RyanKelly

Writing2
ZackDePiero
March12th,2016
MetacognitiveReflection
AfterfiguringoutthatIhadtotakewriting2,Iwasprettybummednotgoingtolie.
SinceIwasnotlookingforwardtothecourse,Idecidedtodosomeresearchonratemy
professorsastowhatwriting2teachertotake.IcameacrossZackDePierowhohadreallygood
ratings,soIdecidedtoenrollinthatone.Iwalkedintoclassthefirstdaywithlowexpectations
butthatchangedalmostimmediately.Firstofall,theclassroomwassetupwithseveraltables
scatteredaroundtheroomwhichwasunlikemostofmyclasses.Idecidedtositinoneofthe
chairsclosesttothedoorbecauseIdidntreallyknowwhattodo.Isatthereanxiouslyawaiting
thearrivaloftheteacherandthinkinganold,boringteacherwithamonotonevoicewouldwalk
inanyminute.ButboywasIwrong.Zackalmostburstthroughthedoorfullofenergyandand
readytogo.Theguyhadlongblackhairandwasdressedthetotaloppositeofyourtypical
teacherhereatUCSB.Rightthere,Igotsuperexcitedtoseewhathehadinstore.Hestarted
playingTychoandIthoughttomyselfDamn,maybethisclasswillactuallybesupercool.
Onethefirstday,webeganbyintroducingourselvestotheclass.Wegottoknow
exactlywhothisdudeteachinguswasandwhyhewasteachingawriting2classatall.He
seemedsuperpassionateaboutthesubjectwhichwasawesomebutalsointimidating.We
jumpedstraightintothecoursematerialandwereassignedtoreadTwoKindsofThinkingby

PeterElbow.Withthisfirstreadingassigned,heemphasizedthatweneedtotobeanactive
authorbyaskingquestionsandarguingwiththeauthors.IthoughtthiswascoolbecauseIwas
nevertoldtoaskquestionsandarguewiththeauthorbefore.Justwiththisfirstreading,it
changedmyperspectiveonhowtolookdeeperwhenreadinginsteadofjustreadingthewords
andnotthinkingaboutitindepth.Idefinitelybelievethissetaprecedentforwhattherestofthe
quarterwouldbelike:alwayslookingdeeper,findingquestions,andreallylookingatthereading
frommorethanoneperspective.
Whenwestartedtalkingaboutwritingprojectone,Iwasscared.Ineverreallytalked
aboutspecificconventionsofwritingbefore.Anactivitythatreallyhelpedmeinunderstanding
whattheywerewaswhenwelookedatthegenregenerators.Wegottoseeafewdifferenttypes
ofgenresandwhatconventionsmadethemthatgenre.Ithoughtthecomicgenrewassuper
funnybecausesomeofthemwerereallllllyf*****up.Itwascooltoseethatexamplebecause
eventhoughitwasrandom,specificconventionslikethespeechbubbles,boxoutlines,andthe
charactersstayedthesamewhichallowedthereadertounderstandthatitwasacomic.Itreally
gavemeinsightonwhattolookforwhenfiguringoutwhataspecificgenrecanbe.Ilearnedto
askmyselfquestionsjustlikeZackasksusquestionsinallourwritingprompts.Themore
questionsyouaskyourself,themorespecificyoucangetwhichalwaysimproveswriting.
AnotheractivitythatIthinkreallyenhancedmywritingwasthetipsntricksweusually
dideveryclass.SometimesIfeltlikeIwastransportedbacktofreshmenyearEnglishclass
becausemostofthetime,wehaveallalreadylearnedaboutthesesmallgrammaticalerrorslike
who/whom,hyphens,andsemicolons.BUT,Irealizedthatgoingbackovertheseweresuper

helpfulbecauseIwaswronglyusingsomeoftheseconventions(seewhatIdidhere)inmy
writingthepast5yearsorso.SomepeoplemaythinkthatthesewereuselessbutIactually
foundthemextremelybeneficialeveniftheyweresmallerissuesIhadinmywriting.
Iwouldsaythatrhetoricthewayweuselanguageandimagestopersuade(Carroll,46)
wasoneofthemost,ifnotTHEmostimportantconceptIlearnedaboutallquarter.AsI
learnedaboutaudience,purpose,tone,style,etc.Irecognizedthattherewouldbesimplyno
meaningtowritingwithoutthesespecificcomponents.Anactivitythathelpedtorecognizethe
rhetoricalfeaturesofwritingwereourjournalquestionsinafewoftheclassesandtheproject
builders.WewouldhavetoanswerquestionslikeWhatistheaudienceofthepiece?Whyis
theauthorwritingthispieceatall?Whatspecificstylesandtonesareusedtogetthemessage
across?Whenwewereaskedthesequestions,wereallyhadtoanalyzethepieceofwritingand
thinkifthesequestionshadanswers.Ithinkthisprocessreallyworkedformeinhelpingto
moresolidlysupportargumentsthroughouteachwritingproject.Iworkedalotonusingrhetoric
betweenmywritingprojectoneandwritingprojecttwoinordertobemuchmorespecificinmy
secondpaper.IwouldconstantlyremindmyselfofthequestionsthatZackaskedusasIwrote.
Iwouldthinkbacktothecommentsheleftonmyfirstpaperandpush,push,pushmyselfto
makesuretoanswerthesequestions.Withquestionsandlearningabouthowrhetoricaffects
writing,Ireallyopenedupmyhorizonsandmywritingcapabilitiesforthefuturepapersthatwill
comeinmycollegecareer.
Beingawareofgenresreallyhelpedmewhenwebegantolearnaboutmoves.Genre
awarenessisbeingabletoalwaysbemindfuloftheconventions,rhetoricalfeatures,andmoves

