Petersen 1

Emmi Petersen
De Piero
Writing 2
5 June 2015
Farewell, Writing 2 (and ZDP)
As the two-and-a-half-month-long journey through Writing 2 quickly progressed, I found
myself thinking about writing in ways which had never previously crossed my mind. I developed
a passion for the writing process that I believe became more and more apparent in my writing as
I learned and implemented new techniques to strengthen my essays. These techniques include the
use of stylized languagemy almost casual and conversational way of speaking to an academic
audience, the use of dashes to include thoughts that may have otherwise seemed irrelevant or out
of place, and the desire to take risks and hope that my audience appreciates the consequential
effects. While these concepts may have still played a role in my prior writing experiences, this
class encouraged me to actually think about them as important aspects of my writing. Now, when
I write, I do not write aimlessly and carelessly; instead, I have clear and directed intentions, and I
am able to think about how my writing will appear to a reader as opposed to simply how it
sounds in my head. I now think about the potential thought processes and reactions of my readers
and the efficiency of the paper in producing the desired response.
From writing project to writing project, I found myself developing more competent
writing processes, which I hope, in turn, bettered the final outcome. On my first writing project, I
began simply by writing an introduction and permanent thesis and following it with body
paragraphs composed of the central ideas I wanted to discuss. As a result, my thesis and overall
argument in Writing Project 1 struggled. I found myself adding seemingly irrelevant information

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to the end of my thesis statement in order to make an attempt at including all aspects of my essay
in it. Needless to say, this made my thesis not only difficult to follow, but also ineffective in
making a strong argument. For the second writing project, I began with only a working thesis,
then moved on to the body paragraphs without completing an introduction. After accomplishing
the main goals of my body, I tailored my thesis to encompass all of the aspects I covered in my
Writing Project 2. This was much more efficient because it pushed me to form a solid argument
and focus primarily on defending that argument, then go back and review it in terms of the body
I had written. I feel as though after having a nearly complete paper helps fuel an enticing
introduction (and conclusion for that matter).
Another part of the writing process that I (unfortunately, inconsistently) improved upon
was beginning to brainstorm, jot down notes, outline, and eventually begin writing the actual
essay more than a day or two prior to its due date. For Writing Project 3, especially, I began at
least a week ahead of time and had a solid grasp on what the project was going to consist of long
before I began writing it. (Disclaimer: I began this particular essay way ahead of time and still
managed to stress about needing to finish it up the day it is due.) This is unimportant, however,
in regards to the big picture; after all, baby steps are vital, and I would say that beginning several
days ahead of time qualifies as a baby step.
One aspect of the course that I felt improved upon my ability to analyze and make use of
other peoples writings was the introduction of the concept of moves, instead of continuing to
focus only on conventions and rhetorical devices. As my knowledge and understanding of the
concept of moves grew, I became more and more drawn into the idea that a multitude of
diverse approaches could reflect different views of the same topics. The activity we did entitled
Painting Trees was extremely eye-opening in this manner; the methods in which the differing

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artists depicted the same tree was incredibly intriguing and helped me to realize that right and
wrong do not exist in writing. Each artist had his own take on what the tree appeared to be, and
each did his best to portray this image. Despite the tree have a concrete and (for the sake of this
essay; I am aware that trees grow) unchanging image, the artists interpretations of this tree
varied greatly. This concept can just as easily be applied to writing, and this was evident in our
transformation of a scholarly article into two different genres. I felt as though the application of
Painting Trees was one of the most effective (and most interesting) exercises that we
completed during the quarter.
A major concept that I strengthened my understanding and application of over the quarter
is paying careful attention to who exactly the audience is, which I believe will fuel successful
papers in the future. In turn, this forces me to consider how that audience will respond to a
certain phrase, statement, essay, email, letter, etc. After determining the expected response, it is
imperative to understand why they will respond that way and the overall effect that this response
will elicit. These concepts will increase the effectiveness of a piece of writing because they force
the writing to be geared specifically toward bring about the desired response. Near the beginning
of the course reader, Losh and Alexander declare that, each writing situation has its own
demands, its own expectations, and its own sense of how writing is to be presented (13).
Throughout the quarter, this statement remained not only relevant, but also helpful in each and
every project builder and writing project; it provides a reminder that each piece of writing is
unique in its intents, and must be treated accordingly.
Although I was not crazy about the Process Tips, I was a big fan of the Writing Tips;
I found many of these tricks to be very useful over the course of the quarter. As I mentioned in
the first paragraph, the use of dashes played a large role in developing my writing, increasing its

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clarity and adding style. Another tip I found extremely useful was the insertion of (placeholders)
when I was struggling to finish a sentence or convey an idea; it allowed me to not get too
caught up when I knew what I wanted to say, and I just did not know how to say it.
Like I said from day one, I enjoy writing (although, I will admit I am glad to be finished
with the course, as writing essays was the most time-consuming activity I had to do in terms of
school this quarter). Nonetheless, writing allows the mind to wander and play with words
twisting phrases in an almost artful mannerin ways that other subjects do not. The opportunity
to study writing this quarter helped me understand that this art form changes based on intended
audiences, social settings, and proposed purposes. Even in the academic context that the essays
of this course were written, the act of writing inevitably brings about a creativity, which I
suppose has been known in this course as first order thinking. This creativity is not something
that I get to explore in my other classes (i.e. chemistry, statistics, physics, etc.), so this course
served as a kind of outlet in which I was able to express my imagination and thoughts when I
would not have otherwise been forced to.

That being saidand I hope this, along with the rest of my metacognitive reflection, is
not too informalone of my intentions for this paper is to thank you, ZDP. I thoroughly enjoyed
this course, as well as your often unconventional methods of teaching, elaborating, and frankly,
just keeping things interesting. I wish you the best of luck in your teaching and schooling
endeavors!