liketheideaofethos,reallyhithomewhentheyhadnot
stuckfrompastreadings.

WhenIthinkabouttheclassasawhole,IthinkwhatIappreciatedthemostis
howZacksteachingmethodsarerefreshing.Ihavenotexperiencedanycollegeclasses
thatincorporatesuchuniquelearningstyles.AlthoughIenjoyedseveralaspectsofthe
class,onepartthatIreallyappreciatedwastheblogcomponent.Myfavoritepartabout
theblogwasthatwerelefttotalkaboutclassconceptsinacasualtone.Inanysubject
thatIamstudying,whetherforatest,essay,orproject,Iinterprettheclassconceptsinto
myownwordsinasimpler,moreunderstandableway.Ilovedthatmyowntechnique
wasincorporatedintotheclassandIfounditreallyhelpfulforthismaterial.Myfavorite
oftheblogactivitieswasPB1A.Ichosetotalkaboutfairytales,whichisagenreIloved
whenIwasyounger.Iwasabletorelatetheconceptsofthegenretomylifeandthat
relationreallyhelpedmyunderstandingofgenre.
SomethingelseIreallyappreciatedaboutthisclassisthatalthoughtheclass
focusesonthestudyofwriting,IlearnedsomanytipsthatwillhelpwithanywritingIdo
foranydiscipline.OneconceptthatIreallylikedwastheprocesstipthatwelearnedin
week7aboutusingmind/mapcluster.AsImentionedbefore,Iamoftenavisuallearner,
sohavingamapthatvisuallyorganizesmyconceptsreallyhelpedmegraspafull
understandingoftopics.Rightafterlearningthismethod,IusedthewebsitethatZack
introducedustofromthewritingcentertooutlineapaperformymusicclassandIwas
abletounderstandtheconceptssoeasily!Idefinitelyplanonincorporatingthismethod
asmywritingcareerfurthers.
Oneoftheoverarchingtopicsofthecoursewasstudyingandunderstanding
genre.Thefirstfewweekswestartedtolearnhowallgenresmatterbecausetheyshape

oureverydaylives(Dirk).Westartedtolearnandnoticerhetoricalfeatureswhilewe
analyzedgenreandbecamemorefamiliarwiththetopics.Theselessonsweredefinitely
interconnected,butthelessonsonmovesreallytieditalltogetherforme!Whenwedid
theinitialactivitydefiningmovesinoursmallgroups,inmyjournalIsaidtheywerean
actionthatsomeonemakes.WhileIdefinitelywasnotfaroffwiththatdefinition,I
learnedtounderstandhowmuchmorecomplextheconceptwas.Throughoutallofour
differentassignmentswewereabletoidentifymovesinsomanydifferentcontextsandI
gainedamuchdeeperunderstanding.Thevisuallessonsreallydrovehomeconceptsfor
meandtheactivityinwhichwewereaskedtodeterminemovesonTheRockand
MichaelJordanreallyresonatedwithme.Iwasabletopickoutinnatedetails,suchas
howJordanjumpedupandpushedtheballinacounterclockwisemotionaroundhis
opponent.Everypersonintheclasscameupwithadifferentlistofmovesthattheysaw
fromthosepeople.Fromthisactivity,themostimportantconceptIlearnedwashow
movesreallyareeverywhere,andbypayingcloseattentionwhiledissectingsomething,
youwillfindsomanyuniqueones.ThisactivityinparticularbenefittedmeforWP2
becauseIwasabletodigdeepandlookformovesthatwerenotjustonthesurface.
Iwillalsoforeverbethankfulforhowwewereencouragedtoapproachreading.
Straightup:Idespisereadingforclasses.Iknowhowreadingclassmaterialindetail
directlycorrelatestomysuccess,butattheendofthenightwhenImcrawlingintobed,
readingistheLASTthingIwanttodo!Foroneofthefirstassignedreading,Navigating
Genres,Islackedoffandonlyskimmedthematerial.Immediatelywhenwegottoclass
thenextdaywewereaskedtodiscusswhatwelearnedfromthereadings.Iwasso

unpreparedandbecauseofmypromisetomyselftoparticipate,Ivowedtoalways
completemyreadingsbeforeclass.Thetipswelearnedtoapplytoourreadingmadethe
processalotlesspainfulforme.Highlightingimportantconceptsandthenparaphrasing
ideasinthemarginshasbecomeastapleinmymethod.Ontopofbeingthankfulforthis
method,IthoughtthatitwasreallycoolhowmotivatedIwastobepreparedjustsothatI
couldparticipateinclassdiscussions.
Icanhonestlysay,IthinkIwillrememberthisclassfortherestofmylife.Not
onlydidwehaveaclassofcharacters,buttheenergywasinfectious.Regardlessifthey
meantitornot,everyoneseemedengaged,interestedandthatattitudedefinitelyreflected
onme.Ihavehadamoredifficultadjustmenttounderstandingthetraditionalcollege
classthanIexpectedandthiswasanawesomechangewithsuchauniquetwist.Ihave
neverhadaclassthatIhavebeenabletoapplysomanyconceptstootheraspectsofmy
lifeandIreallyappreciatefeelinglikeIambenefitingfrommywork.Isawmyself
improveasawriteroverjustthesefewweeks,specificallyinmyorganizationskills.I
enjoyedwalkingintheclassroomeverydayandwasexcitedtoseewhatnewtwistwould
hitme,whetheritbeawhiteboardmarkerflyingacrosstheroomtodemonstratea
conceptordissectingaYoutubevideo.Thisclassrestoredmyloveforlearning,writing
andinstilledtheimportanceofactivelyparticipatingandIwillneverforgetmy
experience.