Sarah Wagner

UWrite 1103
7 December 2014
Reflective Essay
I came into UWrite 1103 with a skill set that reflected the bare minimum. I knew how to write
under a time limit and how to pretend like I knew what I was talking about, but thats about it. The idea
of planning before you write seemed unimportant to any writing that wasnt research based. In debate I
had set up outlines, but I didnt think to apply that to a writing class. When I was asked what my writing
process was, my answer was that I didnt have one. Now, four months later, I can say that I do have a
writing process, and it works wonders for me. When given a topic, I brainstorm about it, a combination
of an outline and a timed-write. The 70 minute write assigned in preparation for the learning narrative
showed me how much easier it is to write after you have thought about the subject already. The effects
of the timed-write showed in the narrative, it was organized and detailed. By having a skeleton of a
paper already, my job becomes adding details and revising instead of simply writing the plot. In papers
where I didnt plan beforehand, my writing fell short, such as in the midterm portfolio. Tasked with a
reflection, I didnt think to prepare. It shows by my lack of details and examples throughout the paper. I
didnt dig deep into my past works, I only scratched the surface of the paper. I failed to do another part
of my writing process with the midterm reflection and revise it. If I had taken the time and re-read the
paper, I wouldve caught the mistakes that I made. Throughout the semester, Ive started to revise my
work more, whether its reading through it for grammatical mistakes, or searching to make sure Ive met
specific goals. To help with revision, Ive started writing my papers in one sitting so when I go back to the
work, its to read over it as opposed to finishing it. My writing process has developed from being
apathetic to taking steps to make sure my writing is coherent and comes across how I want it to.
The projects this semester have shown to me what my strengths and weaknesses are. Luckily,
Ive been able to work on my weakness as time continued. I started off not being able to write a whole
paper at once, Id get stuck and give up. This led to choppiness in my papers, a schism between where
Id written previously and where I had picked it up again later. I forced myself to write until it was done,
letting continuous writing become a habit. I also learned that sometimes I beat around the bush in my
papers, such as in the midterm reflection. I was saying things, but nothing of importance. I wasnt saying
what I wanted to, and I didnt know how to say it. With planning, I have the opportunity to decide what
it is that I have to say, instead of being unprepared and just filling space. Also, Ive become aware that I
often either have run-on sentences or my sentences are too short and end abruptly, especially at the
beginning of a paragraph. Some examples of short and uncomfortable sentences are from the food
project, The food we eat impacts our lives in many ways, and the midterm reflection, My first paper
was the altered book paper. While Ive become aware of my weakness, my strengths have also started
becoming noticeable as well. I take a lot of care with my writing, paying attention to word choice and
sentence structure. I make sure not to be repetitive, both with words and how I phrase my sentences.
Throughout the semester, Ive always looked up synonyms that I could use that still get the same
message across. The only paper with repetition was the learning narrative, which I purposely did to
maintain the theme of how comfortable I was with myself. I also pride myself on having my paper read
easily, which I first saw in the Altered Book paper. The paper had a casual feel to it, yet it maintained
professionalism. The food project didnt have a personal feel to it, but the sentences flowed smoothly

