While developing my personal theory of writing I have discovered writing to be an act that always has a purpose and always holds meaning. Regardless of the reason behind someone's writing it will always be done with a purpose and it will always mean something to someone. No matter what is written, when it is written or where it is written It will always hold importance to someone, or because of something. Throughout this essay I will be navigating through my personal theory of writing. I will reflect on my writing throughout this course and how the course out comes and habits of mind have affected my writing. As well i will explain how I believe it will affect any writing I do after completing this English 101 course.
As a reader I have always struggled. My eyes jump across the page and I desperately attempt to pull meaning from the words in front of me. I can still clearly remember feeling a sense of insecurity when entering the course. All these new concepts of reading and writing had my head in a whirl. I remember reading topics and articles and feeling defeated. When reading articles that were supposed to help me move forward and enhance my quality of writing i still felt as though I was falling behind. In one of my first writers Journals I wrote the following, I will say though that the concept of rhetorical knowledge is taking me a bit longer to wrap my head around. - I don’t feel as though I know how to apply it well to my own writing. I am hopeful that as I continue on throughout these next weeks that I will be able to grow a more accurate understanding of rhetorical knowledge”(Writers Journal One). I was overwhelmed until I thought back to an intro to the course that mentioned how much time and dedication the course truly required of each individual student. It was then that I acknowledge that I needed to slow down and that I wasn't analyzing or taking in what I was reading properly. I need to allow myself more time and an abundance of patience. After having slowed down I was able to grasp the purposes behind the WPA Outcomes and their importance to the course. Especially Rhetorical knowledge and how to apply it to my writing within the course. This made it so much simpler to analyze texts and to fully take away the meaning behind each one. I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I now am able to read and pull information from texts with ease. If there is something I don't understand or get right away I slow down or research it in order to reap the best results.
I felt the same sense of uncertainty while writing. Which probably began with not fully understanding the texts. I was afraid to say exactly how I felt or what I thought about each topic. I was scared that my opinion could somehow be wrong and I could possibly be judged because I didn’t understand what I was writing to its full extent. However after becoming more dedicated with my reading I in turn was able to grow in confidence with my writing. Throughout the course I felt more and more secure in who I was as a writer. I felt comfortable sharing my opinions. Whether they were strong or weak. I owe much of this to the writers Journals. In one of my early writers Journals I explained that, “When writing often times thoughts get lost in translation. Sometimes this happens when writing to quickly or with great passion for a topic. Reflecting back on a completed piece of work gives the writer a chance to acknowledge the true meaning behind the piece of work. Much like reading I believe that writing takes just as much patience. I put this into practice in my writing Journals which greatly prepared me for writing project one”(Writers Journal Three). A project I was originally so nervous to begin, but ended up writing with ease and great enjoyment. My greatest accomplishment so far in this course would be getting one hundred percent on writing project one. I felt proud of my finished product and happy to know that my writing had both a purpose and a meaning. My theory of writing gives a push to my dedication to my writing. To know that everything I write holds a purpose no matter how significant, makes writing important in my life. When I write I write with more confidence than ever before.
I had to dive deeper into a daily ritual of mine while composing writing project one and it took a great deal of critical thinking to truly complete the piece. There were aspects about my ritual i had discovered that i was unaware of prior to starting. Things I had to go back and spend more time analyzing to understand. Both Writing project one and two challenged me in this way. I think my struggles with critical thinking were in some ways even greater while working on my writers journals. The questions and concepts I was asked to tackle where often time consuming and took up a lot of brain power. I was challenged on topics I knew little about and topics that were personal to my life. In a writer's Journal we were asked to reply to a question within a certain amount of minutes. One of the questions asked was about our cultural identity in relation to dietary and domestic needs. I responded to it in scattered thought and part of my response went as follows, “ My mothers a nurse. Nutrient rich foods are important in my house and so is hygiene. Always wash your hands before dealing with any sort of food. I am allergic to gluten. We keep certain food and dishes separate from the families.” These ideas came fast,but they took great thought. My mind was working hard to analyze. With continued practice throughout the course I was able to use critical thinking at a faster pace and still find and express great meaning throughout my writing. This was a great accomplishment. I now use critical thinking in almost all of my academic writing. I take time to understand the purpose and meaning behind texts and projects so that i can display my best work. Critical thinking is already something that I have begun practicing more frequently in my workplace. A skill that brings greater productivity and purpose.
One of the habits of mind from framework for success was openness.This word can take many forms, but I love how openness always creates opportunity for growth. To apply openness while composing any form of writing is something that I have found to be crucial. While working with peers in peer discussions I was given the opportunity to open up to others ideas. This helped greatly in developing my own thoughts and opinions before attempting to write on them. I lost a close mindset and took on a new understanding. Attempting to understand peers as well as text. Even more so in peer reviews on writing projects one and two where I was given the opportunity to receive advice and constructive criticism in order to better my own work. I used to dread working with groups, but by learning to open up the peer interaction in this course has greatly improved my quality of writing and ability to compose. As well openness has greatly improved my life in the workplace. While using critical thinking more frequently I feel that explaining my thought process and being open about my opinions with coworkers as well as my boss has been a huge positive shift.
