AmyRiele

Writing2M/W12:50
Winter2016DePiero

Iamembarrassedtosay,butwhenreadingthedirectionsforthePortfolioAssignment,I
didnotknowwhatthewordMetacognitivemeant.Iknewthatcognitionhadsomethingtodo
withlearningandunderstanding,andmetamaybehintsatsomethingbigakainacademia,
cumulative,butIdecidedtolookuptheexactdefinitionjusttobesure.Ifoundthefollowing:
Metacognition:(noun)higherorderthinkingthatenablesunderstanding,analysis,andcontrolof
onescognitiveprocesses,especiallywhenengagedinlearning(Dictionary).So,thispurposeof
thisfinalWriting2Essayisformetolookbackonthisquarterandunderstandandanalyze
exactlywhatIlearned,howIlearnedit,andhowIhaveandwillcontinuetobenefitfromthis
knowledge.
Initially,IwasreallyirritatedthatIhadtotakeWriting2atall.Iwasunabletosignup
foritlastyearasafreshmanbecausebythetimemypastimecamearound,theclasseswere
alwaysfull.Sothensophomoreyearwinterquarterclassregistrationcomesaround,andIstill
hadtotakeit,despitethefactthatasaPoliticalScience/Sociologydoublemajor,Ihadalready
writtenabouttencollegeessays.But,cantarguewithGeneralEducationrequirementsfor
graduating,sothereIwas,January4,2016sittinginWriting2.Thankgoditwasntaclassfull
offreshman,soIimmediatelyfeltabitmorecomfortablebeingsurroundedbystudentswho
wereinthesamepositionasme.Ialsoremembergoinghomeafterthefirstdayofclassand
braggingabouthowcoolmyteacherseemedtobe;Iknewhewasgoingtobeatoughgrader

becausethatwaswordonthestreet,butIknewthatifIwasgoingtohavetositinthisclass
twiceaweekfortenweeks,thenIwantedtoactuallylearnsomething,soIwasokaywith
difficult.Andwow,didIlearnmorethanjustsomething.Tome,inordertoconsidersomething
learned,itmustberemembered.Towritethismetacognitiveessay,IfiguredIwouldgoback
throughthelessonplanstorefreshmymemory,yetIrealizedthateverythingIwasgoingto
writeaboutwasstoredinmyheadbecauseofhowinfluentialithasalreadybeen.THATis
learning.
Therearealotofmisconceptionsregardingwhatmaterialiscoveredinawritingclass,
butIthinkIgotthemostoutofthewholewritingprocesstopicthroughvariousactivitiesand
readings.Myabsolutefavoritereadingfromthisquarterthatchangedmymindsetaboutwriting
alotwasthepiecebyPeterElbowtitledTeachingTwoKindsofThinkingbyTeachingWriting.I
thinkalotofaspectstothisclassweretopicsandconceptsthatIhadpreviouslyhalfwayapplied
tomywriting,butneverknewwhatIwasactuallydoing.Thisconceptoffirstandsecondorder
thinkingleadingtofirstandsecondorderwritingleftabigimpressionbecauseIamabigfanof
wordvomitingandthencompletelyeditingmywork.WhenElbowstatedtheexploratory
zigzaggingleadsfinallytoaclickwherethewritersuddenlysees,Yes,thatstherighthandle
forthiswholeissues,nowIvegottherightpointofview(56),Iwrotethecomment
scribblesleadtogeniusinthemargin.Thiscementedandaffirmedmywholewritingprocess
asactuallybeingvaluableasawritingtool,notjustbeingsomethingIhavetriedonceortwice
andliked.Itwassohelpfultoseetheimportanceoffirstorderthinkingandwritingthatcanthen
beeditedandcriticallyanalyzedthroughsecondorderthinkingandwriting.Thisideawas
indirectly(butprobablyverymeticulouslythoughtthroughbyZack)relatedtoWP3seeingaswe