ofawriter.Onceunderstandingtherhetoricalfeaturesofgenreawareness,movesenhancedthat
understandingevenmore.Probablymyfavoriteactivityofallquarterwasdissectingthevideo
ofTheRocksfinishingmoveThePeoplesElbow.IfoundithilariousbecauseIhaveseen
TheRockinsomanymoviesbeforeandtoseehimdoingafinishingmoveinaWWEwrestling
matchreallymademelaugh.Ineverwouldhavethoughtaboutmovesinwritingbeing
comparedtoaWWEwrestlersfinishingmove.SinceIfoundthisinterestinginthefirstplace,
thatinterestcarriedmethroughtheentireactivityandmadetheideasreallystickwithme.You
askedusalltopointoutwhichmovesandsomeonewouldyellsomethingoutbutthenyou
wouldyellbackbemorespecific!!Withthat,Irealizedthatitisprettyeasytoidentifythe
outlyingsurfacefeaturesofamovebutitwashardertolookcloserandexplicitlyrecognize
eachandeverymotionhedidwithinthemove.IlikedthatZackshutpeopledownifthey
werentreallyspecifyingexactlywhathappenednextwithoutskippingoverpartsofthemove
becauseitsolidifiedtheideathatyoucantjustrecognizethepuzzle,butyouneedtolookat
everypieceofthepuzzleandseewhereitfitsinwiththerest.
Afterbeingabletounderstandwhatamovewas,alongwithhowtheywereincorporated
withconventionsandrhetoricalfeaturesintomywriting,Iwasreallyabletotakemyclassmates
andZackscommentsintoconsideration.Peerreviewingwasneverabigpartofmywriting
processuntilthisclass.Inhighschool,theteacherswouldmakestudentsgetintogroupsand
revisetheirpeerspapers,butaboutninetyninepercentoftimeitwascompletebull****.I
believewewerentreallytoldwhattolookfor.Allweweretoldwastojustcommentoneach
otherspapersbutwerentgivenparticularinstructionsonexactlyhoworwhattocomment.Zack

gaveusmuchmoredirectioninthepeerrevisionprocessbecause,especiallyforwritingproject
two,hetoldusnottocommentorsaywhatwasgoodorbad,buttoonlyaskquestions.LikeI
havesaidbefore,Ibelieveaskingyourselfquestionswhilerevisingisoneofthebestwaysto
improveyourwritingfromthepreviousdraft.Andifyouareaskingyourselfquestionsthat
otherstudentshavecomeupwith,itaddsevenanotherlayertoyourargumentbecausetheymay
haveposedquestionsthatyouwouldhaveneverthoughttoaskyourself.Zacktrulyhelpedme
inunderstandinghowtopeerreviseinaconstructivemannerandhowtotakethatconstructive
criticismbacktomyownwritingandimproveitformyself.
OneofmyfavoritereadingsofthecoursewasHowtoReadLikeaWriterbyMike
Bunn.MyperspectiveofwhatwritingwasreallychangedafterIreadhispiece.Prior,Inever
lookatapieceofwritingandthoughttomyselfWhatisthewriterthinkingasheiswritingthis?
Whatdoeshewantthereadertothinkaboutexactlywhenreadingthisspecificphrase?I
alwaysreadpiecesfortheinformationthatwaspresentedandnotabouthowitwaspresentedor
whyitwaseffective.JustasBunnsaid,insteadofreadingfortheactualcontentofthewriting,
youmustunderstandhowthepieceofwritingwasputtogetherbytheauthorandwhatyoucan
learnaboutwritingbyreadingaparticulartext(Bunn,81).Thisexactphrasewillalwaysstick
withmeinfuturewritingprojects.Bunncouldntbemorecorrectinsayingthatreadinglikea
writerreallllllytakesyourwritingtothenextlevel.
Throughoutmywriting2journey,Ilearnedsomuch.Icameintoclassthinkingitwould
bejustanotherwritingclassbutIwastotallywrong.AlthoughEnglishand/orwritinghas
neverbeenafavoritesubjectofmine,theconceptsIlearnedinwriting2weresobeneficialto

mysuccessasawriter.Throughgenres,conventions,rhetoricalfeatures,moves,andreading
likeawriter,Idefinitelybetteredmywritingskills.Inowknowwhattolookforinmyown
writingaswellasothers.Yes,thereweredefinitelyseveraltimeswhereIwassofrustratedwith
everythingIhadtodoandjustdidntthinkIcouldhandleitanymore.But,havingbeenthrough
itallandnowreflectingbackonit,IamsurprisinglygratefulthatIwasrequiredtotakenotjust
thiscourse,buttohaveZackasmyteacher.IbelievethatifIendedupinanotherwriting2class
withanotherteacher,IwouldnthavegottenNEARLYtheamountofinformationthatIdidwith
Zack.Histeachingstylecanattimesseemoverwhelmingandveryconfusing,butIcan
confidentlysaythatIamamuchbetterwriterafterthiscourse.YoudamanZack,andI
appreciatehowhardyouworkedus!

WorksCited
Bunn,Mike.HowtoReadLikeaWriter
Carroll,LauraBolin.BackpackstoBriefcases:StepsTowardRhetoricalAnalysis
Elbow,Peter.EmbracingContraries:ExplorationinLearningandTeaching.NewYork.
OxfordUPress.1986.