Reflection Essay — 1000-1250 words; include multiple links to examples from your workspace and quote yourself liberally in order to support your points.
Generative writing prompts — pick a few and reflect deeply, meaningfully, and honestly:
- Is “good writing” a matter only of mechanics and grammar — “error-free” writing — or is it a reflection of rigorous, critical, and reflective thinking?
- How, when, and where did I challenge myself intellectually — where did I really stretch myself — in this class?
- Words matter. “Hispanic.” “Society.” Don’t words matter?
- Are you a self-regulating learner? Yes? No? Don’t know? How do you think your answer to that question informs your self-perception of yourself as a writer?
- Are you a bullshitter?
- Theorize yourself as a writer: what kind of writer are you?
- Give examples of what should’ve happened vs. what actually happened
- Quote yourself and your work: “For example, in my Op-Ed Essay …” and link to it
- What’s in your self-editing toolkit?
- Your experience with the NYT
- Did your remix help you clarify anything or accomplish anything that you did not initially anticipate when we first started the remix projects? Were you able to accomplish something with your remix that you could not have accomplished with an essay or Op-Ed? Or did you learn anything from your classmates’ remix projects?
I theorize I am a thoughtful, considerate writer, always taking the necessary time make sure my writing accurately achieves whatever I’m trying to say. However, as I’ve participated in this course, I realize that the expression of my thoughtfulness and consideration has begun to transform from what it looked like during high school. During those years, my sole purpose in writing was to successfully respond to the task at hand. For example, when writing an essay I would stress for hours trying to “write the correct answer,” or whatever would generate a good response from the teacher. I thought writing was a difficult, strenuous process because I always wanted my words to present the perfect analysis. Though I did regard my individual feelings and opinions in writing, my primary focus was to engage my thoughts in a way that would be deemed right by my teacher.
I brought this goal of perfection with me the first quarter of freshman year. In the essays I had to write in the fall, I continued my practice of working for hours on a single writing assignment. I could not miss any of the facts; I needed to be sure to include everything that would make for a strong, nearly perfect essay.
Mears, Ashley. “Who Runs the Girls?” The New York Times 20 Sept. 2014: 9. Print.
Within this article the author suggests that women are content with being exploited due to their looks in a way that could almost be considered “consensual trafficking”. The author gives examples that show how women are being used as a business, coining terms that are generally used when talking about economics, as if the women are just things to use and sell. Mears uses a personal story as well as other women’s stories to show how they are being used in order to make money. The audience this article could strike would be women who could be in this situations where they are being used for their looks; perhaps the author wishes to change these girls.
Then I began WRD103. Before I started writing for this course, I was expecting the classwork to involve lots of time reading and writing—after all, my past writing experiences involved countless hours of dedicated mental labor. However, as I participated in the class, I realized that writing is not meant to be strenuous. Instead of focusing on the demonstration of my knowledge, which takes great effort, I’ve learned that writing actually functions as artful communication. My academic knowledge is not the focus, but rather the cleverly crafted communication of my knowledge takes the stage.
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As I’ve gained understanding on this purpose of writing, my thoughtfulness and consideration have taken on a new role. Now, I theorize myself as a thoughtful writer in that I deliberately explore many ideas and honestly communicate both my ideological conclusions and questions. As a considerate writer I continue to pursue perfection in my writing, but not as I once did. Now, I no longer devote my mind to painstaking effort in writing to be correct, but I carefully consider the words and ideas I communicate as I strive for the subjective perfection found in a work of art: a beautiful, faultless existence just as it is.
I would have never known to think of my writing with artistic perfection in my past writing experiences, but this view of mine came to be through my investment of perplexity and critical thinking during this course. My understanding of writing first began its change on day 1 of class when Professor Moore encouraged our class to read the New York Times daily and freely and openly record our responses to the readings in our journals. 
As I wrote in my journal for the first time, I experienced writing not as academic work but as an opportunity to candidly express my individual ponderings of that time.
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Our first writing assignment in class was a summary of a NYT article. My work on this assignment clearly demonstrates the how my thoughtfulness and consideration began to transform throughout the course. 
While writing the first draft of the summary, I spent about 40 minutes trying to write a perfect analysis, which was far too long considering I only needed to write about four sentences. The second draft, on the other hand, my first rhetorical précis, not only took less time, but as I wrote it I also had the opportunity to replace my tedious mental work with critical thinking by examining the article for both the obvious and the unstated objectives.
After our class wrote enough rhetorical précis so that we were familiar with the thinking necessary for successful writing, we moved on to writing rhetorical analyses. While working on this assignment my thoughtfulness and consideration greatly developed through my investment in perplexity and critical thinking. In order to accurately understand what the writers were trying to convey I needed to ask questions about their words and their argument, and then I needed to determine the effect of the writers’ rhetorical decisions. Using this thought process I was able to apply my mind in fully understanding and communicating the value of a piece of writing.
While writing my second essay in this course, the op-ed essay, I largely invested my thoughts in perplexity. My argument in this assignment was not meant to draw the audience toward my own view but rather to encourage readers to identify with my personal inquiry. My strategies in writing my op-ed included honestly pursuing my own uncertainty while logically considering the most effective expression of my thoughts. Writing this essay allowed me to both consider writing for an audience and writing for my own intellectual gain.
Reflecting on my positive experience in WRD103, I can easily see how I’ve grown both as a writer and a thinker. My development does not stop here though. During the past ten weeks I have just taken the first steps as an intellectually engaged writer; as I continue to write, whether for academic essays, musical reflections, or personal thinking, the qualities of writing I’ve developed will continue to grow and influence my thoughts. Writing in WRD103 is only the beginning of what I hope to be a fantastic experience for the development my personal ideas and educational aspirations.
Reflecting on my positive experience in WRD103, I can easily see how I’ve grown both as a writer and a thinker. My development does not stop here though. During the past ten weeks I have just taken the first steps as an intellectually engaged writer; as I continue to write, whether for academic essays, musical reflections, or personal thinking, the qualities of writing I’ve developed will continue to grow and influence my thoughts. Writing in WRD103 is only the beginning of what I hope to be a fantastic experience for the development my personal ideas and educational aspirations.