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Ruby Zhang

Allison Bochino

Writing 2

09 December 2019

Metacognitive Reflection

Transitioning from high school to college-level writing is a huge challenge for students

just entering college. As a first-year student at UCSB, I encountered the same problem.

However, taking the Writing 2 course helped me overcome this challenge and improve my

writing skills in many ways. By taking this course, I am able to improve my reading and writing

skills significantly, gain more knowledge about academic writing, explore the broad definition of

genre and genre conventions, and learn how to reflect on the work I have done.

First, my approach to reading has changed throughout the course. Before taking this

class, I think about reading as only understanding the main ideas of an article and completing my

assignment. However, through taking this course, I learned that reading means more than just

understanding the context. Other than comprehending the ideas the author is trying to explain, I

can also read like a writer to analyze the strategies and writing techniques that the author has

employed and use them in my writing when necessary. Just like Bunn has said in “How to Read

Like a Writer,” “when we read like writers we understand and participate in the writing. We see

the choices the writer has made, and we see how the writer has coped with the consequences of

those choices.”1 With that in mind, I started noticing the writing strategies that other authors have

1
Mike Bunn, “How to Read Like a Writer,” ​Course Reader​, 19.
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used in their articles so I could have the opportunity to apply the techniques to my writing. By

changing the way I think about reading, I can learn more writing techniques from other authors

and improve my writing skills in the future.

Besides changing my approach to reading, I also gained more knowledge about academic

writing by taking this course. For example, I learned how to find scholarly articles from our

library’s database in the library workshop. Knowing how to find peer-reviewed articles provides

me an opportunity to explore the resources we have here on campus and helps me in my future

studies. Moreover, I learned how to write reflections on the assignments I have done and how the

reflections can benefit me in my future writing. I never wrote long reflections before, but after

completing several project reflections, I am familiar with writing reflection. When I was

brainstorming my good and bads on an assignment, I was also learning my weaknesses and

strengths. Recognizing my weaknesses allows me to focus on specific issues and improve my

writing more effectively, which is beneficial for me in future studies.

Not only did I learn the skills I can use in the future, but I also learned more about genres

and genre conventions. By reading Bickmore’s article “Genre in the Wild,” I realized that genres

are defined broader than I thought. According to Bickmore, genres are defined as anything that is

“typified,” “utterance,” and “recurrent.”2 In other words, anything that is representative, that has

some language, and that happens recurrently can be defined as genres. Genres are not only

limited to categories of DVDs such as comedy or horror. They are categories of any form of

writing that is common and characteristic. In addition, I also learned that each genre has specific

rules and guidelines that tell people what to write and how to write. These guidelines are called

2
Lisa Bickmore, “Genre in the Wild,” ​Course Reader​,
https://openenglishatslcc.pressbooks.com/chapter/genre-in-the-wild-understanding-genre-within-rhetorical-
ecosystems/​.
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genre conventions. Studying genre conventions helped me write more efficiently and showed me

how people in different areas communicate differently through writing.

In addition to the learning throughout the quarter, I also learned more about my writing

styles by revising two of my writing projects: writing project 1 and writing project 2. I chose to

edit these two WPs because they have more space for improvements. I revised them significantly

by changing the organization, content, thesis, and mechanics.

Writing project 1 is the one that I altered the most. I changed the structure of my WP1,

deleted the second to last paragraph because it does not answer the prompt, added more

information in my content, revised my thesis and conclusion, and fixed the mechanical errors.

First, I reorganized the information and divided the information into four big categories relating

to genre conventions: Contents, formats, tone and diction, and constraints. In my unrevised WP1,

I talked about writing the name of the organization and the address in two separate paragraphs.

When I was revising it, I realized that the name of the organization and address are all part of the

contents of flyers, and I could put them together to make my essay more organized. Thus, I

changed the organization of my WP1 and talked about content at the beginning of my essay. I

also deleted the second to last paragraph and added more information in the content section. For

example, I added information about the titles of the flyers and the brief descriptions, and I

explained the information in detail using examples. In addition, I changed the thesis of my WP1

because of the advice from Maddie, a student advisor at the CLAS writing lab. She suggested me

to mention genre conventions in my thesis directly and to separate my thesis into two sentences

since it is so long. Hence, I revised my thesis and talked about genre conventions in it. On top of

that, I also took the advice from Ms. Bocchino and talked about the relationship between the
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function and purpose of a flyer and the genre conventions in my conclusion. Adding this in my

conclusion helped me answer the prompt more clearly. Then, I fixed some grammar errors in my

WP1. I noticed that I tend to use unnecessary words like “the” and “as.” For example, instead of

saying “the best way to spread information is to send out flyers,” I said, “the best way to spread

the information across is to send out flyers.” So, I tried my best to fix all grammar errors in my

essay.

On the other hand, I did not alter as much in my WP2 because there is not as much space

for improvements. However, I corrected my mechanical errors, revised my thesis, and added

more information in the section that talks about the contents. I changed the thesis for WP2

because of Ms. Bocchino’s comment: this is more like a road map compared to a thesis. Thus, I

revised my thesis and talked about the exact differences between the two disciplines. I also

explained the information in the content section in detail and added footnotes when I

summarized the contents from the article. When I was revising the WPs, I received a lot of

feedback from others. The most helpful feedback is mentioning the problems directly, such as

“add example/information here,” “thesis isn’t strong/clear,” or “this is unnecessary.” These

comments help me realize my weaknesses precisely and make it easier for me to revise.

The work in this portfolio demonstrates that I have improved my writing skills and

understood the basics of genres and genre conventions. I am able to write a better thesis to

answer the prompt and include more examples to support my ideas. I am also better at organizing

the information in my essay. Moreover, I learned a lot of skills that I can apply in my future

writing throughout the course. I understood how to analyze the genre conventions for different

genres and recognized the importance of understanding them, and I can use the genre
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conventions to help me write more effectively in the future. I also learned how to find

peer-reviewed articles through the databases, which will benefit my writing throughout college.

Most importantly, I learned how to read like a writer and apply useful techniques in my writing.

Read like a writer is a technique that I can use for the rest of my life to improve my writing.

Overall, I learned a lot from this course. I improved my writing skills, learned to read like

a writer, knew how to reflect on my writings, and examined the different genres and genre

conventions. My portfolio shows my improvements in writing and my understanding of genres. I

will use the skills I learned to help me in my future writings.

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Works Cited

Bickmore, Lisa. “Genre in the Wild.” ​Course Reader,​

https://openenglishatslcc.pressbooks.com/chapter/genre-in-the-wild-understanding-genre-

within-rhetorical-ecosystems/​.

Bunn, Mike. “How to Read Like a Writer.” ​Course Reader,​ 17-24.