Goode 1 Noah Goode ENGL 112-24 Professor Ingram 3 December 2012 A Reflection Throughout this semester I have been

challenged to expand my writing past the basic five paragraph essay into inquiry-based essays. This has proven beneficial to my academic performance. Since I am a history major, inquiry based writing comprises the majority of work that I am required to do. Participating in class and completing the assigned work has sharpened this skill to the point that I feel comfortable writing inquisitive papers. In exercises like the Whats It Like To Be You? essay, I had to move past my comfort zone, being academic research papers, into a more intimate, personal area of work. The three-sided exercise showed me a new way to develop key points and organization within a bigger research paper. The final research paper gave me an opportunity to do research in a field that I was unfamiliar with. Every assignment that I have completed in this course helped me to step outside my comfort zone, and as a result, grow as a writer. I think that the assignment I enjoyed the most was the Whats It Like To Be You? essay, so it is the first completed work I show on my e-portfolio. It was interesting for me to write about such personal details of my life in an academic setting. Since I love talking about myself so much, this didnt come too hard for me, but it was still a far cry from the types of papers that I am used to writing. I also thought that it was an interesting question. Even though Im totally self-centered and sometimes egotistical, I had never really asked myself the question, What makes me, me?. The answer I gave in my essay sums it up best, Im made of

Goode 2 compulsions. Most of the papers I write for school have a very deliberately detached tone, so for me to not only insert my ego into the paper, but to entirely write a paper about myself, was something totally new for me. Next came the annotated bibliography. The timing of this assignment was kind of funny, as I had a more thorough bibliography assigned for my history seminar the following week. This assignment helped out my researching abilities by showing me not just how to write an annotated bibliography, but why I should write one. It made me actually read through the sources I used, and not just briefly search them for quotes. I cant tell you how many times I referred back to my bibliography during the writing of my paper. It was enormously helpful, and really gave me a new outlook on the entire research process. Once I reached the three-sided assignment, I felt a little more at home. Initially, it was a little difficult for me to complete the assignment without making it an essay, with an introduction, thesis, and conclusion. After getting over my initial difficulties, I began to understand the assignment more thoroughly. It really helped me to better form concise arguments within a larger research paper. Writing whole paragraphs using my research without worrying about segues or transitions gave me an opportunity to focus all of my energy on building arguments from three different points of view, which in turn, allowed me to form stronger points and body paragraphs within my final research paper. This introduced me to a writing process that was much unlike my wait until the night before to write anything method of writing. While different, I believe that this assignment really helped me to understand the importance of planning the arguments in any piece of writing I produce. It certainly prepared me for our final research paper. By the time I started on my research paper, I had tried so many new things, that it felt

Goode 3 nice to get back to an area that I was familiar with. Unfortunately, the majority of papers I had written prior to this had been on things that happened many years ago, and not on a modern-day issue that is considered slightly controversial. This presented a new challenge for me. I also felt out of my element talking about neuroscience and Jungian psychology. However, through my research, I learned a few things about both areas. Expanding my academic horizons into areas outside of the humanities enabled me to write a much different kind of paper. I had never used scientific studies, Ph.D. dissertations, or medical experiments as evidence for my arguments in writing. I was accustomed to using numbers as evidence, so it wasnt so foreign, but searching medical databases and psychological journals was something fresh and new to me. The difficulty I faced throughout was writing about the spiritual benefits of meditation. Spirituality cannot be expressed as empirical data, which caused me to be slightly uncomfortable including it in an academic paper. However, after reading academic books written by individuals involved in academia on the subject, I began to feel a little more comfortable with that aspect of my paper. I still do not feel like my arguments and evidence support that point as much as my other points, and I wish I would have been able to find a way to better explain the spiritual aspects of meditation. This feeling could be a result of the same skepticism I had about including it in my writing to begin with. Throughout all of the assignments, my blog posts made my progress very clear to me. My blog posts detail my research process from beginning to end. Looking through them now, I can see my questions arising and subsequently being answered through the writing process. I think that these are a crucial part of my portfolio as they show the personal struggles and questions I have encountered throughout this process. Mr. David Mark Seidels visit to our class helped me with my research a great deal. Prior

Goode 4 to his visit, and reading his book, I was a little apprehensive about making my topic meditation. As I said earlier, even though I myself had felt beneficial effects from practicing meditation, I was afraid that such a topic might be too abstract to write a formal research paper on. However, after reading his book and talking with him, I felt more confident with my choice. Seeing how he linked his meditative practices with diet and lifestyle choices in conjunction with overall health made me feel like the topic of meditation has a significant place in a discussion of what healthy living really means. If there is one thing that this class has changed more than anything else, it is my opinion of the definition of academic writing. Prior to this class, I assumed that academic writing was formal research papers, with citations and a bibliography, that had a thesis sentence and supporting paragraphs. I thought that academic writing should be free of my personal experience, and only include statements concerning the facts I had discovered throughout my research. I believed that using I statements damaged the formality and validity of my arguments and that any subjects based on my own life could not, or should not, be considered academic. After completing the assignments required by this class, my definition of academic writing has changed drastically. No longer do I see I as a dirty word. The reader is expecting to see my opinion in my paper. Im not writing diagnostic or statistical manuals, Im writing argumentative research papers. This, while still new to me, has given me a clearer motive for writing. I found that academic writing is not always strictly concerned with dates, numbers, and accepted facts; that personal experiences and individual testimonials do have a place in academic writing. My process of writing as a whole has greatly changed as well. I now understand the importance of an outline, and an annotated bibliography. I saw firsthand the benefits of proper

Goode 5 planning before execution of writing. When I started writing my final paper, after the aforementioned assignments, I didnt have that overwhelming feeling I used to have when starting papers. While I still feel like I could be better at writing introductions and conclusions, I think my writing abilities have improved greatly as a direct result of the assignments I have completed in class. Im happy with my portfolio, as it details my writing process from planning to execution. The flow of my assignments on my web site chronicles the progression of my research and I think that the growth I have experienced as a writer is displayed very plainly. I feel like I was better prepared for the class than I had anticipated. With ours being an 8 AM class, I also did not expect to participate as much as I have. I initially felt that the topic of health was boring, and that I would not find much interest in the class. However, as the class progressed, I found that I was interested in the things we were talking about. I found that in many ways, writing is important to me, and although I am a smoker, so is health. When I first saw the cover of Peace, Butter, and Jelly, I immediately decided that it was a ridiculous book that did not warrant the time I would spend to read it. After reading it, I realized that not only did it have information pertinent to my topic of meditation, but that I could relate to what Mr. Seidel was saying. I found that if I tried to be open-minded, and became willing to give these things a chance, that I could really get a lot out of our class. So I did. Before discussing what grade I believe that I earned, I think it is important to explain what I think each grade means. I think that a D means missing assignments, incomplete work, sporadic attendance, and lack of participation. I believe that a C is completely average in every way, be it in quality of work, or participation. A B to me is doing better than average, but still nothing exemplary. For me, an A means turning in all required work, and turning in work that I

Goode 6 feel pride in. It means participating in class, and thinking critically about the concepts we discuss. It means stepping out of ones comfort zone and asking questions. By this rubric, I feel that I have earned an A in this class. I have turned in all required work, attended every class with the exception of one, and I can honestly say that I personally put more effort into our class than any English class I have ever taken. I believe that I have used critical thinking, conducted informed research, and I think that the pieces I have submitted for grading have been of a quality that is on par with what has been asked of me. I know that I still have work to do as a writer, and that there will always be room for improvement. That being said, I feel like I have really grown as a writer as a result of this class, and the methods we have used will stay with me throughout my academic career.