David Cucinotta

English 15

Metacognitive Essay

Since as long as I can remember, English and writing have never been my best subjects. If

anything, they have been some of my worst subjects. I was fully prepared to be spending hours upon

hours writing and revising paragraph after paragraph just as we have done in every other English class I

had ever taken. It became evident in the first few classes that this “English 15” class wouldn’t be like any

other class I’ve ever taken.

No tests, no quizzes, no studying: something I’m unfamiliar with in a classroom. Adjusting to the

fact that 100% of my final grade would be based on the bodies of work that I created throughout the

semester was hard to do, but I finally grasped what it was we had to do. At first, I thought that this

would make more room to study for my exams in other classes and make my whole first semester easier

than it already could possibly be – I was wrong. The amount of time spent creating paragraph after

paragraph and compiling what needed to be a “solid” and factual piece of writing seemed to last

forever. The time saved by there not being any tests was filled with the time to create writing pieces,

revise the writings, and make sure every credential was met within the writing. Reflecting back on things

learned in this English class is almost impossible because of the immeasurable number of things I had

learned every time our class met.

The introduction of the word “genre” and everything that goes along with it was something I

was not expecting. The idea that this class was based upon two words, “genre” and “rhetoric”, seemed

impossible to me at the introduction to this class, yet at the end of the semester while I am reflecting on
the matter, I realize that this was true. Everything we reviewed, learned, or practiced fell under the

category of genre or rhetoric and really made an original and authentic base English class.

My approach to writing and thinking was greatly affected throughout this course which caused

me to grow as a writer and a thinker. I feel as if I matured in a mental way when it comes to

understanding the process it takes to make creative thoughts and integrating them with different ideas

and meanings. I write more as a fact-filled author than ever before in my life, because if there’s one

thing I learned it is that factual data will get you more credit in almost any piece of writing. Facts back

your writing up and give credit to your work where it is needed. I think more as a “reader” instead of

“my teacher/professor” who is reading my writing. This allows for a calmer and more collected essay

because it relieves some of the stress you put on yourself knowing that a college professor would be

reading something you wrote that needs to be gold and probably isn’t. This helped ease my nerves

during the process of creating a different writing pieces throughout the semester, and hopefully gave

the professor an easier time reading/reviewing all my work.

I believe that a combination of almost everything we learned in English 15 can be used outside

the classroom environment. The concepts, ideas, and vocabulary we learned in this course will be

relevant in almost every writing I create for the rest of my college career, if not for the rest of my life.

Learning how to annotate better helped me create a better mental image of what author’s were trying

to get across in their works and helped teach me how to key in important aspects of writing.

If I were asked to find four quotes which directly apply to this class and link together all the

work, we had done – I’d pick these four quotes:

1. “The foundations of this course are the study of and practice with writing. Our primary goal is to

gain a heightened awareness about the ways in which texts are constructed by writers and

interpreted by readers.” (DePierro – Course Description)

2. “It is important to understand what a piece of rhetoric is asking of you, how it tries to persuade

you, and whether that persuasion fits within the context you encounter it in. Rhetorical analysis

helps you answer those questions.” (Carroll – Backpacks vs Briefcases)

3. “I like to emphasize how second order thinking often brings out people’s worse thinking.”

(Elbow – Teaching Two Kinds of Thinking)

4. “Chances are that I have left you more confused than you were before you began this essay. I

hope that I have left you frustrated; this means that the next time you write, you will have to

consider not only form but also audience, purpose, and genre; you will, in other words, have to

consider the rhetorical effectiveness of your writing.” (Dirk – Navigating Genres)

All of these quotes as well as countless more bring to attention some of the most important

lessons and ideas taught in this course, the values you obtain by allowing yourself to learn how to

follow this set of rules and creates a better understanding of what it is that we should be leaving the

class knowing.

Going from essay to essay, project to project, it became evident that the assigned

reading was meant to be a large part of what it was we were learning at the time. Each reading gave

evidence to back up the topics spoken about in class and furthered the explanation of the topic.

These assigned readings, vocabulary, and key terms all helped pull essays together and proved to

the readers that we knew what it was we were writing about – not just making things up. Bringing

my essays alive by adding words discussed in class and in different reading makes for a more

dynamic essay. It allows others, especially those who were taught about those same words and

exactly what they mean, to understand your wordplay and what it is that you’re trying to get across

to the reader.
 At the end of the semester, reflecting on the previous weeks, it is clear to me that

through this English15 class I became a better writer in almost all aspects. Examples of the exact

“aspects” that I improved in are:

- Understanding how complex the meaning of a “genre” can be.

- Reading, writing, and thinking in a better more professional way than prior

- Formulating essays, outlines, e-mails, and reverse outlines

- Annotating writings

- Differentiating higher and lower orders of thinking

- Creating Annotated Bibliographies

- Comprehend vocabulary relevant to the class

Of course, how many lists end in “etc”, I learned far more than only what was listed. I have a

better thought process in the writing discipline which will surely help me in future projects and

essays. Having been my first semester, this was one of the most fast-paced classes I have taken

in my life. This class made you feel such a sense of relief every time you would get an essay or

project done which persuaded me to finish everything on time in order to feel that sense. I

believe this class has helped me excel in the right direction, and enforced a better

understanding of the English world.

Works Cited;

My Journal

WP! & WP3 handouts and matrix’s

Canvas “Course Description”