weretoldtoanalyzetheauthorsmovesandthenindividuallycreateourownmovesandanalyze
those.Bybeingforcedtogothroughandassesstheimportanceofeachofourmoves,wewere
applyingsecondorderthinkingbyengagingincriticalrevisionaftertheactualwritingtook
place.
IalsoenjoyedthearticleShittyFirstDraftsbyAnneLamottforasimilarreason.Ifelt
thatwhenAnneassertedAlmostallgoodwritingbeginswithterriblefirstefforts.Youneedto
startsomewhere(2),Iwasreallyabletorelate.Beginningthewritingprocessisthehardestpart
forme;whenIamstaringatablankdocument,Ioftenamoverwhelmed,havingnoideahowto
begin.Yet,Elbowsideaofwordvomitingthroughfirstorderthinkingthenmakesashittyfirst
draftthatcanbeeditedbeyondbeliefthroughsecondorderthinking.AndthenIrealizedthatthe
editingprocessisaprocesswithinitself,butthatisarewardingpartofwriting.Ihaveneverbeen
abigfanofdrafts;IplanaheadwithmytimemanagementsoIalwaysfinishessaysearlyand
leavetimeforrevisions,butIdoputalotofpressureonmyselftomakethingsperfectfromthe
beginning.But,therealityis,nothingisperfectafteraoneshotgoaround,soyoumightaswell
editandeditandedit.AfterrevisingmyWP1andWP2,Icanseehowimportantitistoedit
draftseventhoughthoseweresupposedtobefinaldraftsbecauseimprovementsandchanges
canalwaysbemadeforthebetter.
AlthoughIcitedHowtoReadLikeaWriterbyBunnandNavigatingGenresbyDirkone
toomanytimesineachofmyWritingProjects,Ifeltthatthesearticleswereafoundationformy
writingexperienceandevolutionthroughoutthequarter.Iamnow,however,abletotakewhatI
learnedinthosearticlesandapplyittomyothercourses.Forinstance,BunnsaysIcameto
realizethatallwritingconsistsofaseriesofchoices(Bunn,72)andasIamcontinuingtowrite

academicpapers,Ihavetomakedecisionsaboutinformationtoincludeortoomitandhowto
phraseparticularsentencesthatwillappealandrelatetomyparticularTAorprofessorwhois
readingmypaper.Additionally,whenDirkemphasizestheimportanceofaudiencebystating
specificchoicesthatwritersmakeresultinspecificactionsonthepartofreaders;itonly
followsthatourownwritingmusttoobepurposefullywritten(Dirk,254).Althoughthisclass
hasallowedmetousemyownvoice,Iwanttochallengemyselftobeabletocarrythisoverinto
myotherclassesaccordingto,onceagain,whatmyreaderishopingtogainfrommypiece.
Additionally,Ilovedthedailyprocessandwritingtips.Iamnowahueadvocateforthe
reverseoutline.Onceagain,revisingWP1andWP2wasawaythattheimportanceofthereverse
outlinewasenforcedinWriting2,butIhavealreadyusedthisactivityinmyGlobalStudies
courseaswell.LikeIsaidbefore,PoliticalScienceandSociologyrequirealotofpapers,and
theyareallpapersrequiringanargumentdriventhesisstatementthatmustbesupported
throughouteachofthefollowingparagraphs.Thereverseoutlineisawaytoclearlyseeifmy
criticalanalyzingfromsecondorderthinkingwassuccessfulinweedingoutanyirrelevant
informationthatdoesnotdirectlyrelatetomythesis.
Thediscussionthatwehadinclassaboutparallelismwasreallyinterestingbecauseit
emphasizedtomehowbeneficialparallelismwillbethroughouttherestofmywritingcareerin
collegeandbeyond.Ihadalreadykindofusedparallelisminmywritingbeforethisprocesstip
becauseIthinkthatusingsimilarsentencestructuresandwordingmakeswritingsoundsalot
moreinterestingandcleartothereader.Ididnothowever,knowthevarietyofwaysthat
parallelismcanbeusedtospiceupwriting.Ialsoamagrammarfiendweirdlyenoughandthink
thatmanypeoplemyagebelievetheyknowhowtoproperlyusetheEnglishlanguage,butthat

