JessicaPaolo

Ms.Kusinitz
Writing104
31May2016
FinalClassReflection
Theprocessofcreatingacohesivepieceofwritingisanarduoustask,anddemandsthe
useofavarietyofdifferentskills.Manyoftheseabilitiescanonlybedevelopedwithpractice,as
IhavelearnedthroughoutmysemesterinWriting104.Inordertomeetthedemandsofthe
course,Ihadtolearntomoreeffectivelyapplynumerousdifferentwritingstylesandtechniques,
andalsorelaywhatIhadlearnedinordertohelpmyclassmatesduringworkshop.Overall,this
helpedmetodevelopwritingskillsthatIhadnotusedmuchbefore,anddiscoverhowtoconvey
mythoughtsclearlyusingbothwritingandspeech.
Ifoundthistobeespeciallytruewhileputtingtogethermymemoir.Overthecourseof
thewritingprocess,Icreatedaboutsixdraftsofit.Insomeofthesecopies,simpleerrorswere
fixed,whileothersfocusedonrestructuringthepiecetoaddmeaningorcreateaclearersenseof
purpose.Forexample,Istruggledquiteabitwithcompletelyremovingthereflectiveparagraphs
thataccumulatedtowardtheendofmypiece.Iusedthisportionofthememoirinorderto
explainthesignificancethatthesubwaytriphadonmylife,andthereforewasapprehensive
aboutdeletingthementirely.However,mypeers(TylerGirard,MarissaMello,GarrettHopkins)
andMs.Kusinitzallexplainedthatthisreflectivesectiononlyhurtmymemoir,andupsetthe
flow.So,Iworkedupthecouragetocutthisportionoutcompletely,andcreatedamore
narrativeendingtomypiece.Indoingso,IreplacedphrasessuchasIcherishedthismemory...

and...Idecidedtopursuewithamuchmoreinterestinglookintothethoughtprocessthat
broughtmetotheseconclusions(Paolo3).Theresultisatrulyengagingending,inwhichthe
readerisabletostayinthemomentwithmeandexperiencemyfeelings,withoutmespecifically
tellingthemwhatthosefeelingswere.
However,IwouldneverhavehadthegutstocutwithoutreceivingthefeedbackthatI
didfrommypeers.Theharsherthecommentary,thebetterIwasabletounderstandthatmy
pieceneededrestructuring,andpinpointtheplaceswhichweremostconfusing.Thismademe
wanttodothesameformyfellowwriters,asIhadgiventhemhorriblefeedbackthefirsttimeI
readtheirpieces.Iwasoftentooafraidtopointouterrors,andifIdid,theyweremainly
grammatical,whichwereobviouslynotareasofmajorconcern.So,afterIdiscoveredthatmy
feedbackneededtobebetter,Istartedtolookateachpieceasawhole.Igavemoreadviceon
howmypeersshouldrevisitstructure,wheretoaddcharacterinteraction,andwhatseemedtoo
reflective.Now,IcanseethatwhatIsaidmusthavehadanimpact,becausemanywritersdid
restructuretheirpieces,andemploymanymorenarrativetechniques.Theyarehappierwiththeir
pieces,andIamgladthatIwasabletogivemoreeffectiveadvice,ratherthaninsertcomma
here.
AnotheraspectofthewritingprocessthatIoftenstruggledwithwaschangingmystyle
inordertomeettheneedsoftherhetoricalsituation.Mystrengthslieinnarrativewriting,which
usuallydoesnotrequiremuchresearchinordertobeeffective.Assuch,theproposaland
rhetoricalanalysispieceswerequitedifficult,becausetheyrequiredmetocreatethoughtful
claimsfullysupportedbystrongevidence.Findingthisevidence,andthenembeddingitintomy
essaysinamannerthatwaseasytofollowprovedtobeachallenge.Myproposalpiecefor

exampleneededtobecompletelyrewritten,asitlackedanyspecificstudiestosupportthe
claimsthatIhadmade.Duringmyrevisions,Imadesuretodetailthefindingsofagreat
experimentconductedinSlovenia,andalsotodefinewhatIhadtocalledinquirybased
teaching(Paolo24).Ifollowedasimilarmethodwhenwritingotheressays,andhavesince
learnedtheimportanceofcitingrelevantevidenceinclaimdependantpieces.
Thewayinwhichrelevantinformationisdeliveredtotheaudienceisalsosomethingthat
isveryimportanttoconsider.BeforemysemesterinWriting104,Ihadrarelyappliedthis
knowledgetomediumsofcommunicationotherthanwriting.Unlikeessays,videoprojects
requiretheimplementationofvariousvisualandaudiotechniquesinordertodeliveraclear,
sophisticatedmessageandsupportinginformation.Thedigitalprofilepiecetrulytestedmy
skills,andunfortunately,theresultwaslessthanstellar.Infact,oneofthebiggestdownfallsof
mypiecewasthemannerinwhichInarratedcertainsections.Iwasafraidthattheseportions
wouldbeboringforthelistener,soImadetheriskydecisiontospeakinaBritishaccent.This
onlytookawayfrommypiece,asitwasdistractingandirrelevanttothesubjectofthevideo
(Paolo2016).Ms.Kusinitzhelpedmetounderstandthis,andIkeptthelessoninmindwhilst
completingotherprojects.Asaresult,thevoicethatIusedwithinmyessayswasconsidered
muchmoreoften.Thisprovedextremelyhelpfulwhilerevisingmyrhetoricalanalysis,which
neededamoreprofessionaltonethanIhadoriginallyused.However,Iwouldhaveneverbeen
abletoapplythisskilltomywritingifIhadnotstruggledtoapplyitfirstinvideoformat.
Allinall,thecreationofthisportfolioandthestepsinvolvedhavehelpedmetobecome
abetter,morewellroundedwriter.Inowunderstandwhatmakesforeffectivecommunicationin
avarietyofformats,andcanapplythisknowledgewhenwritingfuturepapers,orhelpingmy

peers.Beingexposedtosomanydifferenttypesofwritingandpeerreviewhasbeenincredibly
helpful,andhasleftmefeelingpreparedtocommunicatecomfortablyinmanydifferent
situations.