Bore Values

It’s that time of the semester again. The final weeks, assignments are winding down, and for Composition its portfolio and Core Values time. It’s been a long semester of multiple revisions and many papers, topped off by my first official college research paper. Even though there were times when the revisions seemed like too much, this semester has improved my writing and made me grow as a writer.

Core Value 1: Writing is a multi-stage, recursive, and social process.

All of the papers I wrote underwent multiple revisions. I asked many times for feedback on my work, sometimes more than once, communicating with my professor about what was needed to make my work better. My Causal Essay was a good example of this. There are eight comments between me and my professor, and the paper went through many revisions before it reached the final graded product. The back-and-forth structure of commenting for feedback on the blog is a good example of the social process of writing as well. I had the ability to ask questions and check to see if a correction I made was good. I also saved each version of the essay, allowing me to go back and compare my first draft to the final draft. All of my papers went through a multi-stage process which involved a draft, posting before the deadline and asking for feedback, receiving feedback, revising, and then sometimes asking for more feedback for more revisions. Writing is best when it is put through a process and not just slammed together and considered done, and because of the multi-stage process and loads of feedback my writing improved and the final products are much better than the original drafts.

 Core Value 3: Understand how texts represent meaning and how the processes of writing and reading create and interpret meaning.

Having to read a lot of text in order to craft arguments definitely began to show me how text represents meaning. In all of my papers, I had to read information and other people’s writing and interpret what the meaning and claims of their writing were. I then used that interpretation to write my own paper and create my own claims. There is a cycle with writing and reading. Person One writes a paper, Person Two reads it and interprets it in his or her own way. Person Two writes a paper using the information and interpretations from the paper they read, which Person Three later reads and interprets in his or her own way. The cycle continues and goes on with many people reading and writing. I could have been any number of people in that cycle of interpretation and writing. I took meaning out of what I read, and interpreted facts and information from other people’s writing. Through all of this, I now understand how the processes of writing and reading create meaning, and how to interpret meaning from what I read.

 Core Value 5: Understand the role and use of information in writing.

My research paper was a perfect opportunity to get to understand the role and use of information in writing. In order to write the paper and create a good argument, I had to search for a variety of sources, from editorials to official studies, to enhance my knowledge of my topic and to back up my argument. I also had to find information to combat refutations that readers may make. Once I had sources and information, I had to use them in an appropriate manner. I couldn’t slander information or twist it in a negative way to fit my argument. Through all the writing and research done in class, I have accomplished this core value and understand the role and use of information in writing.

 Core Value 7: Understand the power and ethical responsibility that comes with the creation of written discourse.

When writing a paper such as a research paper it is very important to use correct information and present it in a manner that is easy to understand and doesn’t allow for misinterpretation. People read a research paper for information, for insight into a topic, or for help with making an argument. It is the writer’s responsibility to make sure that his or her paper allows for those things, and doesn’t have any negative aspects, such as plagiarism or biased information. In my research paper, I did just that. I made sure I found information from all sides of my argument, and opened myself up to different opinions and information even when it went against my argument. I made sure to convey the information I gathered in my own words, and to give credit to the sources that it came from. Through this class, I now understand that writing is a powerful tool and that writers have an ethical code that makes sure the papers they write are authentic, helpful, and provide new insight or arguments on a topic.