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Yana Mitra

WRIT2

Maddie Roepe

December 7 2023

A Metacognitive Reflection

As it is already known that literacy can be an intricate subject, it was a surprise to find

many different resources throughout this Writing 2 class that has helped make it seem a little less

complex. Reading over the submission drafts of the two projects done in this class, I’ve noticed

the most important stages to be the processes coming up to create the project. Project builders,

which involved different exercises that went in depth about the content needed, helped a lot in

understanding what should be included in my writing. Following this, my favorite section for

both projects was seeing it all come together. For example, when creating the blog post, it started

off as a blank canvas. The creativity and ideas of writing flowed well, and the final product

seemed fulfilling. However, the most challenging aspect would be the intricacy involved within

these projects. Although writing comes as the ideas enter your head, there are many things to

consider. Whilst doing both the genre translation and the conversation on writing, I felt that I

needed to add extra details. This made the projects slightly messy and confusing. I’ve realized

that although adding lots of information is a great way to explain, it should also be concise and

not take over.

In specificity towards the first writing project on genre translation, I was a bit skeptical

on if I could present this topic clearly through the genre of a handwritten letter format.

Converting an academic article to a new genre was a little intimidating. Would I be able to show
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my topic well through a different writing style? With the guidance of many assigned readings,

especially “Navigating Genre” by Kerry Dirk, the explanation of how to look for different

rhetorical moves in genres furthered my knowledge of the choices to make when writing a

handwritten letter. Dirk mentions that it is “important to consider the context being used.” From

this, I’ve deduced that handwritten letters should be more social than informational. This was an

important step for me to make in transforming this genre to present it differently from the

scientific article without removing too much information.

This experience of writing in a new genre has taught me that information can be

presented in any form. Because of this, literacy can be interpreted in a variety of ways depending

on the person. For this reason, it is the writer’s responsibility to decide if the details in their

writing need to tell a story or be straightforward. With my genre translation, I’ve decided to try

and incorporate both. I thought this would translate to feeling more personal, as if checking up

on a friend. I also believed it might be easier to relay the information if it was more heartfelt,

rather than reading factual evidence from a research experiment.

The second writing assignment, “listening in on a conversation about literacy,” required

much more research and effort in finding academic sources. The tactic involved in this project

was the use of forward and backward chaining, which is the act of finding articles that were cited

before and after the main article being used. As this was my first time trying a method like this to

do a writing assignment, I was slightly overwhelmed by the volume of material that needed to be

observed. However, this method has taught me a lot in seeing multiple views to an informative
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article. This is because the technique makes sure that the content is still the same whilst using the

anchor article to explain similarities and differences.

With the different opinions presented in each study, I was able to conduct the project in

the form of a blog post. The main goal of the project was to explain the different sides of the

opinion concisely without trying to alter how the reader already feels. Through a blog post, I

believed I could explain how each author felt about the topic, then give my own conclusive

thoughts in the end. From this assignment, I can proudly say that I feel much more confident in

research. Although the idea of a scholarly conversation was intimidating, I now feel that I can

easily investigate other topics at hand.

The biggest factor that has assisted me in completing both of these projects would be the

feedback I’ve received from my classmates, peers, and instructor. Peer review and cover letters

were not something that seemed necessary before this class. “Reflective Writing and The

Revision Process” by Sandra Giles was the first step to understanding its motive. This piece

explained the importance of reflecting over your work, but with the help of others. This is

because a different reader's perspective may diverge from yours, being able to see the mistakes

within your writing. Giles explains that “Reflection helps you develop your intentions, figure out

your relation to the audience, uncover possible problems with your individual writing

processes…” At first, receiving feedback might be scary, as it’s nerve wracking to see someone

judge your work. Nonetheless, the feedback I received from both my instructor and my peers

improved my work drastically in fixing errors such as grammar, choice of wording, or being too

inspecific.
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After participating in the class as a general requirement, I not only feel that my writing

has developed into a better form, but my way of thinking about literacy has changed as well. I

now see my approach to literacy as less intimidating and slightly easier to understand. As

someone with a seemingly low attention span towards reading, I’ve recently indicated new ways

to keep myself focused, such as taking notes and organizing my thoughts, similar to the project

builders that were done throughout the quarter. As a writer, I can see myself feeling more

comfortable with releasing my ideas on paper and revising it later to my most fulfilling extent. In

specificity to items I’ve learned in this class, the study of rhetorical analysis in reading has

seemed to stick a lot. Changing the way information is presented has caused me to understand

how to delve deep into what I’m reading, picking at the smallest details I can see. In regards to

other skill sets, a surprising evolvement I’ve had is being educated on how to find sources

through our library databases. I think this skill is super important, especially when working in

college or the field of research, so I was shocked that I didn’t learn about it sooner.

Whilst improvement is a big factor, it is also important to note the concepts that I am still

struggling with. Surprisingly, the art of genre is still slightly confusing to me. This might be

because it is such a broad subject. Since I was able to find specific examples to the genre I was

translating to, the project went smoother than expected. Still, I’d like to learn more about

deducing the different choices to make when choosing which genre to write in. Though this class

has come to an end, the skills I’ve learned and am still improving on will continue to guide me in

my future. As a psychology major, many research papers and scholarly articles constantly need

to be reviewed. Moreso, writing a research paper myself is a big factor to this specialization.
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Writing 2 has guided me in feeling more comfortable, confident, and ready to take on new

literacy projects!
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Work Cited

Dirk, Kerry., et. al. “Navigating Genre.” Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing, vol 1, 2010, pp.

250-261.

Giles, Sandra, L., et. al. “Reflective Writing and the Revisions Process: What Were You

Thinking?” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, vol. 1, 2010, p. 191-203.