Wait, It’s Over?

Well Composition 2 is coming to an end and the feeling is bitter sweet. This is the last writing class that I will ever take as a student, as my major does not require anymore. However, I am grateful for the things that I have learned from this course. I think that writing is extremely important in life and that it is a skill that everyone should learn. Writing is an extension of who we are. It allows us to express our thoughts and show what makes us different from one another. It also allows us to interact with our peers; to argue with, be persuaded by, and learn from one another.

In this course we focused on counterintuitive thinking. This led to long, confusing discussions that often went in circles. The purpose of these discussions were to make us realize that there are always multiple ways to look at a situation and that just because everyone sees it one way, does not mean that that is the correct way. While I understood why we had these conversations and tried to solve riddles, it did not stop me from being frustrated. I am an example of one of the reasons why we needed to have counterintuitive discussions. Most of us are stubborn and reject anything that goes against what we already believe to be true. No matter how hard I tried to see the other way of thinking about something, I could not yield to the other perspective. Ironically, the fact that I could not see situations in any other way emphasized the point that was trying to be made to me. I was then able to incorporate this new approach to understanding things into my writing.

Writing is a never ending process. Every essay can be improved in some way or another; this is something I learned from this course. I always began my essay with an outline of some form. I tended to have so much information buzzing around my head that I needed to get it all out and organize it somehow before my mind was even close to being ready to start an assignment. The outlines were my ultimate tool in helping me write my papers. I organized all the information by categories and then placed sub-ideas into them. Then all I had to do was turn the sub-ideas into sentences and poof an essay was born. However, this was not the end. I continually went back and revised my essays. Sometimes it was a couple of words and other times it was entire paragraphs. Every time I looked back at an assignment I found something else that I wanted to edit.

Our class interacted through a blog. When we were “turning in” our assignments we were actually posting them on a blog, not just for our teacher to see but for everyone in the class to read, criticize, and comment on. This was originally very distressing and nerve racking for me and I know that many other students felt the same way. However that feeling wore off as I realized the benefits of everyone being able to see and comment on my work and vice versa.

We were given the option to post a draft early so that our teacher could give us feedback on it before we submitted our “final draft.” While I am a terrible procrastinator and did not take advantage of this opportunity, many of my classmates did and I was able to read their essays as well as the feedback Professor Hodges provided. I then kept everything I read in mind while I wrote my own paper. This was especially helpful when I was not sure exactly what the assignment was asking me to do.

The blog allowed my fellow students to take part in my writing process along with my teacher. Sometimes Professor Hodges would ask us to comment on another student’s post with suggestions. This was both fun and enlightening because it gave me a chance to get my peers’ opinions on my posts. However most of the time we only posted on one another’s post when asked to do so, unlike our teacher who left comments all over the place.

The smartest thing that we could ever do in this class was ask for feedback. Professor Hodges provided ridiculously thorough feedback. He broke our posts down sentence by sentence. Sometimes the feedback he provided was longer than the essay itself. When I first received feedback I thought it was harsh. If I had not been warned and known that he really was trying to help I might have thought that he was trying to break our spirits. However, after taking the feedback into consideration and applying it to my revisions I saw how much of a difference it made in my assignment. The professor made very good points, and once they were addressed in my revisions, the paper became much better.

A standing out point that Professor Hodges made over and over again was that all of our writing should have an argument in it. However, what is an argument without information to back it up? It is simply empty claims and a bunch of hot air or words. This is the importance of information. It is the meat to our argumentative sandwich. It could be used to either support a claim or discredit it, depending on how you use it. It is much harder to dismiss an argument when there is information to support the claim. For instance we cannot deny the existence of the force of gravity when everything we throw in the air falls back down to the ground. Also, the information we use to support are argument helps establish our credibility. It says “hey I should believe her because she actually knows what she is talking about.” Information is also important because it can be used in different claims.

There is a reason behind why every text was created. Every author is making a point when they write something, whether it is to argue something, enlighten others, or purely for entertainment. It is up to the reader to interpret this meaning and everyone may not interpret it the same. I may interpret a text one way while my professor may interpret it another. However neither myself nor my teacher may interpret the piece the way that the author intended us to. This is the beauty of interpretation, it is based on the person and can change over time.

What a text means to someone depends on how they interpret it. As my interpretation of something changes, the meaning of it seems to change as well. When I began my research on the paradox of choice I was surprised by how true it seemed. I had never noticed the paralysis that occurs when I am given too many options. I even experienced this paralysis while I was writing an essay on the paradox of choice. The irony, which was lost on me until my teacher pointed it out. However, as I did more and more research on the topic, I noticed many of the flaws of the theory. There were many articles out there that suggested that the paradox of choice was a myth. The original experiment that led to the paradox of choice also was not successfully replicated. When it came down to writing my research argument, I struggled on whether I wanted to jump ship and write about the other side. In the end I stuck it out and successfully argued that the paradox of choice does exist, despite all the naysayers.

Discourse in general is important, but written discourse is powerful. Written discourse is something that can be reviewed and brought up over and over again. Unlike verbal discourse, in which once it’s said, it may not be remembered, and if it is remembered it may be remembered improperly or misconstrued. As written discourse virtually lives forever, it is the duty of the author to make sure that they are writing with a purpose. They should make a point and persuade readers to see their way of thinking. People should read a text and feel some type of emotion, whether they agree with it or disagree with it. It is the responsibility of the author to get the readers to seriously contemplate the topic they are arguing. Even if the author does not entirely sway the reader, they did their duty by attempting to get the readers to see what they believe is right.

I have recently looked back at some of my work from Composition 1. My initial thoughts were “I actually handed that in? This is terrible. What was I thinking?” It is very interesting to me to see that my writing has changed in such a short period of time. While this course was definitely a source of much stress and frustration, I can confidently say that I am a much better writer because of it.