Daniel Son

Professor Voltz
UWRT 1103
11/28/2015
Course Reflection
The semester in this class has been an interesting experience. I came into the class,
dreading the amount of work and socializing that I would have to do; however, I decided that I
would stick with it and just man the fuck out of it. Im glad that I kept this mental attitude and
found that I actually enjoyed many of the things we had to do in the class.
I would say that my favorite quest is The Odyssey. I would say that I relate most to
Odysseus. No matter what happens, I tend not to get scared and just have courage and stick with
what I planned. If theres something bad going on, I dont get scared and try to analyze the
situation carefully. I would say I have a thirst for glory as well, such as Odysseus, because I dont
like losing. I LOVE WINNING. Odysseus is also known for his quick thinking. I found that it
was relatable because I tend to use quick thinking to get myself out of unfavorable situations
(such as a fight with my girlfriend). Odysseuss quick thinking allowed him to escape dangerous
situations such as when he was stuck in the cave of the Cyclops. I identify with him the most
because of the similar traits we share.
Obviously, Im not anything like a Greek Hero but I would say some parts of my life are
similar to the life of Odysseus. We both were imprisoned in places we didnt want to be. College
for me and Calypsos Island for Odysseus. We both want to go back home to escape the hell that
we had to face. The difference, however, is that there isnt really anything stopping me from
going back home and I dont have a vengeance to carry out for my family.
One of the themes of the story is the power of cunning over strength and I can use that in
my life for many reasons. Although I may not have strength, I can use my mind to overcome
obstacles. Like Odysseus used his mind to defeat Polyphemus, I can use my mind to defeat
problems in life. Obviously, Im not the biggest or strongest guy and I wont have to defeat

monsters or armies but I could still apply this theme to my life. Knowledge over power to
overcome things in life. There is only so much you could do with power.
My process of writing is like this myth because in the beginning, my writing is always
trapped. I follow a linear pattern but I dont get anywhere and Im not productive with my
writing. Like Odysseus, I dont really plan out an elaborate plan that takes ages. As I write, I
think about what Im writing and change what I feel is needed. Odysseus took the opportunity
and used his quick thinking to create a plan and improvised it to escape the Cyclops cave and
that improvisation is what I tend to do with my writing. Obviously it probably isnt the best
action to take because it could be easier if I brainstormed first instead, but it usually works out
and Im not trapped in the same style of writing just as Odysseus found out a way to escape the
Cyclops Polyphemus in the past. The call to adventure is when I realize that I have to write
something and the refusal of the call is when I dont want to write. At one point, I meet with the
person who gives me courage and wisdom and that is usually the teacher. When I decide that Im
ready to sit down and write is when I cross the threshold. Throughout my process of writing, I
will be tested by distractions and writing blocks which prove as the tests that I have to go
through. I will face allies who will help me think of ideas on what to write and enemies who will
try their best to distract me with temptations of food and hanging out. The ordeal is when the
deadline for the paper is coming up and I sit down and try to finish writing the paper as fast as
possible. The reward is when I finish writing my paper and only have to review it over for the
thousands of times I have already reviewed it and when I finally turn the paper in is when I finish
my adventure. The mythical journey of my writing process is over.
To be honest, I did not enjoy doing the EIP Project at all. Although it was based on a
topic that I was able to choose and was something I was interested in, I did not have a good time
doing it. When I first received the assignment, I sat down and it actually took me quite a bit of

time to figure out something that I could write about that would be interesting. I had to go
through many options and narrowed it down to one broad subject. After I did that, I had to figure
out what about that subject that I wanted to write about and it was harder than I thought it would
be. I wrote the proposal and I found out that my topic had many detailed things I could write
about; however, there were too many. I decided to narrow it down some more and after that I
spent some time researching.
I put the sources I found information from into the Prezi that I made for this project and
wrote summaries about the information I found on each source. With this information, I went
back and started to work on the actual essay. I found that having to do all this beforehand made it
a lot easier to write my essay; however, I would not want to do it this way again. I would rather
just have gone straight into the essay instead of planning everything out step by step like I had to
do for this project. My level of satisfaction for this project was very small. I was not satisfied at
all with my work because it felt like it was forced and although it was a topic that I enjoyed, I did
not enjoy writing about it.
What the writings in this class revealed about the patterns in my life has actually
surprised me. I never really thought about it until now but I realized that I follow the same
process of writing for each paper. I realize that I tend to write more about personal things such as
life and emotions and I write just as I would speak to a person.
I found out through the pieces of writing and videos that we have watched throughout
class, that there are many different styles of writing. Some that appeal to me more than others
and some that are so out of the ordinary its actually interesting to think about. I learned that the
best style of writing or I wouldnt say best style of writing, more my favorite style, is one that
contains personal voice. When we read the different styles of writing in class one day, the piece
of writing that really struck out to me was The Catcher in the Rye. That piece made me realize
that not everything in writing has to be set and rigid and that I could use my own voice and still

make it a decent piece of writing. After reading this piece, my style of writing changed
drastically and now I enjoy writing a lot more. I wouldnt say that its necessarily good writing
but I enjoy writing the way I do.
Throughout my journey in this course, I found that just thinking about the topic of my
piece of writing works best for me. Once I find a topic that I would like to think about, I sit down
and just write whatever flows through my head. After I write what I want, I go back through my
writing and edit what I do and dont like to try and improve. Brainstorming about the whole
paper itself proves to make my writing more organized; however, it feels like Im not writing
down everything that I think of and my writing doesnt seem complete.
Some writing problems that I have struggled with was mostly structuring my papers. I
found it hard to structure the information that I was writing down so that it would flow in the
way that I wanted. During the five minute meditation essay, I struggled putting my thoughts in
order and I had to spend quite a bit of time fixing it. I would sit down and read over my paper
and would read separate paragraphs to see which paragraphs were similar. Once I found similar
paragraphs, I would group them together and that helped me structure my essay so that it flowed
well.
I consider my best piece of writing to actually be one of the in class writings. It was the
one where I wrote about Dora, Elmo, and Spongebob and their adventure to destroy a meteor
with a brick. I consider it my best because I remember that I was there were a lot of words that I
couldnt use in this piece of writing but it somehow came out to be my most creative piece. I was
proud that I could have so much fun writing and that I was able to surpass the limitations set.
I honestly think I deserve at least a B. I put in a lot of work into this portfolio and it has
the pieces of writing that I have worked hard on over this semester. I feel like one should grade a
persons journey based on their effort throughout the class. Although some may have been gifted
naturally with writing, Im sure that everyone has obtained some sort of knowledge and wisdom.