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Dear Reader,
Welcome to a behind-the-scenes look of my time in UWRT 1103-H or as my
professor, Malcolm Campbell, would call itStudies In Advanced Curiosity and
Deliberate Thinking. Before we get too carried away, Id like to give you a quick run
down of how this has all gone for me. Unlike my other English classes, we now did freewrites where we either completed a prompt, responded to a quote, TED Talk, web article,
or plan some aspect of our current project. In addition, we completed a literacy narrative
on a time where reading and/or writing has affected us, blog posts that required
thoughtful reflection, and a semester long project that included a topic proposal,
annotated bibliography, and a couple drafts. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the behind-thescenes look of my letter because the highlight reel is coming soon on my portfolio.
Now before we get into the nitty-gritty assignments, Id like to take a look at the
more informal assignments, which also shaped my writing experience. Id like to start
with addressing the daybook entries. On any given day, our topic of reflection could be
anything from a quote by a zen master to a fill in the blank scenario such as I write
because______. Other daybook entries include our reflections on the writing process for
each of our bigger assignments. For example, I was required to write about my writing
process for the Dear Malcolm Letter, in which I said I sat and wrote my letter on a
Sunday afternoon while listening to the Alabama Shakes. As far as our fill in the blank
entries I stumbled upon one that simply started with I read to____ so I wrote, I read to
learn something new. Reading is the gateway to knowledge and explorative
thinkingand I write to comprehend what I read and expand upon my thoughts and
ideas. Other free writes and entries focused on articles and essays such as Among the

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Believers where a young girl struggles with her involvement in her religious faith based
on outside influences and pressure. Or even Superman and Me where a young boy,
Sherman Alexie, discussed how literacy impacted his childhood. He was a young Native
American boy who went to school with both non Native Americans and Native
Americans who equally criticized him for his literacy, but nevertheless he continued
reading and improving himself so that he could help other young students. Blog posts
varied, either they were similar reflections to our daybook entries or a response to an
article that correlated with our class current college experience. For example, we were
asked to respond to an article titled Laptop Use which either we agreed with or
disagreed with. Or even an article titled Three Most Important Questions to Ask Your
Teenager which mainly focused on our goals, identity, and potential. These are just a
few examples that we had; however, the ones I chose were Writing Is____, a response
to a quote by Shunryu Suzuki, an analytic piece on my introduction process for my EIP, a
reflection on Superman and Me, and a fill in the blank entry titled Today I
Feel_____. As informal as these writing assignments were, they were a breath of fresh
air for reflection and forward thinking.
Unlike my other English classes this one left the door open for peer review and
group assessment. I appreciate this process because in the past, I would review my own
drafts, and of course as the writer Im going to like what I see the first time, or I would go
to my teacher for review; however, this time around I took full advantage of having a
peer assess my paper and other assignments. This time, my partner Caroline and I would
read over each others drafts, assess grammar or spelling, but more importantly, analyze
the content and make sure the paper was on target. This helped because we not only

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checked the first draft, but the second or third where necessary to make sure we were
fulfilling the requirements for our assignment. I feel like this was helpful because we
were able to point out changes and options in each others papers that we may not have
seen on our own.
A wise man once said that we shouldnt think we have weaknesses but instead we
have challenges, because we can overcome our challenges but our weaknesses will hold
us back. That said, my challenges as a writer are condensing material, transitions, and
writing effective conclusions. Over this semester I have improved on my condensing with
the help of the news writing I learned during my internship, my transitions are a work in
progress, and I feel like my conclusions have improved; theyre not up there with my
introductions but they are well on their way. My strengths include organization, giving
proper analysis and commentary, and blending quotes. Believe it or not I used to struggle
with weaving my quotes into my papersquote bombs as my 11th grade English teacher
Mrs. Barnes would call them. As a reader I have continued to work on my annotating and
note taking; I still tend to write a lot when taking notes because Im afraid to leave out
information (another work in progress). As a writer I am continuously working on
expanding my thoughts and analyzing materially more carefully. As a questioner I
definitely stepped out of the box with my inquiry questions, because originally I was
going to choose something on communication, but instead I chose a non-traditional topic
that really racked my brainwhy do some children that were abused grow up and abuse
others? This course was just one more step in the right direction to improving my
reading, writing, and analytic skills.

