Reflection on Reflections from UH ENGL 1303

I usually ask students to reflect on their writing as they complete a paper. This was the first time I had assigned a first-person description of a community to a first-semester course. Their reflections are interesting -- confidence (not surprising) but sometimes astute observations on their own process.

"I liked that we do another peer-examination with the final paper without turning in. This because sometimes, when you have written your paper, and you have read it for a thousand times, it is difficult to find simple mistakes that others can see easily."

True, though sometimes I catch minor errors by reading my own work out loud. Different parts of the brain working, etc.

More importantly, though, I get ideas from reading my peers. I can see what works for them, and sometimes I choose to incorporate that same strategy in my writing.

"I have learned to not over think about the topic."

Definitely. This goes back to pre-writing/invention -- getting all the ideas out at the beginnig allows us more freedom to relax during composition and revision. Over-thinking implies that we've lost our focus in communicating with the audience and are instead focusing on some insecurity within ourselves. Relax, just write, then revise.

"If there a sno limitation on the length of the writing assignment, I wuld not feel as pressured, and my writing would be less filled with unnecessary things just added to lengthen the paper; my thesis would even beecome more clear."

Perhaps, but we find that first year writers tend to write far too much, taking too many words to share simple thoughts, and that papers become fluffed with the unnecessary. I have a page limit on the first paper for that reason -- so the student is forced to revise DOWN, considering those things we discussed in our "diction lecture" -- conciseness, etc. On the other hand, future papers are open-ended because there's so much analysis to be made about our collection. As another student said in this same reflection: "There is only so much to write before it's just rambling."

"... your penmanship. I have a hard time reading what you write on my papers."

I know.

"Perhaps the use of more examples would give us, as students, more to draw from as we develop certain styles and techniques."

Well, in each class we discuss examples of writing and techniques to get there. I've chosen the readings and writing assignments carefully (including the small ones) to develop technique. On the other hand, I treat my student as scholars instead of high school students, so I don't believe that there is one form they should follow. They should develop their own style that reflects their life's experiences, backgrounds, personalities, and life goals. High school writing emphasizes examples as templates. True writing is an individual work of creation.

A similar comment:

"Everyone says that there doesn't need to be a set structure [I agree on this part; for Paper 1 I purposefully avoided structural discussion; some writing, such as business proposals, do have structure] and that we are entitled to our own opinions [you are; see Plummer "Ophelia Syndrome" on Web site]; yet our work is grade on how it sounds. Maybe it's just me, but English Comp is a hypocritical class."

I think there may be a disconnect between style [see above comments] and effective writing. If we fail to effectively communicate our ideas to the audience, then the communication fails. However, style is different -- style is a rhetorical choice that makes our work more or less relevant to the audience and the situation (remember the rhetorical triangle from first day of class). English Comp is not a creative writing course, where sound is wholy up to the author.

"This is an interesting project that I feel is only going to come once in my life so I should put all my effort into it. Yet it still seems pointless."

1. You can always take an upper-division ethnography course. Dr. Lindahl's course in Folklore is amazing.
2. This is a very good question, one that applies to a) composition and rhetoric in general and b) all university learning. The quick answer (and it is too quick) is that this project shows the researcher/writer his place in his world, and that is more important than it might first seem. It also shows the importance of each community in the Houston area (one of the most underresearched cities in the nation), will provide primary data for a generation of future scholars, and rhetorically helps the first-year writer how to incorporate old and new knowledge into a new work. Once I publish my paper, see what I say there.

"I feel somewhat proud of myself for completing my first real college paper."

You should.