As a Barista working for Starbucks I am often faced with challenges between customers, coworkers, and tangible items. Daily I am putting into practicing openness in all these areas. These trials give me new opportunity to connect with customers and coworkers. In this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnEBixTe4ZI , a video published by Starbucks, Starbucks Partners express what being a barista means to them and how it creates many opportunities. I believe a mind set of openness is the true entryway into these opportunities. I am thankful to have been able to carry this habit of mind both inside my academic life as well as my professional life. I am excited to pursue this habit of mind and further my use of openness in my day to day life.
Throughout this English 101 course I was able to grow in who I am as a writer. Not only in my writing abilities, but my ability to analyze and understand texts and to speak on their behalf. Writing is something I have always enjoyed to do in my free time, but something I have never felt confident in on an academic level, until this course. The WPA Outcomes taught me how to properly analyze texts and to pull from them as well as composing texts without a struggle. I feel as though the tools that were taught in this course are something I will be able to take with me into future classrooms and apply to future academic texts and projects. On Top of the academic standpoint I believe that even from this English 101 course I will be able to use what I have learned and apply it in the professional world. While working with classmates I was able to see information from different perspectives and communicate our understandings in order to gain knowledge from one another. Knowledge that helps us grow personally. This kind of interaction and collaborative work is something I have already begun to apply in my work life. I am thankful to have been able to leave with such a valuable interactive experience with my peers. Lastly I feel as though this course has greatly enriched my personal writing. When I write I feel as though my thoughts are more clear and have more meaning. I feel proud of my thoughts, opinions, and any truths that I may share through my writing because I know that they all hold purpose as well as meaning.
Citation Page
Pixabay.com. (2019). Free Image on Pixabay - Project, Group, Team, Feedback. [online] Available at: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/project-group-team-feedback-2822430/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
YouTube. (2019). What It's Like to be a Starbucks Partner. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnEBixTe4ZI [Accessed 14 June. 2012].
Rough Draft
Writing for a Purpose
While developing my personal theory of writing i have discovered writing to be an act unique to each composer, an act which gives a writer the ability to express their thoughts, opinions, and supported truths. Throughout this essay I will be navigating through my personal theory of writing. I will reflect on my writing throughout this course and how the course out comes and habits of mind have affected my writing. As well i will explain how I believe it will affect any writing i do after completing this English 101 course.
As a writer i have always struggled with self acceptance. I can still clearly remember feeling a sense of insecurity when entering the course. All these new concepts of reading and writing had my head in a whirl. I remember reading topics and articles and feeling overwhelmed. I realized that i needed to slow down and that i wasn't analyzing and taking in what i was reading properly. I need more time and i needed to be more patient. After having slowed down i was able to grasp the purposes behind the WPA Outcomes and their importance to the course. This made it so much easier to analyze texts and fully take away the meaning behind each one. I felt the same uncertainty while writing. Which probably begun with not fully understanding the texts at first. I was afraid to say exactly what i felt or thought. I was afraid that my opinion would be wrong and possibly judged. A feeling i think greatly discourages any writer. However throughout the course I felt more and more secure in who i was as a writer. I owe much of this to the writers Journals which greatly prepared me for Writing project one. A project i was originally so nervous to begin, but ended up writing with ease and great enjoyment. I felt proud of my finished product. I had to dive deeper into my ritual in writing project one and it took a great deal of critical thinking to truly complete the piece. There were many things i knew about my ritual that i was unaware of. Things i had to go back and spend more time analyzing to understand. Both Writing project one and two challenged me in this way and i feel will help to better use critical thinking in similar writing projects i may compose in the future. Everyone struggles with writing at times and the way they work through these struggles is what makes their writing unique. It gives them the opportunity to even better express their thoughts, opinions, and any solid truths that they may share through their writing.
Throughout this English 101 course I was able to grow in who I am as a writer. Not only in my writing abilities, but my ability to analyze and understand texts and to speak on their behalf. Writing is something I have always enjoyed to do in my free time, but something i have never felt confident in on an academic level, until this course. The WPA Outcomes taught me how to properly analyze texts and to pull from them as well as composing texts without a struggle. I feel as though the tools that were taught in this course are something i will be able to take with me into future classrooms and apply to future academic texts and projects. On Top of the academic standpoint I believe that even from this English 101 course i will be able to use what i have learned and apply it in the professional world. While working with classmates i was able to see information from different perspectives and communicate our understandings in order to gain knowledge from one another. Knowledge that helps us grow personally. This kind of interaction and collaborative work is something I have already begun to apply in my work life. I am thankful to have been able to leave with such a valuable interactive experience with my peers. Lastly I feel as though this course has greatly enriched my personal writing. When I write I feel as though my thoughts are more clear and have more meaning. I feel proud of my thoughts, opinions, and any supported truths i may share or explain.