Kaileigh Kulp Writer’s Reflection – WRIT 101 12/4/21

What is your biggest strength and biggest weakness?

As a writer I am more comfortable writing scientific/ research pieces. I can still write
argumentative or analytical pieces, but I tend to be most interested in researching a topic and
adding to the discussion of that topic in a meaningful way. One area of weakness that I notice a
lot is in using correct grammar in creative and reflective ways that gets the point across as
efficiently as possible. Sometimes I have sentences that are too long or ramble without
demonstrating my topic.
Where are they demonstrated in your portfolio?
My strength in writing research pieces came particularly helpful in our second writing
project, the research paper. I was able to synthesize my research on microplastics effectively and
contribute to the conversation by even linking the issue to current events and the Covid-19
pandemic. My rhetorical analysis paper sometimes suffered from my writing weaknesses as there
were several sentences that were unclear and rambling which ended up harming the strength of
the piece overall.
What is your best piece? Why?
My best piece this semester was my research paper. This was because I was able to
choose a topic that I was interested in to do more research on, and I was able to use a lot of
logos-based reasoning. I feel most comfortable with logos because it can easily be backed by
research and facts which I had plenty of through doing my research.
What is your weakest and what could you change to make it better?
My weakest paper was our first paper, the rhetorical analysis piece. In this paper I
suffered from several instances of imprecise language, some contradictions, and long sentences.
For this final portfolio I have revised these parts of my paper such that it will be a stronger piece
overall. I chose to use more precise language rather than my previous choice of the words
“header” and “bias” as well as clarified my contradictions and completed some overall editing
while being especially careful to target those longer sentences.
Were there particular revisions/revision exercises that you found the most helpful?
Which ones?
When I revise my writing, I always find it super helpful to do two main things. Firstly, it
is always good to get more eyes on my paper. To do that I will either ask my friends to look at
my paper and make comments on it, or I will have it peer reviewed in class. Secondly, I will
usually copy and paste sections of my paper into google translate and listen to it being read out
loud. This second tactic is especially helpful in finding weird wording and catching where
natural breaks in sentences might be so that I can put the correct punctuation.
Why were they beneficial to your writing?
Having other people benefits my writing by exposing what other people think when they
read my writing and whether it aligns with what I intended. Having more eyes on my paper also
helps to fix grammatical and wording errors. Hearing my paper be read aloud allows me to make
the final necessary changes to grammar and wording so that my writing is as concise as possible.
Were there workshop exercises that were not helpful? Why not?
I don’t usually find it helpful to make outlines or super structured plans before writing
because it generally distracts me from the point of the paper and I end up with a bunch of odd
and off- topic paragraphs or sentences in my writing.
Think about your writing strategy from the start of the course to now
What changed?
In the beginning of the course, I felt a lot of pressure to have a nearly perfect first draft.
This however is not the point of the writing process, and it is often more helpful to have a crazy
and disorganized first draft that gets all the thoughts out in one place. Now when I write a first
draft, I just write everything that I can and treat it more like an “idea dump” so that I can spend
time later refining my ideas and organizing them.
What strategies are you now using that you did not at the start?
I am now looking at my paper piece by piece a bit more than I did in the start of the
semester so I will revise specifically my thesis or specifically my topic sentences of my paper
rather than looking at the whole piece at one time. This really helps me be able to make sure that
everything is cohesive and especially is helpful in making sure my thesis is thoroughly addressed
and discussed in detail.
What strategies are you finding the most helpful in your writing?
Lately it has been super helpful to get more eyes on my piece and get feedback from
multiple peers, friends, and even the writing center as well. This allows me to see how other
people interact with my work so that I know how to make my writing most effective for my
audience.
What does your writing show about you as an author?
My writing this semester shows that I have grown as an author. Previous to this semester
I hadn’t really written essays like this since high school, and I think that a lot has changed about
my writing process over the course of this semester that shows enormous growth in my writing
and as an author in an academic setting.
What do you do well? Or less well?
I do well staying on topic of the piece that I’m writing and making sure that I address my
thesis or explain my thoughts thoroughly; however, there are times where I don’t make the best
choices with wording that lead to confusion with the audience. Most times I can fix this issue by
choosing different terminology and being careful that the connotations of the words I’m
choosing match the meaning I intend for them to have.
What kinds of writing appeal to you most?
I enjoy reading creative/ dystopian writing, but I most enjoy to write scientific/ research
pieces. I am majoring in Mechanical Engineering, and I have a very logical mindset so I find it
easier to write scientific pieces as they can be easily supported with facts and statistics and logos.
What type of writing do you struggle with or dislike? Why?
I generally struggle the most with creative writing because I don’t feel like I’m a very
creative person and I really struggle to come up with unique characters and storylines. In this
class I think I most struggled with the rhetorical analysis because it can be difficult at times to
identify what an author is doing in their writing and then “name” it with the type of rhetorical
device it is.
How has the process of building a portfolio helped you to identify and define your goals?
What do you now want to work on?
Building this portfolio has helped me to identify the aspects of my writing that I do well
as well as the aspects that I could improve upon. My goal is to continue to develop my writing
skills, but to specifically focus on my scientific/ engineering writing as that is the type of writing
I will most likely be doing the most in my career. To achieve this, I would like to get better with
using grammar effectively and writing from an unbiased and concise perspective.