wearereallyactuallyquiterustyinthegrammardepartment.Althoughthisisawritingclassand
doesnotneedtofocusonspecificgrammarrules,Ithoughtthatitwasgreathowstudentswere
askedtoapplythegrammarinformationwehadrecentlylearnedinthenextpieceofwriting.For
example,inmyWP1IwroteTheWashingtonPostalongwiththeNewYorkTimes,
MSNBC,andPoliticoisknowntohavea...andreceivedacommentfromZacksaying
Excellentuseofthedasheshere,Amy.ThisallowedmetopracticewhatIwaslearningandto
receivefeedbackbeforeapplyingwhatIwaslearningelsewhereincaseIwasdoingitwrong.
Inmyopinion,thetwomostinterestingclassactivitieswedidwastheMurder!activity
andwhenwewatchedtheDisneymovieaboutthevariouspainters.Ithinkthatbothofthese
activitiesdidagreatjobinemphasizingeverythingwehadbeenlearningandtyinginallofthe
seeminglyrandomconceptsalltogether.TheMurder!casewasverycoolbecauseitshowedme
thatconventionsreallyarenotjustapplicabletoscholarlywriting,butthattheyareprevalentin
variousgenres.Thiswasareallyfunwaytobecreativewithourwritingwhileusingtechniques
thatwehadbeenlearning.Forexample,mygroupwastoldtowritealetterfromaresidenttothe
parkinggarageowners,andwewereabletodothisveryeasilyjustbecauseofpriorknowledge.
ThatahhamomentoccurredbecauseIwasabletopicturethesewritingtechniquesandconcepts
thatwewerelearningoutsideoftheWriting2classroom.Afewweekslater,theDisneymovie
reiteratedthisconcept,showingmehowconventionsthatweanalyzeinwritingcanbefoundin
alltypesofart,buttheystillremainasgeneral,basicguidelines.ThisiswhatmyWP3article
wasaboutinasense;ThearticleTeachingPunctuationasaRhetoricalToolbyJohnDawkins
arguesthatinwriting,therearenosuchthingsasrulesorlaws,butratherthatauthorsshoulduse
writinghandbooksonlyasaguidelinetofosterpersonalcreativitythroughwriting.He

emphasizesthatgoodwritersdonotfollowaspecificsetofrules,butratherusepunctuationas
awaytoconveytheirrhetoricalintentofemphasisandseparation(533).Writingsimilarlyto
paintingisawayofthinking,awayofexpressingaparticulargoalorinterpretationofan
imagetowhoeverdoes(orevendoesnt)readorseeit.
Overall,thisquarterhasbeenfarmorebeneficialthanIeverwouldhaveexpected
becauseofalloftherelevantinformation,articles,activities,anddiscussionsthatwewereable
tohave.IgenuinelycouldhavewrittenatenpagepaperhighlightingtheimportantlessonsthatI
learnedfromthisclasstoimprovemywriting,inadditiontothefactthatIlearnedthatIcan
indeedconqueratwohourclassperiod(nextquarterIhaveaclassthatisthreehours#pray).
Also,Imetalotofreallycoolpeopleandareallycoolteacherwhichissuchanaddedbonustoa
classthathelpedmesomuchacademically.Yes,itwasalotofwork,butyes,itwassoworthit
andIamproudofeverythingthatIhaveaccomplished.Thankyouforeverything!

WorksCited
Bunn,Mike.HowtoReadLikeraWriter.WritingSpaces:ReadingsonWriting.ByCharles
LoweandPavelZemilansky.Vol.2.Anderson,SouthCarolina.:Parlor,2011.7195.
Print.
Dawkins,John."TeachingPunctuationasaRhetoricalTool."CollegeCompositionand
Communication46.4(1995):53348.JStor.NationalCouncilofTeachersofEnglish.
Web.23Feb.2016.
Dirk,Kerry."NavigatingGenres."WritingSpaces:ReadingsonWriting.ByCharlesLoweand
PavelZemliansky.Vol.1.WestLafayette,IN:Parlor,2010.24962.Print.
Elbow,Peter.TeachingTwoKindsofThinkingbyTeachingWriting.EmbracingContraries:
ExplorationsinLearningandTeaching.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.1986.54
63.Print.
Metacognition.Dictionary.com,n.d.Web.11Mar.2016.