CHAPTER 1:GETTING TO WRITE

1.Reflection- Your Expectations, Fears, and Hopes About Writing

Q: After taking a few minutes to reflect on the following questions, write out your thoughts for
each one: Do the myths about college writing classes that we have described sound familiar?
What other beliefs or myths have you brought with you? What do you expect will change for
you as a writer by the time you finish this course? What fears do you have about college
writing? What do you imagine might get in the way of your development as a writer? What do
you hope to learn?
A: For me, the myths that are mentioned in this chapter are relatable, as I did talk about in my
English Placement Test. Specifically, I talked about already learning the skill of writing in the
years before college. I also talked about not having to take writing more than once in college.
Another belief that I brought with me to college is that writing assignments are aplenty and
uninteresting. Not that all my previous writing and English teachers were bad, but the ones that
were had too many assignments that felt useless towards improving our writing. However, I
expect to at least change as a writer towards more of a college writer. As for fears towards
college writing, I don’t have any except for presentation of written assignments. I would do as
much writing assignments as the professor would give me if I didn’t have to present any of it.
One thing I can think of that might get in the way of my development as a writer would be the
professor( I don’t think you are a bad professor in any means, Professor Lauron. What I’m
saying is that if you were, it would hinder my writing development). Lastly, I hope to learn how
a college writer would write and more advanced vocabulary that I could use in the future.

3. Reflection- Trying Out and Reflecting on Freewriting

Question 1: Freewrite for six or seven minutes about any topic or idea that comes to mind.
You do not have to write quickly, just steadily, without pausing to reread or make changes as
you write.
A: So far at UOG, it has been quite easy to transition from full-time working to going full-time
student. Of course, it’s only the first few days and weeks, but that's how I’m currently feeling. It
was nice to see and meet up with people I haven’t seen for a long time. I’m currently looking for
a laptop to borrow, so that is another adventure within itself. My friends are part of a group that
lends out to students, but last I checked there were less than ten remaining. As for my classes, I
was able to find them easily enough and are at good times for my schedule. I’m still trying to
decide if I want to continue working where I’m at now or try and find work-study here at UOG.
Or if I should even continue working at all. Well, I still have time to figure it out and to also
figure where I want to go after 2 years here.
Question 2: Starting with the topic of “what keeps me from writing,” freewrite for another six
or seven minutes, letting your thoughts and writing travel wherever they want within that
general topic.
A: When I think about what keeps me from writing, a lot of similar things I mentioned before
pop up. One of the main things that keeps me from writing is having to do so much of it. There’s
only so much writing I can do before I get bored of doing it. If it’s about a certain subject and
being put into essay form, sure. I can do those sorts of things because it's not boring, it’s just
easy. But having to do writing activities like find what's wrong with the following sentence or
write a reflection on the chapter you just read (sorry) is what bores me. Another thing that keeps
me from writing is other subjects. I would rather do math because I find newer math exciting
because I have to figure out how it works. Of course, there's only a certain limit of math before I
go crazy. So it’s not just math but other things I can be doing instead of writing.
Question 3: Reread what you wrote for steps 1 and 2 and write for a few minutes about the
experiences of freewriting. What surprised you or frustrated you? How did having a topic as a
starting point seem to affect the writing? Are there differences in structure or style between
the two pieces of writing? Did you write things that you would not have predicted?
A: When I compare the two different ways of writing I just completed, I felt that writing about
any topic I wanted allowed me to write better as I wasn’t spending time thinking about what
certain topic I should stick to. However, writing with a topic as a starting point was not more
difficult. My reaction to the topic was easy enough to write down and I remembered to stay
within that general topic. The structure for the freewriting was to have a general idea I wanted to
talk about, then go in detail periodically, and make sure to stay in line with the topic. Most of
what I wrote down is what I would have predicted to have written down.

CHAPTER 2:SITUATING OURSELVES IN LANGUAGE

4. Reflection: Telling the Same Story from Another Perspective
Q: Think of a recent conversation, argument, or experience you had. Write down the details of
what happened. Who said what? What were points of disagreement and agreement? What do
you remember most about the experience? Now, write the details from the perspective of
someone else who was involved in this same conversation or argument or experience. If
possible, ask someone who was there to tell you about the experience, and take notes on that
person’s recollection. Reread your notes and compare them with what you first wrote. Or write
what you believe the conversation might have looked like from the other person’s perspective.
Finally, write about the similarities and differences you see in the two versions of the story.
A: I had a conversation with my friend on who is better at chess. For me, I would think I was the
better player compared to my friend but of course, he thinks he’s better than me. One argument I
had was that I haven’t lost to him yet. His counter argument was that we only played against
each other twice. I said I had more experience doing puzzles online and facing bots, he said he
challenged many people face-to-face. From his perspective, it’s obvious that he would think that
he would be better than me. There’s somewhat of a bias comparing yourself to other people
competitively. I thought that his arguments were fair, so I would assume my arguments to him
were also reasonable. To both of us, we were just joking around but as if we were very serious
about chess. We had another friend with us and he was just riling up the other whenever
someone said a reason for being better. He found it pretty funny, though. Later on, we both
decided to keep playing against each other to see who was better. We agreed that what we both
said was valid but also believed what we said about ourselves is true.
5. Reflection: An Unfamiliar or Difficult Language Situation
Q:Make a list of moments, from school or personal experiences, in which you found yourself
in an unfamiliar or difficult language situation. Choose one of the moments, perhaps the one
you recall most vividly. Share your experiences with a classmate by telling the stories in class
or emailing them to each other. When you do so, include what you remember about the
places, participants, emotions, and events. After hearing or reading one another’s stories, ask
questions if there is further information that seems to be needed. Write your reflections on
your or your classmate’s stories. What characteristics do your shared moments have in
common? What are some of the qualities of these diffi-
cult or unfamiliar language experiences?
A: A pretty obvious difficult language situation for me was when I was visiting Taipei, Taiwan.
It was hard to communicate with people that walked past because English is not the main
language that is spoken over there. Most of the people though knew basic conversational
English. There was one time me and a friend were trying to get directions from someone coming
out of a subway. It was difficult to try and ask in Mandarin Chinese, so my friend and I were
having trouble trying to say where we wanted to go. It was pretty embarrassing knowing I
could've just translated what I was saying into Google Translate. Later on, we just decided to
show pictures of the place and the person knew immediately.
6. Reflection: Speaking as an Authority
Q.In this reflection, we ask you to speak from a position of authority you already hold.
First, jot down subjects about which you have some expertise. You may be an expert on
certain academic subjects, sports, hobbies; you may know about certain cities, coun-
tries, languages; you may have specific life experiences or interests about which you
know a great deal. After you have compiled your list, choose one subject to tell about,
or ask the classmate you are partnering with to help you choose one. Next, tell your classmate
about your subject while he takes notes, and then make notes as your class-
mate speaks on his or her subject. Find out as much as you can about each other’s sub-
jects. When you have both spoken, reread your notes. After reading your notes, write about
what you learned or noticed, from listening to your classmate or from telling him about your
subject, about what happens when we speak as an authority.
Thing I am Knowledgeable In
● Most sports except cricket and football
● Chess
● City of Taipei, New York City, and DC
● How to Cook rice and certain ways for chicken
● how to edit videos and photos