Course Reflection
I started this course not knowing what it was really about, what about English would it teach me. I already had so many unanswered questions that I had started to build up through out the years, not knowing that they were being accumulated in the back of my mind. This course started by addressing these questions and breaking misconceptions, letting me question my previous knowledge about English and accommodating it to me as a writer. In class we got to know each other by working in groups and discussing different topics about English, this made it a dynamic journey we were all discovering together. The collaboration aspect of the course took me by surprise as I thought we would be working individually, but it worked so well, students would raise questions that I would’ve never thought about, so, to be able to see different perspectives opened up my mind a lot. My objective at the end of a semester long course is to close the chapter with at least one new bit of knowledge that I take with me, if so, I consider it a success. ENC has allowed me to do this as a writer, questioning and incorporating rhetorical and writing skills so that I can make the best rhetorical decisions in my future compositions.
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The course was divided into 3 units, beginning with unit 1 called “seeking better ideas about writing and rhetoric”. During this stage we had to come up with questions and curiosities about writing, the topic was introduced by reading different sources such as “Bad ideas about writing” and “What is ‘academic’ writing” by L. Lennie Irvin. Letting go of all the myths that I had been taught throughout the years felt so liberating. I looked at it with a critical eye to see what I actually wanted to carry with me and which myths I wanted to discard. I then posed a question for my project 1, a question that I’ve been asking myself for years but that I had never addressed, “Why is it so hard to start writing?”. I read and watched sources that referred to the matter and then put my own thoughts into an exploratory text. The essay mostly questioned the claim but also gave me closure about how I could improve this problem I’ve always had when writing.
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Unit 2, called “Making claims about writing” was a lot more about reading and interpreting the author’s composition. Other than the textbook, we read sources such as “What does the professor want” by Amy Guptill, “How to read like a writer” by Mike Bunn, and “Weaving personal experience into academic writing” by Marjorie Stewart. These texts gave me a critical eye as to what the author really means, reading both the explicit and implicit content. It was fascinating to see how the authors manipulated their text depending on their purpose, audience, and genre. This makes me think out of the box and see how broad my selection of rhetorical choices really is. It was now time to incorporate everything I had learned from the sources. I wrote four claims about writing, they address areas of rhetoric that are relevant to me.
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First, I wrote “Storytelling is favorable no matter the purpose or genre”, I used this claim to highlight the benefits of incorporating personal experiences into writing. Then I bounced back to my unit 1 topic and expanded on the subject by claiming “Confidence and writing. Do they go hand in hand?” To me this was a more personal and sensitive claim as I feel very close to the “confidence when writing” problematic, it allowed me to express myself and find a way to deal with it. After doing peer reviews and reading other students’ work, I felt inspired to write “Revision takes your paper from good to great”. To me this is a serious matter that all writers should incorporate in their writing process, so I felt inclined to give it the importance it deserves through a claim. Finally, my last claim is called “It benefits you greatly to follow a guide when writing a job application letter” this topic leans more towards my present situation in college, a student trying to find a job and willing to use my writing skills to have a better chance at it. This last claim reinforces the fact that writing is used for everything, not just to write essays or texts for college but also for things like emails, reports, reflections, application letters, etc.
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As I approach unit 3, it is time to show you what I am talking about, what I have done through out ENC 1101. This web page will guide you through my different compositions, giving you a view into the journey I embraced in this course. In conclusion, I can proudly say that I have gained confidence in writing and that I have grown significantly as an author. I feel very confident and enthusiastic to go into ENC 1102 and keep developing my “writer side”. I can assure you, this class has given me several take aways and therefore I consider it a success.
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Seeking better ideas about writing and rhetoric
Unit 1
Why is it so hard to start writing?
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I am already overthinking this,
how to start this exploratory text,
how to begin this paragraph.
I need that first impulse and inspiration that gets this essay going, I need the voice inside my head to tell me what a good topic sentence would be. Now I’m thinking if maybe I chose this topic as a way to evade that first sentence, as if it were justifying the dilemma.
Beginning an essay can be hard because of several reasons such as lack of inspiration, confidence, knowledge, focus or just simply putting too much pressure on yourself.
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The problem is not coming up with the content for the introduction, but the way its worded. The first sentence never comes naturally. It is easier said than done. There is an enormous amount of pressure when splashing a piece of paper with that initial timid ink. It seems so permanent. Not to mention the first step of spilling your thought onto a computer as it is so easy to press the back-space button and restart. Alex Borowitz produced a video called “Le Processus D'ecriture” in which he shows his daily routine; he wakes up gets dressed and sits at his desk when realizing he has a paper due in an hour and a half. He expresses an immediate frustration as he frantically types whatever comes to mind, seeing himself in this never-ending loop of producing and erasing. Frustrated writers can empathize with him as the beginning of a writing process usually looks like what he portrayed in the video.
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Some people say to just spill your thoughts onto the paper no matter what it is that you are thinking, Richard Marius writes a text about tips and strategies to follow when writing a first draft, he says “Sit down and write. And write, and write, and write.” To him it is crucial to produce, no matter the quality or organization of the initial composition. This strategy definitely gets you going but does it satisfy you to be writing a bad quality first draft, does the quality of the writing affect the rest of the paper? Feeling good about what you are writing, being confident in your words may boost the creativity and the overall outcome of the final composition.
Lack of confidence and focus may lead the writer to constantly erase what they just wrote, leading them to get stuck on that initial step to writing a successful essay. After getting stuck a couple of times, frustration starts kicking in and it becomes harder and harder to get out of that writing quicksand. How can this be prevented from happening in the first place?
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Writing an outline and organizing thoughts before beginning an essay is beneficial. But it is hard to know how to get somewhere until that somewhere is known. If an outline is not done, it might be harder to approach that piece of paper and start writing since the content and direction of the composition in unknown. The outline can be used as a tool that allows the writer to understand the main points in their text and also develop an introduction and conclusion that ties all of these ideas together. But beyond an outline, what else can an unexperienced writer do?
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So, I anxiously ask myself:
How can I stop falling into this tense hole every time I have to begin a composition?
Why do I put so much pressure on that first sentence?
Does it have to be as perfect as I aspire it to be?
What is the value of this first impression and why does it have the strong title of “topic sentence”?
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I would like to finally deal with this predicament of mine and be able to confidently start writing essays.
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Making claims about writing
Unit 2
CLAIM 1
Storytelling is favorable no matter the purpose or genre
CLAIM 2
Confidence and writing. Do they go hand in hand?
CLAIM 3
Revision takes your paper from good to great
CLAIM 4
It benefits you greatly to follow a guide when writing a job application letter
More about me as a writer
I am an architecture student at Florida International University. I find myself constantly using writing to express my concepts and ideas about my projects. Here are some examples of what i sumarized about each project to showcase in my architecture portfolio.
Pier
Located in South Pointe Park, Miami; a parasite-like structure takes over the original pier. It attempts to capture the flows of energy in the site established as sun, wind, waves and marine life. Its complex skin which originates from the voronoi pattern found in the seagrape leaf, adapts to each energy hub as to reach individual full potential.
Post office + Youth center
The building contains both a post office and a youth center. The ground floor offers a large space back to the community as it is an open public plaza. The above floors correspond to the youth center while the top floor is mainly for the post office.
The youth center is articulated by ramps which allow the user to explore the building while transitioning floors. The ramps create specific perspectives as to view spaces and scenes from different angles.
The building has a steel envelope that protects the interior from the sun. The permeability of the facade depends on the function of the space directly adhered to it. This creates an analogous relationship between the interior and exterior of the building.