My writing, and knowledge of it, has changed drastically throughout the quarter.

Before

taking this class, my thought process surrounding academic writing was just to bite the bullet and

get it done. I have always been much more inclined to argumentative writing. But, after spending

considerable time this quarter writing about academic articles, I have a deeper understanding of

what it means to write for academia and how that translates into multiple different types of

writing. Another big thing I learned was my approach to reading. Again, I am not usually one for

academic reading, I much prefer it for leisure. But in WRIT 2 I learned that not all academic

reading is boring, especially when you know how to read it correctly. As I mentioned in my

second writing project, reading Bunn1 and realizing what it means to read as a writer

significantly changed how I viewed reading. It is not always just about the article's contents, but

how you can learn from the structure and successes of another writer to grow your own style.

Texts like this, as well as learning from my classmates and Professor Bocchino’s lectures, I have

further developed my own writing as well. During the first submissions of my writing projects, I

really struggled with the execution of this style. Especially in WP1, shifting my analysis to how

the academic articles I picked were written and what conventions they used to demonstrate their

genres’ topic was hard for me. Learning how to shift my mindset from argumentative to

academic was tough, but I know it is going to help me so much with future classes or projects in

my life where analysis of a different caliber is necessary.

I touched on this briefly earlier but in Writing 2 I learned more about my individual skills

as a writer and what type of writing I am best suited for. I also learned that it is okay to fail or not

get things perfect the first time. I used to be extremely hard on my writing process because I felt

like if I did not get it right originally, I wasted my time. However, I learned that sometimes bad

rough drafts are necessary and extremely helpful to the overall process. One of the ways I feel
1
Mike, Bunn. “How to Read Like a Writer”. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing.
like I really honed in this lesson was by utilizing group work and reader response workshops. I

really appreciated my peers and their feedback. Working with them was not only fun but also

allowed me to generate new ideas based on their critiques and also analyzing their work. Within

the class itself and the lectures, I felt that I gained a deeper understanding of what genre is and

how it can affect how, what, and why a text is written. This can partially be attributed to

Bickmore’s reading2 but also just class in general and in-person learning. When thinking about

rhetoric and rhetorical fallacies for the most part I knew a good amount about them already, but

the class deepened my knowledge of these subjects. A main part of class that worked for me was

Professor Bocchino’s teaching style. The mixture of lecturing, readings, and group activities

helped train my brain in a multitude of differing ways and did not rely on one way of thinking

more than another. I think this made my learning process more well-rounded and solid in

different aspects. I have always worked better in environments where I am allowed to talk and

bounce ideas off of others. That is why that portion of class worked so well for me. My personal

writing style can be defined as more freethinking and cohesive. I have always leaned towards

being a more “flowery” writer and I like when my choices can be more emotional instead of

rigid. I am a spirited writer and often get overcome with passion in my writing. I feel like that is

what happened with my first drafts of the writing projects. I let my emotions toward the topic

influence my writing instead of following the prompt. Now in my revisions, you can still see my

fiery excitement but it is met with adherence to the style my paper is supposed to be written in.

From my first written projects to the new ones, my biggest change overall was focusing

less on the differences between the articles' contents and honing in on the way both texts were

written within their different genres. In the first submissions, I ended up analyzing each text too

much and arguing about its individual contents and how it affected each minority group. As that
2
Lisa, Bickmore. "General in the Wild." PressBooks.
was not what the prompt was asking, in my revision I made sure to zero in on each article's

conventions and how those conventions were specific to each paper. This also made it possible

for me to grow my writing and attribute to new, and more concise ideas. One of the other

elements I focused on fixing was the format and flow of both projects. The originals felt stiff and

cluttered by unnecessary information. I worked on condensing the work and also elaborating on

how each genre utilized the conventions versus spending too much time on what those

conventions were. Another one of the key ways I polished my writing was by trying to create

fewer distractions or tangents within my paper. Sometimes my point can get lost because I

over-explain myself or lose track of the paragraph's main purpose. When rewriting, I found

myself eliminating and condensing a lot of my sentences. Another issue I found myself repeating

throughout my text was adding quotes or paraphrasing elements without explaining how they

connected to my thesis. I made sure to backtrack and correct those mistakes so my paper had a

clear flow and connection to my main argument. The last area of improvement that had a huge

impact on my writing was being sure to connect the genre conventions and why they were used

to my genres. Highlighting what the relationship between the two was, what that meant about

how the genre presents information, and what appeals/conventions it utilizes to show this.

This portfolio is a culmination of every reading, group activity, and any writing

assignment I have completed thus far. Each time I was tasked with writing something new, I felt

like I kept calling back to my skills and building upon them to further my own style and overall

academic experience. The rewrites especially have really grown my skills and showcased my

adaptability and transformative capabilities. The strongest feature of my writing is still my

analysis and argumentative portions. I think my shortcomings in the original writing projects

actually made those aspects of my writing better even though in those specific works they were
displayed as my weaknesses because I was able to visualize these mistakes and fix them. I can

apply the skills acquired in Writing 2 in all academic writing moving forward. It has allowed me

to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of academic analysis and how it is equally as

significant as your passion for the argument/topic. My thought process behind writing has also

shifted because of this class. I no longer see academic writing as such a daunting task and realize

I am more capable in that area than I gave myself credit for. It may not be my favorite style of

writing, but it is something I am able to do and I can use the knowledge from this class to do it

well.

The most difficult concepts for me were trying to analyze the text within the context of

analyzing the different conventions and if the conventions are used differently in the genres as a

whole or just within the texts I chose. I feel like I was lucky that my two academic articles

utilized different conventions, but I doubt this is always the case and maybe a roadblock I run

into further in the future. I definitely still struggle with remembering when to add my own

analysis of the text and when to analyze the text under the context of the prompt. That is one of

the more challenging aspects for me to compartmentalize within my writing style. Adversely,

one of my favorite strategies is comparing two genres and seeing how they relate or contrast each

other. I think it teaches you more about the topic within the context of its genre which is a more

complex line of thinking. I like it when I have to challenge myself and think outside of the box

my style typically sits in. It can be hard but it is rewarding when I feel like I accomplished a task

that required me to pull knowledge from outside sources. Another strategy I find myself

employing is finding how a subject is connected throughout the text. It is like thinking of the text

as a living body, each vein or limb still circulates back to the main topic and is constantly

reiterated throughout the work as a whole. I think that makes writing really special, it is like a
gateway into a person’s thought process and how their brain works to identify and make sense of

information. Observing how each work is original, even if its topic and content is the same, is a

magical part of writing and something that continues to inspire me in my own writing.