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When deciding what to write about for my literacy narrative I first chose to write

about my literary analysis that I completed junior year. I am a big fan of Maya Angelou
and her writing but I felt like writing about an analysis just wouldnt be fresh, so instead I
chose to write about my learning and application of news writing as a news intern. The
most enjoyable part of my literacy narrative was recounting the memories of the long
days and evenings that I spent with the news teamresearching, writing for the story
blocks, shooting b roll, writing for the web, writing, editing, and tracking for stories, and
seeing it all come together everyday at 5, 5:30, 6, or 11 oclock. The most difficult part
was making my conversational memories translate to a well-written paper, and making
sure my dialogue was formatted correctly. I really liked this assignment and Ill admit I
was surprised by the flexibility of the topic options. More importantly I liked how we
could explore any experience and reflect upon how it shaped our reading or writing
experience.
Prior to doing the topic proposal I was already set with which topic I wanted to
research, so coming up with extra ideas and the previous activities werent too much of a
big deal for me. But I will share how I prepared for the overall assignment. I honestly
picked a topic that was beyond me, but still fascinated me enough to read countless
articles on it. One of the first activities leading up to the topic proposal included the
interest inventory where I compiled ideas from different categories. For example, the
following categories were represented: places, trends, things, technologies, people,
controversies, history, jobs, habits, and hobbies. Ultimately I chose to go with my
original topic on the cycle of child abuse and from there I went with it researching,
reading, more researching, and ultimately organizing. At this point I had maybe three

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sources and from there I used them to boost my proposal. I wrote that I planned to study:
the lingering effects of child abuse; I even included some statistics on child abuse
including how many children and what percentage experience child abuse. More
importantly I discussed my interest in the topic where I wrote, I am interested in this
topic because I know of people who have been abused and have overcome the things that
have happened to them. I am curious as to why some people that were abused as children
grew up and out of the situation while others carry the scars into adulthood and inflict
them upon other people. Lastly I included my last steps where I mentioned how I would
continue my research either through the library database or Psychology Today articles. I
felt like for myself this assignment was redundant as part of the process; however, I do
see its significance because it made me really consider my topic, how much I knew about
it, and where I was headed from there.
As for the annotated bibliography, it helped make sure I was using thoughtful and
valid sources for my research. It made sure that I wasnt just using random websites or
sources for the sake of having a source. I really had to consider the usefulness of each
source as it related to my inquiry topic and over all plan for my paper. In addition, I was
asked to summarize the information found in my source as well as identify the authors
credibility and stance on the issue. Changes that I noted were the format of each section
and making sure my articles were peer-reviewed and reliable. There wasnt anything too
difficult about this assignment. I could imagine it would be hard if someone was not 100
percent confident in their sources and/or topic. Because I was set on my topic I allowed
my sources to further shape my ideas and stance on the cycle of child abuse. Some

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sources opened up the door for further inquiry, which ultimately helped craft my EIP
paper.
Now, on to the first rough draft and final draft for my extended inquiry project.
After much researching, planning, proposing, and questioning, it was now time to write. I
prepared a rough but understandable brainstorm that would guide my paragraphs and
essay. My first draft, although I had it completely planned, I chose to just write 6 pages to
meet the minimum and fill in the rest with small notes. That said, my main revisions
included expanding upon my ideas, spelling of course, and organization. From there my
second, completed draft was just shy of perfect. My main changes were organization
because I got carried away with information in each paragraph; from there, I fixed any
glaring spelling errors, and divided my paragraphs where I noted a shift in ideas thus
making my final draft the epitome of the extended inquiry project. All of my questions,
research, drafts, revision, and thoughts came together to create Black and Blue: The
Cycle of Child Abuse. The most challenging part of this assignment was organizing my
information; I had so much information that I struggled with where and when to put it
into my essay. This was by far my favorite assignment because unlike my previous
research assignments, this one was extended, extensive, and challenging. I had to really
dig deep for my topic and from just focus on writing about the essential point to shape
my essay.
Ah alas, we have arrived to the e-portfolio. Here you will find a brief introduction
and about me section, my selection of daybook entries, multiple drafts, and the final EIP
paper. Huzzah! Youre almost at the highlight reel, but before you explore my e-portfolio
I have to give you a few details. Selecting my choice of daybook entries was not easy

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especially when they all seemed creative, or even analyzing the ins and outs of my drafts
and plastering my sh***y first drafts online for the whole world wide web to see. This is
the quintessential example of vulnerability, growth, and progress in my class. This eportfolio examines my reflections, attitudes, and thoughts on my reading and writing
processes. Although extremely time consuming and extensive, the e-portfolio matters
because it is the ultimate evidence of my learning and development as a reader and
writer. So with that, I read to understand whats in front of me and I write to understand
what I think and know. That said, sit back, relax, and enjoy my highlight reel that is
courtneyjcole.weebly.com or as I titled it Always Uphold the Written Word.