Linh Nguyen

Writing 2
03/13/23

Writing 2: A Comprehensive Contemplation

As a college student, I’ve found writing to be a key part of my academic life. In just

about every course, there is some writing involved. And, while they are all different genres of

writing, it is important to strengthen my skills as a writer with techniques that can be applicable

in any situation. Throughout this writing course I’ve grown as a writer through practice. Through

plenty of revising and rewriting, I’ve improved many pieces. In this portfolio I’ve provided some

samples of the works I’ve done in this course in their final form.

As demonstrated in my portfolio works, I think that through this quarter I’ve been able to

grow as a writer. I mostly attribute this to having more writing opportunities. In many other

classes, my writing is judged for content so most of my time is spent on researching and

conveying information. However, throughout this class I have been able to do more writing work

and projects that focus less on content and more on the writing itself. Through revisions and

rewriting, I’ve been able to get a better sense of what I need to improve in each piece. I think that

in this way, I’ve gotten better at revising and proofreading my work. By reading my work as if it

were that of a peer’s I can give myself feedback which I can implement into my own writing.

One reading that specifically has stuck with me throughout this course is Peter Elbow’s

“Teaching Two Kinds of Thinking”. I strongly agree with Elbow’s opinion/idea that there are two

kinds of thinking that are good for different things (Elbow 1986). I believe that knowing that

there are two main types of writing has helped me understand my writing process. Originally, in

a previous reflection, I said that I struggled with free-writing (first order writing) since I am

critical of my work. However I have since discovered that most of my writing essentially starts

with free writing. Even with a starting outline, I, most of the time, write each section unfiltered.

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Keeping this information in mind has really helped me be more aware of how I start writing

projects and it helps me when I feel stumped.

In the beginning of this class, I had limited writing knowledge and experience. I had

written a few essays and research papers before, however as I stated earlier, I hadn’t written

many things with a focus on writing. The focus was always the message that I needed to convey.

However, through this writing course I realized that, by focusing on how I write things and

writing techniques, I can ultimately strengthen the message that I am trying to convey. While I

haven’t had too many opportunities to actualize the things I’ve learned from this class, I’ve

begun to write a term paper for another class and while its format is specific to its discipline, I’ve

found a lot of helpful tips in L. Lennie Irvin’s “What is Academic Writing”. I think it’s an

excellent summary of the skills I need to keep in mind while I write. Like many of the other

readings throughout this course, there’s a clear emphasis in preparing how to convey a message

based on audience, idea, and context (Irvin 2010). These concepts have been so repeatedly

present in many assignments throughout this course that I’ve found myself thinking about them

as I write my term paper.

I think that overall, I have a good sense of tone like knowing the way to write in a way

that “sounds right” especially for different prompts and styles. I felt like this was exemplified in

both writing projects for this course where both involved genre translation (Nguyen 2023a)

(Nguyen 2023b). Although in each reflection I wrote that I was concerned and I struggled with it,

in the end I think I’ve really developed a good way of writing in a certain “voice”. It’s especially

helpful to have references and with that it becomes easier for me to mimic in my own writing.

Right now I find myself struggling to convey my messages and purposes strongly. I do think that

I can convey myself clearly, but when it comes to providing evidence in a compelling way that

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supports my idea well, I often find myself still lacking. This is less present in the writing projects

I’ve done in this class, since, for the most part, the message I was trying to convey was already

pretty clear in the original source material I was translating.

Throughout this course, I do think that I’ve gotten better at the overall “flow” of a writing

piece. This is something that I came into the course intending to work on and by focusing on this

idea when rewriting and revising projects, I found that my writing definitely feels more cohesive

and transitions well. I think, when I look at writing project 2 especially, it definitely sounds like

an actual conversation which was my goal (Nguyen 2023b). I think that it sounds natural and I

tried to do a good job of incorporating all of the authors in a way where none of them just stop

talking in the conversation.

I actually have found that the post project reflections have been very helpful. I often

describe what I struggled with and the challenges of writing and then I can focus on those things

in the next writing assignment. And I feel like this has helped me be more conscientious in my

writing. I also think I find myself thinking more about all of the different things we learned

throughout this course especially when I’m revising.

If I had more time, I think I’d like to peer review with more people. For most of the

projects for this course, I was only able to get one or two peers to review my work and I did feel

like the feedback was a bit minimal. I would like to spend more time really discussing the ways I

can work on a specific piece, especially with someone who is writing from the same prompt who

knows what I am trying to do. I think that the ideas present in Richard Straub’s “Responding

Really Responding to Other Students Writing” has prompted me to be more careful in my own

peer review. His work focuses more on the delivery of the comments, it still helps me really

think about each point carefully (Straub 2006).

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 Overall I found that this course has significantly improved my writing and my

understanding of writing. I intend to use the skills I’ve gained from this course in other courses. I

think that the work shown in my portfolio are clear demonstrations of my newfound abilities and

they reflect my growth in writing.

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References

Elbow, Peter. “Teaching Two Kinds of Thinking.” Embracing Contraries: Explorations in

Learning and Teaching, Oxford University Press, New York City, New York, 1986, pp. 55–63.

Irvin, L. Lennie. “What Is ‘Academic’ Writing?” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, , edited
by Charles Lowe and Pavel Zamliansky, vol. 1, Parlor Press, West Lafayette, Indiana, 2010, pp.
3–17.

Straub, Richard. “Responding Really Responding to Other Students Writing.” The Subject Is
Writing: Essays by Teachers and Students, 2nd ed., Boynton/Cook Publishers, Portsmouth, NH,
2006, pp. 136–146.

Nguyen, Linh. “Letter Translation.” (unpublished work). Santa Barbara, CA, 2023a.

Nguyen, Linh. “Podcast Episode: Learning and Self Assessment.” (unpublished work). Santa
Barbara, CA, 2023b.