Majd

Kazzaz
06/02/15
De Piero
Writing 2
Metacognitive Reflection

My experience in Writing 2 can be described in so many ways from the first day to

the last. From journal questions to lectures, easy concepts to difficult concepts, blog entries
to writing projects, there were so many different experiences throughout this quarter. I
have seen myself grow as a writer and have taken many steps in the right direction. Carl
Friedrich Gauss, a German mathematician, once said, It is not knowledge, but the act of
learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment.
After looking back at the different activities and assignments throughout the class my
process of learning and evolving has become very clear. Through examining the multiple
journal entry questions that I would answer at the beginning of every class, it is easy to
notice the confidence and comfort that I have obtained in my writing.

The first couple of classes this quarter were particularly interesting because I was

not very familiar with the idea of genre and how it is as a topic that applies to nearly all
elements in ones life. This was a strange idea to me that became apparent when I was
asked to list out some familiar genres that I could think of, Some familiar genres that I can
list out as a student are horror movies, comedy movies, and romantic movies. Back at the
time of this entry, I had not yet learned of the idea of genre awareness. To me, genres
were only a way of categorizing movies, songs, books, etc. however I did not necessarily
look into the concept any further. After looking at different types of genres in class,

particularly the text message genre, and discussing multiple types of genres, my entire
view of what a genre is really changed. I further developed my knowledge of a genre when I
wrote my first project builder on the speech genre. This did not prove an easy task
however as can be seen in my journal entry, While writing my Pb1A about the conventions
and rhetorical features of a speech, I initially thought that it should not be too hard
However when it came time to identify particular conventions of speeches, it was not easy.
The more I practiced with it and did the readings, the easier the concept became to me.

One interesting moment in Writing 2 was when I was asked to identify what I was

looking to achieve through this class and how I was looking to evolve as a writer. When this
question was posed I wrote, My goal for this class is to become a persuasive writer. The
reason why I chose this word is because in order to be persuasive, you need to develop
your rhetorical skills. As I look back, this was definitely one of my biggest goals and I did
my best to try to achieve it. I also learned, at this time, that in order to be more persuasive
as a writer, I needed to utilize argumentationthe process of proving a particular point
and defending a stanceas well as the use of important evidence to support my claims. I
realized that one of the most important aspects of a paper is the thesis statement and that
in order to have a strong argument, you need to have a strong thesis. In my journal entry I
defined the thesis statement as being, The main purpose of your paper in which your
stance and argument are presentedthe roadmap to your paper. This is why I started to
put a lot of effort into making my thesis statement and developing an argumentative stance
towards each prompt.

One strategy that I used throughout the course when I was planning out an essay

was to dedicate a specific amount of time and effort just brainstorming and listing out my

ideas. Before this class, I used to just look at the prompt and begin typing my essay
however in order to create the most effective and persuasive paper possible, I realized that
it was important to create an outline as well as a reverse outline. The outline would help
me organize my ideas, develop structure, separate my arguments, and strengthen the effect
of my evidence. Another strategy that I learned in regards to writing a paper is to annotate
the prompt and underline the most important elements being asked. This would allow me
to focus my attention on the whole prompt rather than just a certain question, therefore
creating a more complete paper. All of these strategies definitely helped me boost my
writing skills, which I even noticed and addressed in a journal entry. One thing that I felt I
improved on is the clarity of my argument and the purpose of the essay. I changed certain
elements in my essay that allowed me to tie more things back to the thesis. Slowly as I
progressed through the class, I would learn new material that improved my writing.

The new material that I learned which helped develop my writing, came from both

the lectures in class as well as the comments on my essays. The lectures in class introduced
me to different elements of writing such as moves and conventions. I learned that moves
are the specific rhetorical elements that authors utilize in their writing for a special reason.
Perhaps one of the most important lessons that I learned from the writing class is that your
writing should always be tailored towards your audience. Ones discourse, evidence,
sentence structure, and diction should always be chosen to make the most effective
argument towards the audience. This lesson made a huge difference in my writing because
now I became closer to achieving my goal of becoming a more persuasive writer. Another
lesson that helped my writing improve was when we discussed certain writing tips in class.
One writing tip in particular was when we were told to utilize dashes and semicolons

within our sentences. This allowed me to put more information into my sentences as well
as insert more details where it is necessary. The combination of all these writing tips
contributed to making my arguments more effective and clear. However there was one big
problem in my writing, which I realized after looking at one of the comments on my first
essay.

Due to the fact that I was very committed to creating a better argument in my essays

and utilizing evidence effectively, I never realized that my writing was very monotone
and lacked any kind of voice. As soon as this was brought up to my attention, I noticed that
adding voice to my writing would definitely make it more interesting. I previously thought
that when writing towards an academic audience, one should not use any kind of voice and
should remain very straightforward. Little did I know that this provided for a very
uninteresting paper and also led to a more ineffective argument. This was when I realized
that the way the content is portrayed in a paper is just as important as the content itself. As
soon as I started using more voice in my papersnot just the ones for this classit quickly
became apparent that my writing was much improved.

Therefore I changed my entire perspective on writing and I realized that there was a

lot of room for creativity and uniqueness. Learning about moves taught me how I can
distinguish my writing style from that of other writers and also taught me how to present
my ideas in the most effective way possible. It is safe to say that I learned a lot from this
class and developed into a better writer in many ways. My original goal of becoming a more
persuasive writer was not enough for me. I quickly realized that I should not limit my
learning process to becoming a more persuasive writer when I could expand and utilize
moves as well as style to become a more unique and creative writer. Not only has this class

helped me achieve my original goal, but also it has taught me to strive to achieve more and
always keep improving. The lessons I learned in this class go beyond the mere ink on a
page, yet it wanders out to all the possibilities that I should strive to reach.