Gabrielle Gonzalez

Writing 2 Spring 2015

Professor De Piero
June 3, 2015
Metacognitive Reflection
My Writing 2 journey has been a pretty fun one Id say. My first impression was that this
was not going to be an ordinary writing course. I started the quarter expecting to just write essays
and get the GE requirement out of the way; little did I know that I would take away so much
more from this class. From day 1 we started learning about genres and continued the ball rolling
until the end. Overall, Writing 2 has been a great experience and Ive learned a lot of useful takeaway concepts.
The first assignment was PB1A where we had to create a Blogger which I had never used
before. I thought this was such a cool idea because Ive never had a professor make us post our
work online to share with others. I had fun making it and adding my creativity rather than having
tedious work. The PBs were nice warmups for each Writing Project. WP1 was like the first jump
in the pool, but by the time WP3 came around the water was warm enough and I finally got the
hang of it. Of course, however, I encountered challenges when writing the WPs and continue to
struggle when working out the kinks for the final portfolio. Peer review sessions were really
helpful to me because nearly every time someone caught a mistake that I otherwise wouldnt
have noticed. Its also nice when someone tells me that they dont understand something, like a
sentence for example. Sometimes when a phrase or paragraph makes sense to me it doesnt
always make sense to other readers. This is something that I have learned to take into
consideration whenever I write. I also appreciate our schools writing department for
encouraging / requiring peer review sessions because they are very valuable. I have learned that

peer-reviewed articles are credible and preferred, for the most part, when writing a paper. Being
an environmental studies major, I read a lot of journals and research that have been peerreviewed. Im glad that we were able to study its importance in this class.
I definitely had the most fun with WP3. At first I was a little hesitant because I didnt
realize we had to physically make the genre that we were transforming from the original source.
What I mean is that I thought we were writing the WP3 in terms of how we were going to
transform it hypothetically. I wasnt exactly sure how I was going to create an actual childrens
book, but I think I did a decent job considering we couldnt actually publish an actual book! But
it was fun nonetheless and my topic worked really well with the assignment and people seemed
to like it so I was happy with the final product.
My thinking towards writing has definitely evolved. When I approach an essay I have a
specific plan of attack that I have developed over the course of this quarter. Usually I start by
making an outline and spill out my thoughts in a first-order thinking type of way. I like to get all
of my ideas out first and then organize it into a paper afterwards. The article we read on firstorder and second-order thinking was one of the most useful ones that I have read that has stuck
with me. Also I have become pretty good at navigating the librarys website when looking for
articles and academic journals for research. This information is important and handy to know
especially for future classes.
One thing I have learned for certain is about genres. At first I only saw genres in terms of
music and movies. I had never really considered genres to be textual until explicitly told.
Meaning, I would have never viewed menus and resumes and emails as specific genres with
conventions that distinguish them from other forms of text. I have learned this with the exercises
in class when we would make lists of everything that would make up that genre. To elaborate,

Im talking about describing features of each of those things. The country song was a good
example of listing the contents that classify this genre. We said things like the type of musical
instruments and techniques that are used to produce a certain sound are common elements for all
country songs. And the same concept was applied to the textual genres like resumes that I
mentioned.
Genre awareness seems unavoidable now that I have been learning about them for so
long. Everywhere I look I see a genre! From food labels to syllabi, nearly everything can be
identified as a genre. Being about to recognize moves is also one of the most important things
Ive become aware of. I keep this in mind when Im either reading paper or writing one because I
take into account the elements I need to use in order to establish my purpose and identify other
writers purpose(s). Additionally, I have to write according to the audience that I am addressing.
My blog posts, for instance, were more conversational because I knew that my classmates would
be reading them and it gave us room to incorporate our style of writing. For the WPs, we had to
tailor them towards an academic audience.
I am going to apply what I have learned from this course into future writing and thinking
without a doubt. Just my overall thought process has improved and for the most part I feel more
comfortable when tacking an essay for any class. I have learned a lot about myself as a writer
and I know how to deal with certain situations, like if Im stuck on a sentence for example. There
are still things that I will struggle with regardless and need improvement on but that will have to
be worked through as I come across them.
Another thing that I really enjoyed in Writing 2 was taking the time at the beginning of
each class to write in our journals. I was really able to reflect back on my writing and it allowed
me to express myself because I knew that no one would be reading it. It also helps me when I

write down my thoughts because I can refer back to them for future improvement. The process
tips were also helpful because they addressed issues that I come across in my personal writing
process. For example, whenever I get stuck on a sentence I revise it at least two or three times
before I feel comfortable with it. Also, I noticed that I already use some of the tricks so it felt
reassuring to know I was using effective strategies.
Since fall quarter of last year, my perspective on what writing is has undeniably changed.
Writing has never really been bothersome for me throughout school. I think that I am an OK
writer and I am always improving. But my perspective has widened and I see writing through a
more meaningful lens. There is so much that goes into what makes writing what it is. Writing
extends far beyond and introduction and body paragraphs. Writing is conceptual and the writer
has to understand the audience he or she is addressing as well as determining the purpose of the
content. I see a lot of things differently as well. I am just overall more conscious of the decisions
I make that contribute to my writing as a whole. By the end of the school year I am naturally a
little burned out and tired of writing. But in a way I see this as a good thing. All the writing I
have done within the past year has allowed me to gain a lot of practice and to be more aware of
myself as a writer. Reading other students writing has also been beneficial especially when
reading WPs. Everyone has their own style of writing and I think its neat to be able to see the
differences and similarities between each others techniques.
Overall this course has made me a little more appreciative of writing. I notice
improvements in my writing if they are small ones. I think I have managed to accomplish my
goal of becoming a better writer. I know there are still some things that I need to work on, but at
the end of the day, I feel comfortable with my writing. Essay and paper assignments seem less
intimidating to me now that I have established a general plan of action before I start writing.