Choi 1

Reflective Essay

Throughout this writing course, I was able to look at writing in

new perspectives that challenged my way of writing that I was used to.

The finished product of this class, which includes the portfolio, is

something that I have never been introduced to while attending

university writing classes. The very artistic and creative aspect of this

class stretched my abilities to write and to meet the learning outcomes

for this course.

With the five areas that the learning outcomes focus on, I would

say that I have met with most of the five. For the rhetorical knowledge,

I was able to really distinguish the concepts such as the audience,

context, genre, and discourse community, etc. In my first project, I

analyzed a specific cultural aspect in a country, in which a certain

industry targets a certain audience. I was able to identify the source of

communication the industry used in order to reach the specific

audience. Processes is definitely the main area in which helped with

my overall writing development. The process of revising my drafts

more than once based on feedback from my peers and the instructor is

a good practice that helped me get a different perspective on my

papers, especially for my discourse community project. Getting a

different insight on my paper helped me see what I was missing and

what I could evaluate more on in order for readers to understand and

the relevance to some of my evidences. Knowledge of Conventions is

the area that I was least sure about because I still cannot fully grasp

the concept. I do assume that I have somewhat improved in this area

by thoroughly investing in the discourse community for that project.

The research portion which includes collecting and analyzing

data on a subject to make new meaning, really helped me step out of

my usual way of researching, which is to research online. The initiative

to physically go out and be a part of the community with the motive to

receive certain information really helped with this process. Doing a

survey of asking questions to specific genres of people helped with my

argument for the paper. The secondary research helped me with my

usual way of researching which is still very important in order to

support my argument. Last but not least, for the metacognition area, I

think was a very important process in which helped me be aware of my

own weaknesses and strengths in my writings. Writing cover letters for

all the projects including this current one, helped me organized my

jumbled thoughts and sorted out my strength and weaknesses. By

practicing this, I became fully aware of how unorganized I can be with

my writings and how my language can be opinionated and expressive.

However, with this process of being able to do so, I was able to really

focus on my own thoughts and hear my voice while writing these

projects.
 As I did have limited time for all of the projects, if I had more

time to thoroughly work on each of them, I would start off with diving

into more research/investigations. For the first project, rhetorical

analysis, my topic was on a cultural investigation that resided with out

of the country, in South Korea. Because I could not physically transport

myself to the environment itself, I was only able to find information

from the web. And because I could not go into physical research, I

would invest more time on researching more on my topic of the

Influence of Plastic Surgery in South Korea. Finding more examples,

and going into details with more examples would help illustrate my

argument better. Now that I have edited my final draft with specific

examples that include visual support, it was helpful to illustrate my

statements. With my second project with the discourse community, I

would also like to do more in depth research. The topic was on a

Christian community that is situated in UC Davis and the communitys

way of expressing their religion. Because this topic is more on the

touchy side, I think there would have been more clarity by explaining

the meaning behind their motives and also interesting by including

comparisons. I have excluded the paragraph about the opinions on

drinking alcohol from the community because now looking back at it, I

am not sure why I thought that was relevant to my paper. In general

for both of these projects, I will proceed to organize and construct it

better, as I tend to messy with my thoughts.

 I have been keeping a writing journal as I read the assigned

readings and also wrote class notes down. While looking at some of my

notes I noticed that I would jot down my thoughts on how I agreed and

understood some of the articles that were based on how students

should not be defined by the grades they receive in a subjective

course. Not focusing on the grade that would be received or the

outcome of the paper but rather the process and way of being

expressive being emphasized has helped me prioritize whats

important as an individual writer.

The skills and thinking I have been practicing throughout this

course is to be more flexible with my writing. I have gotten used to the

research paper-style writings that require professional, unbiased,

analytical structures. The process of following the expectations of a

research paper in which I am to only admire and trace ideas from

other texts. Not having the ability to be expressive and free with the

way construct my arguments was always a struggle. However, reading

articles such as Intertextuality and the Discourse Community by

James E. Porter has helped me loosen the grips I had on myself on

borrowing information. Porter states that stressing on the intertextual

nature makes the writer simply a part of a discourse tradition,

member of a team, and a participant in a community of discourse that

creates its own collective meaning. Thus the intertext constraints

writing. (Porter, 397). The writings we create should not be so robotic

and instead, free of being creative and independent. This is a constant

underlying goal I feel that this course tries to convey to the class. The

rough drafts are always asked to be rough, as its called, not focusing

on the details, but the general idea and overall purpose for the paper.

For my future writing assignments, I have decided to not be so

strict on myself with formality, and good it sounds. If I am to really

be invested in my writing, I should show my passion through it by

wording it in my own way as an independent writer. I assume from now

that I wont be doing any research, science-related papers so I am glad

to know that I will be able to be as expressive and liberate as can be.

For future readings, I will now be more aware of not being so critical on

the writers style of writing and their formality, as I would for myself,

and really focus on the main idea of their argument. That I am not a

teacher nor a critique, but a fellow listener who should be open to

different perspectives, as I am in no position to judge or criticize ones

way of expressing their words.

Citations:

Porter, James E. "Intertextuality and the discourse community." Rhetoric Review 5.1
(1986): 34-47.