A New Perspective: A Reflection on Writing (Reflection Essay)

This semester has been one full of learning experiences that have changed my view of writing from something detached to something that can be very introspective and personal. I came into the class expecting to learn methods and theories about teaching Basic Writing, but I walked away with much more. I am ending this class with new ideas about writing, a different perspective on who I am as a writer, and a new view on how I can manipulate writing to be my own.

My writing history has consisted of many research-based papers; I studied and used multiple resources to discuss a point that wasn’t my own, but that of other researchers and professionals in their fields. I only had to take that information and present it in a way that showed that I understood and could argue the material if needed. This form of writing became my more instinctual form of writing. There was no need to use elaborate detail and I could easily continue to find more information on the subject and use the resources around me to discuss the topic at hand.

Despite the poetry sections and creative writing chapters in my high school English courses, I had little experience writing about something that was subjective.  When I came to class and we discussed the Literacy narrative, I presumed it would be easy.  There were many times I have read and written things,  but the factor I didn't expect was the difficulty in remembering the moments that impacted me as a writer or reader, not inclusive of the great detail required to successfully complete the literacy narrative.  Not only did this paper become my biggest challenge, but it became my most recent writing experience. 

At first I sat in my room attempting to file through all of my literary experiences; not one came to mind.  There were no profound moments in recent history that changed how I thought of writing, nor was there anything significant that I could remember in my past that greatly impacted who I would become today as a reader or writer.  There were only blanks and frustration; it was my greatest case of writer's block, and by far my most worrisome.  Throughout this process, I submitted two drafts-- the first severely lacked detail and character development, and it resembled more of a reflection on my freshman writing course. The second was a narrative about how I came to understand what a literacy narrative should be, but was not actually a narrative. 

Through this experience, I developed as a writer who not only could express a very objective topic, but write from a very personal and subjective point -of-view.  This allowed me to be able to really draw from my own personal experiences and use my own words.  It gave me a sense of ownership over the story; I wasn't simply relaying previously researched information or narrating a story passed down, but I was the story, and I was the author. This new view of writing exposed me to many more possibilities in how to express myself and tell a story.  An opportunity to reflect on a literacy experience stretched me to really appreciate the process of reading and writing, and how much it impacts one's life to be able to read and write. Even when I teach my basic literacy students, I appreciate my own process more. 

As a writer, I am more motivated to reflect more on the papers and essays that I write. I pay much more attention to the word usage and details that I incorporate into my paper more that I have in the past, and I really look to other works for guidance and hints to how to better my writing. Using books such as The Norton Field Guide to Writing, I have learned to use the tools provided so that my writing can continue to develop. I learned not only to cater to my classmates and my teachers when writing, but I have started to focus on a wider audience. My writing can be used for much more than a term paper or assignment, but share more about myself as a person, and my view of the world around me.

As a writer, I have to be able to use my words to communicate emotions, thoughts, and information to my audience. More than anything, I believe that this part was developed over the course of this semester. The literacy narrative called for vivid detail and a well written story; this is something that I had not developed. Over the recent years, I’ve learned to use my words in arguments and discussions in order to express my point, or support an idea. This was the first time that I had to use these same strategies in writing. Although it was a very difficult process, it became easier as the topic of my assignment became more definite and clarified.

I believe the most important process that I learned this semester was the revision process. I learned that this is possibly the most difficult, and the most passed over part of the writing sequence. Although it is tough to find a topic, as in my case with the literacy narrative, I found myself constantly looking for new ways to revise my writing, and I put my papers through many trusted people who could give me both positive and negative feedback about my writing. Before class, most of my revisions were grammatical, and very basic, but now I see the importance of looking at context and flow of the text as much as the coherence of what I am writing. If the paper is repetitive or lacks enough detail to show my idea, it needs to be revised. This was a lesson that I had to learn, and I believe will be learned continually as I develop as a writer.

This semester can easily be named one of my most difficult; it included many new experiences and emotions that I have not felt as a student until taking Basic Writing Theory and Pedagogy. I enjoyed the class because it challenged me to step outside of my previous experience with writing, and it stretched me to view other styles of writing, and even look how to better my own. This experience was definitely one of my best and most memorable experiences with writing.