Anthony Grant

Mrs. Olivia Rines

UWRIT 1101
8 April 2015
Reflection of writing during spring 2015
This paper is to define my experience during university writing program 1101 during the
spring 2015 semester. Going into the course, I was assuming that I would not enjoy the class
very much due to my lack of writing a formal graded paper in more than ten years. I can say
now that I enjoyed the experience received from participating in this course. After writing some

Commented [1]:
I thought this sentence was worded funny. I understood
what you were trying to say but it would be easier for
the reader if you reworded it.

eighteen daybook entries, a genre analysis, micro-ethnography, and many discussions I feel that
the class offered me plenty of time to gain experience and confidence in my writing while
improving my writing at the same time.
Daybook entries were an interesting facet of the writing class. I do not believe that the

Commented [2]:
I felt that this was truly a strong introduction to the
paper. If you reword that sentence from earlier, this
paragraph is flawless!

daybook entries themselves improved my writing since they were not viewed or critiqued during
the course, however, I believe that it shows a progression of thought that grew during the
semester. During the first few entries, I was very stiff in writing, as seen in the portfolio, but
through the semester I began being able to allow thoughts to flow more freely onto paper. I did
enjoy having a random topic to write on at the beginning of classes to get my mind ready to
tackle a period of writing that was about to occur.
Discussion forums were not my favorite part of the class. Even though I am aware that
the forums were a necessary evil to make sure that I and my fellow classmates read assigned
materials, I believe that they were sometimes just a pushed thought struggling to reach the
almighty 300 word count and then the dreaded 100 words to elaborate again with another

Commented [3]:
Try *I was able maybe?

classmates post. I struggled to be able to relate to the readings enough to get a good amount of
information out during these forums and even more so to find a classmate to talk to in their post.
The genre analysis was a daunting assignment for me. I began at a very elementary
writing style when first pushing out my first and second drafts of that particular assignment. I
enjoyed however the feedback that I received from the professor that was able to show me things
that I was leaving out in my writing. That one draft that was returned with so much useful
information about where I was going wrong with my first writing was invaluable. After that
draft I was able to start to have a template to work with when completing other assignments, be it

Commented [4]:
You should reword this sentence, it was quite
confusing for me.

the micro-ethnography or other classes all together. I am still struggling now however putting
into words the frameworks that the genre uses. I have reviewed the readings a few times, but
still am not sure if I am able to convey the message well, since I thought I covered it well the
first time I had written the draft.
This also led to one of my biggest successes, after receiving the review I was able to see

Commented [5]:
This paragraph was very strong. I do think you can add
to it some more, perhaps talk about the genre analysis
process some more. (Genre proposal, etc.)

what a true peer review should look like. I was able to improve exponentially my next review
session that was during the micro-ethnography because I could now see what other people would
see in my writing as well as what to try to see in theirs.
This leads me into my micro-ethnography, I went into this assignment feeling quite
confident that I could at least write a draft that would make sense now. After my peer review, I

Commented [6]:
I would give a brief explanation of the project.

had very few points to build on, however I was able to take a step back and remember some of
the things that I was critiqued on after the genre analysis and almost fully revamp my draft.
Upon receiving a grade for the draft, I was happy to see that I have indeed been learning and am

Commented [7]:

beginning to be able to implement tools that I have learned so far.

Commented [8]:
.

Thankfully the different investigative requirements for this assignment were not to

Commented [9]:
too*

difficult. I do have some experience interviewing people, but the field notes I did not fully grasp
and do not think they helped much in the overall writing process. I do wish that the field notes
were covered a lot better in the future so that they would prove to be more valuable than mine
did at this point.
For my final portfolio I have chosen certain writing from my daybook and forums to
show a progression of thought and an increasing ability to convey messages easier. For each
writing, you will see them starting with a more elementary writing style and slowing increasing
to a more informed and better laid out presentation of my thoughts. As I have said previously I
was not a fan of the forum posts, but have tried to show my progression in discussing the
different readings. I have also included drafts from both my genre analysis and microethnography and they clearly show a progression in my writing style. Looking at the comments
that I have received after the final draft of genre analysis and then the micro-ethnography paper
from the professor do show that I have been able to correct most issues from the first paper into
the second.

*I enjoyed reading your final reflection. We have some similarities with our thoughts of this
class. I am glad that you have improved in your writing in some sort of way. Especially since
you said you have not written at this level in over ten years. You did a great job at answering
each question in the assignment, but I do feel like you were a tad brief. To get to the word count
I would go back to some of your shorter paragraphs and just expand on what you wrote down.
You had great transitions throughout your paper, which is what I think is the strong point of this
paper. Despite my multiple negative comments, your paper was excellent. I tried to balance the

Commented [10]:
Excellent conclusion, and great way to answer the
questions from the assignment!

comments between positive and negative but if it seems to be more negative comments, my
apologies. I hope my feedback gives you a better understanding on what to do for your next
draft.