Dear Eugene,
When comparing my previous works with the two writing projects, I realize how
my writing has changed after this quarter. Throughout the course of Writing 2, my
writing skills have improved and more importantly, reshaped my understanding of
writing. These accomplishments could not be achieved without all the readings and
writings provided in class, and I gained so much from these invaluable experiences.
As someone who has always considered writing as my greatest weakness, I still
remember how terrified I was at the start of the quarter. My biggest greivance in
writing was writing non-research papers. I often deviated from the main topic and
focused too much on subordinate statements. On the contrary, I was very comfortable
with writing research papers. In many of my writing assignments back in Chinese
writing courses, I spent most of my time telling my stories without actually relating
them to the main topic which in the end just made that information irrelevant. Overall,
this phenomenon was caused by the fact that I didn’t know how to create a direction
for my writings, and I could only follow a preexisting pattern.
The first concept, and the major theme throughout the quarter, is genre, which I
had no knowledge of prior. I recall the first class, I was still confused about what it
was. However, after reading Genre In the Wild, I learned that this seemingly
complicated concept was something we encountered in everyday life, the “typical
ways of using language that recur in the situation” according to Bickmore. We use
specific genres for social media, emails, academic writings and more. More
importantly, the author showed me that genre is supported and defined by other
aspects of the writing, all of which need to be defined before we even begin the
writing process. Besides understanding genre in general, the article Ten Ways to Think
about Writing: Metaphoric Musings for College Students has taught me more about
the preconditions for writing. For example, the author discussed how change in
intended audiences can affect the genre of the essay and the importance of thinking
for the readers’ thoughts during writing. All of these contents guided me through
finishing the first writing project. Firstly, I determined the intended audience and the
genre to translate the academic article to which put me on the right track. The
remaining research on genre format and how the academic article fit into the new
genre were perfect practices for me to show my understanding of the contents.
Similarly, in the second writing project, I decided to discuss a topic as a blog post, the
difference between Chinese and English writing, a topic inspired by my own
experiences in Chinese and American schools. The contrasts between the two writing
classes in two languages intrigued me. Through exploring the differences between the
two languages, I hope it can help me better combine the two languages’ writing
habits. Like in Project 1, I needed to research the format and tone of writing for a blog
post, and how to better interact with my intended audiences. All the steps toward
finishing the two projects were set in place.
Besides understanding the key concepts, practicing revision also greatly
improved my writing skills. I never realized how influential peer-review was until I
read the article Revision is Central to Developing Writing, in which Downs states our
thoughts are limited when writing the first draft, and revision can open our mind to
see the topic from different angles and ways to improve. In my second project, my
classmates helped me identify many problems such as having a topic that was too
general, and focusing too much on analyzing Chinese instead of balancing between
two languages. Besides learning from other peoples’ comments on my work, I gain a
lot while reading the works of other people. Though our genres and topics may not be
similar, I can still utilize how they organize their writings and how they establish
discussion and debates to include in my own writing.
The Writing 2 course this quarter has greatly improved my weaknesses. The habit
of defining genre, audiences and other aspects before I start writing helps me avoid
deviating from the main theme. Moreover, I’ve grown more confident about writing
in formats other than research papers.
Thank you,
Aaron Peng
Work Cited
Adler-Kassner, Linda, et al. “Revision Is Central to Developing Writing.” Naming
What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies, Utah State University Press,
2016.
Lowe, Charles, and Pavel Zemliansky. “Ten Ways to Think about Writing:
Metaphoric Musings for College Students.” Writing Spaces 2: Readings on Writing,
Volume 2, Parlor Press, 2010.
Bickmore, Lisa. “Genre in the Wild: Understanding Genre within Rhetorical
(Eco)Systems.” Open English SLCC, Open English @ SLCC, 1 Aug. 2016,
https://openenglishatslcc.pressbooks.com/chapter/genre-in-the-wild-understanding-
genre-within-rhetorical-ecosystems/.
