Simanungkalit 1

Ferrin Simanungkalit
Professor Zack DePiero
Metacognitive Reflection
7 December 2015
Metacognitive Reflection: A Journey Through Writing
Writing 2 was a very different experience for me in terms of writing. I wasnt
used to the prompts that I was given in this class and the approaches being taken in order
to respond to the prompts. The writing that Im used to consists of a prompt, some
readings, and an analysis of the prompt. Although the writing projects in this class
followed this format in some way, it was still totally different. The way that I am used to
writing is analyzing the topic in the article, and I was able to get away with fulfilling the
page requirements by adding fluff. The writing being introduced to me in this class,
however, allowed for no fluff at all. Much of what was being studied in class was not a
topic in the article; rather it was how and why the author approached the topic in the
article. Much of what I learned about in this class involved a deeper knowledge in
rhetorical elements through genre and conventions.
In the beginning of class, I had a basic idea of genres and conventions, but I did
not know that there was more to it that meets the eye. My basic idea of genre was more of
a category. In class, we observed a country song as a genre. I would classify country, pop,
and rock as music genres. I never really realized that Instagram captions, Facebook posts,
and tweets on Twitter would be a textual genre of their own. I was very fascinated with
that concept, which led me to write my first writing project about these genres.
Personally, I would say that I immerse myself in a lot of social media culture. I

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am very familiar with the concepts and conventions involved in social media posts, so I
thought it would be best to study something that Im already familiar with. In my first
writing project, I studied the concept of same-sex marriage through social media posts.
Each post on a different site encountered different conventions and rhetorical elements.
Facebook allows for more intimacy and freedom in length of ones post, while Twitter
limits the length of a post, which may bring lack of sincerity. Instagram lets the picture do
the talking for the most part, so the caption may not be a big deal to some users. After
studying these posts, I realize that those who relate more to the issue bring in more
sincere language and a more thought-out post compared to those who arent directly
connected with the LGBTQ community. Because Sam Smith and Jacob are gay, they
express more feelings and gratitude in terms of support and, possibly, relief that they too
have the ability to get married with the one they love. I also found that big names in the
entertainment industry have credibility in itself, so they can post anything and still have a
large amount of support from their audience. I had an easier time with WP 1 because it
was still somewhat on the surface in terms of analyzing the articles. Writing project 2,
however, was a different story.
Writing project 2 had a lot going on in the prompt. I was really confused with how
to organize everything correctly. I know that I should have utilized moves better. At the
time that the WP was due, I was still confused on how to explain moves. Despite that
issue, the PB 2B really helped me gain a better understanding on what moves were. For
example, in my PB 2B I explained that Alex Reid's piece, Why Blog? Searching for
Writing on the Web, concession and contrast are often used as moves. By using
concession phrases like, "of course," he is admitting something is right to the readers.

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The concept of moves was a new one for me, so I was very unfamiliar with it and had a
hard time grasping the concept, but PB 2B really helped with that. Because I was so
unfamiliar with this prompt and this type of writing, I really struggled with writing a
good paper. I expressed my dissatisfaction in my journal for the online class by writing,
I think I could have done better on WP2. I really procrastinated on it to be honest, so I
didn't do the best I could. I didn't give it my all, so I'm really not happy about that, but
that's on me. I was happy with the moves paragraph for my biology discipline
[although]. It caused me to lose focus and motivation to even complete the paper and do
well on it. Although I dont particularly hate writing and I believe I am somewhat good at
it, this prompt genuinely made me despise writing and caused me to give up with writing
in its entirety. From the feedback and comments I received from this paper, I realized that
I did not write to the best of my abilities. I had to make a lot of corrections in this paper,
but I was not fully committed to it. After reverse outlining this paper, I, myself, was
confused on what I was trying to say. Im still confused about this prompt and what I
have written overall, so it was hard for me to make corrections that I was fully satisfied
with. Although writing project 2 had me at a standstill, I tried to redeem myself with
writing project 3.
Although writing project 3 was still a somewhat confusing prompt, I was still able
to find a way to use my writing abilities to understand it better. My topic was on underage
drinking and my scholarly article really stressed the how residential areas reduce the
amount of underage drinking. I felt like that was the big idea, but I still was and am not
completely sure. With the younger generation genre, I opted out of the childrens
storybook because it is a little more mature topic. I decided to do a teen magazine quiz

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because I felt that the audience is more suitable for this topic. It was really fun to be able
to get my creative juices flowing from this project. I struggled with trying to make a quiz
while trying to capture the essence of the scholarly article. I used a more casual language
because it is supposed to attract to the social teen audience. What I did in terms of
capturing the essence of the scholarly article is that I used the idea of living in a
residential community and having friends to determine the underage drinking likelihood.
For the older genre, I was really hesitant on writing the Chicken Soup for the Soul style
story because I am so unfamiliar with it. I skimmed through a couple of the stories and
realized that I needed to make it relatable to the older generation, typically adults, and
very sentimental. The stories embrace pathos as their way of sending a message to their
audience. To gain a storyline related to my topic, I referred back to the ideas I brought up
in PB 3A and I put myself in a parent's perspective and see how I would feel about my
child drinking. From Zacks comment on my feedback matrix, I did better than I thought
on this part because he enjoyed this part the most. Overall, I had a lot more creative
freedom with this writing project compared to the second one, so I enjoyed it more and it
showed in my writing.
Truthfully, writing in terms of genre and conventions is not my cup of tea. Even
though the prompts were very broad and had space for possibilities in writing, I still felt
somewhat limited. I didnt feel like I was able to write at my best and it showed in my
papers. This new type of writing is still somewhat foreign to me, which made it
unpleasant for me to write. I did enjoy the journals and other activities in class because
they allowed for more freedom of speech and it helped me enjoy working with others
more. After taking this class, I still enjoy writing, but I will probably steer away from the

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type of writing we have done in this class. Despite the discontent I feel with this type of
writing, learning about these concepts such as genre, conventions, rhetoric, and moves,
helped me gain a better understanding of the elements involved in writing. Rhetorical
elements stuck out to me the most because elements such as tone, audience, and language
will bring out a certain reaction to the audience based on how these elements are
presented. By adopting these elements into my writing, I can improve my writing skills
by being more specific in my writing so that I can get a certain reaction out of my
audience and help them understand my writing the way I want them to understand.