into each other, being connected by analysis and summaries. When re-reading work from this year, I
never felt as if anything was a struggle to read through. Another strength, Im passionate about my
writing and it shows. Seen in the Altered Book paper and the learning narrative, while writing about a
topic I care about, my writing is descriptive and enjoyable to read. I take pleasure in writing, especially
when it tells a story.
I didnt realize how much writing meant to me until this semester. Each project showed me a
different thing I appreciate about writing. The Altered Book was a good introduction into writing, the
assignment wasnt overwhelming and made writing friendly for me. It gave me a chance to examine my
writing process and changed my views on what I thought writing was. It was the first chance I had to
bring my writing to life. I thought about the purpose behind my writing, which was to show myself to
the class. It gave me a chance to share my view, something I hadnt been able to do in a writing class
before. With the learning narrative, I learned that theres more to writing than just an essay. It taught
me that writing can be beautiful; it can tell a story and it can have emotions. Writing became a medium
to make people feel something and understand something. Then the midterm reflection turned writing
into a learning experience in itself, learning about how you write and evaluating yourself. By giving
myself goals, I realized that I wanted to be a better writer and I took the steps to get there. The project
showed me that I can use writing to organize myself and it put my work into perspective. The food
project was a form of writing that I was familiar with. Id written research papers in the form of debate
cases many times. Writing became a means of sharing information and teaching others. By researching
and writing about a topic, you become informed about something new. Writing became a means of
learning with the food project. This semester has changed what writing means to me. Ive discovered
that it can connect people across the world, it can be an outlet in a therapeutic way, it can be used to
show your point of view (and Ive learned the proper way to do so, with emotions and your own words
as opposed to simply using other peoples research to back up your points), and it comes in many forms.
While I was only familiar with the five-paragraph essay structure, Ive learned how to organize my
papers how I really like them, how it makes sense to me, From narratives telling a story to poetry to
making a website, theres countless options to construct your writing into. Writing became so much
more to me.
I gave myself three goals for the semester: to do more revision, to become fluent in different
styles of writing, and to not shut down while writing. With the papers that I didnt revise, my writing
wasnt as good. The prime example of this is the midterm reflection, my most poorly-written paper. I
wrote quickly and turned it in without a second thought. I lacked specificity and didnt provide examples
of my work, which was one of the requirements. I stated that I enjoyed the structure of the learning
narrative, but did not explain what the structure was. I noted that the 70 minute timed-write developed
my thoughts fully, but did not give examples of what made a full thought, or even any example from
the timed-write. With papers that I did revise, such as the food project, my sentences are fully
developed and cover everything I wanted to say. I made sure that the quotes flowed smoothly into my
analysis and commentary, using sources to back up my claims. For example, and 90 percent of egglaying hens are kept in battery cages which are as little as 0.6 square feet per hen, less than a regular
sized sheet of paper. With the animals this close together, diseases are easily spread. Its clear that
factory farming is not good for the meat we eat. I started with a fact and then explained what it meant.
Revising made all the difference between the two papers. As for becoming familiar with different forms
of writing, I developed that throughout the semester. It started with the Altered Book allowing me to

write freely without the five-paragraph essay format. I discovered my own organization preferences for
my writing. The narrative was a fun experience for me, playing with the format of my writing even more.
We told a story through several smaller stories, linking them together with a common theme, mine
being feeling alone. The narrative showed me that writing comes in even more forms than I had thought
and I was, and still am, curious to learn more ways to express myself. I didnt learn much from the style
of the research paper, as Id written them before. However, putting my work onto a website was
interesting. With us being in a technological age, learning to share information via websites is very
important. It allowed me more organization and showed me that writing doesnt even have to come in
the form of a paper. I will continue to strive towards this goal as my colligate career continues. I am
taking a poetry writing class next semester to learn even more about expressing yourself through
different mediums. Finally, my third goal was to not shut down while writing. I had this problem during
the Altered Book, Id write a paragraph or so and then not touch the essay for days. While writing my
first draft of the learning narrative, I struggled severely with this problem and it showed through my
apathetic story about learning to ride a bike. I learned that writing about a topic Im passionate about or
interested in will change my ability to write the paper at once. I was able to write through the midterm
reflection because I was sharing my opinion on my previous works. Throughout the semester, I forced
myself to sit down and not get up until the paper is done (bathroom breaks excluded). What opened my
eyes to the importance of writing continuously was the 70 minute timed-write. I realized that I do have
the capability of writing for such a long period of time and I applied this to the rest of my papers. Im
proud to say that Ive met my goals.
Each project showed me a new skill which I was able to apply to my other works. The Altered
Book made me aware of my audience, which came in handy with the learning narrative. I had to decide
how much of my story I wanted to write about and how much detail I wanted to go into. Because I was
not sharing with the whole class, I was able to be frank and state that I used to hate myself, but because
I was writing for someone else, there were details that I decided not to share. The learning narrative
showed me the importance of planning, which I applied to the food project. Because the stream of
conscience helped me with writing the story, I wrote out my thoughts about the food project. In my
writers notebook, I wrote possible topics and then where I could go with them. Once I chose my topic,
sustainable agriculture, I wrote out what I knew about the topic and what I wanted to know about it.
The midterm reflection was a flop and I learned what I needed to include in my final portfolio to make
this one a success. I took the details from the Altered Book, using examples from my project to explain
what I meant, and applied them to the reflections in the mini-reflections portion of the portfolio. The
midterm reflection only talked about the style of writing that I used without mention of how I chose the
topic or how the projects intertwined. I took note of all the things that I didnt mention and put them
into my final portfolio-my strengths, my weakness, and my writing process. My writing has gotten better
throughout the semester because Ive learned from my successes and my failings.