ReflectiononWriting

WhenIrealizedthatIhadtotakeWriting2justbecauseIhadtakenhonorsfilmstudies
inhighschoolinsteadofAPLang,Iloathedmypastself.Imean,itwasntmyfaultIdidntknow
IwouldendupataUCschoolandshouldhaveknowntotakeanAPenglishjusttogetoutof
thisclass.Iwasusedtotestingoutofrequiredclasseslikethis,andwasnottooexcitedfora
twohourlongperiodthatIassumedwouldbetaughtbyanunforgivingmiddleagedmanor
woman.IhadalwaysbeenabletoBSessayslikeapro,writingexactlywhatitseemedlikemy
teacherwaslookingfor.Myessaysusedapreciseformulaeverytimeprobablyevendownto
thesentenceorderofeachparagraph.ThisisthesamesentenceorderthatIhavebeentaught
sinceMs.Didisclassinelementaryschooltopicsentence,evidence,analysis,concluding
sentence.Iwasalwaysanextremelygoodstudent,andwasnotkeenontheideaofrelearning
howtowrite5paragraphessays.However,tomysurpriseIlearnedoneofthemostimportant
thingsthatIhavelearnedinmycareerasastudent:howtosuccessfullyputmyownvoiceinto
mywriting.
OnthefirstdayofthedreadedWriting2class,Iwalkedinandwasgreetedbyour
teacher.Thefirstthoughtthatwentthroughmyheadwas,thisguyisatotalbro.Thisisgonna
beinteresting.Throughoutmylife,Ihavebeentaughtbypretentiousteachers,whocaredmore
abouttheirreputationasbeingadifficultteacherthanaboutgivingpositivereinforcementand
constructivecriticismwhenstudentsneededit.Zack,however,wassoentertainingduringclass
andsoadamantabouteachstudentunderstandingtheinformationfromhislessons,thatit
becameclearhisintentionsreallyweretohelpuslearn.IsoonrealizedthatZackseemedmore
withitthananyotherteacherIvehadinthepasthewasonourwavelength.Iwasexcited
aboutthis,butrealizedthatmy~10yearsoflearningandapplyingthestandardessayformula
wasprobablynotgonnagetbyShit.

Thefirstconceptsthatwewentthroughweregenresandconventionsconventions.My
newunderstandingofbothconceptsalignedmywholeviewofwriting,thathadapparentlybeen
completelyoffforyears.Ididnotknowwhatagenreorconventionreallywasbeforemyspring
quarteratUCSB.Inmyfirstthlog,Isaidthatthroughoutmypriorlearningexperiences,Ihad
onlyseenthewordgenreinthecontextofdifferentkindsofbooks,whethertheybedramas,
romanticcomedy,etc.ZackcalledmeuptothefrontoftheroomtheclassafterIwrotethisand
askedifhecouldpointoutsomethingtotheclass.Inervouslyagreed,relievedthatIwasntin
trouble.Hepointedoutthatthiswasincorrectthewordsdramaandromanticcomedyare
notgenres.What?!Icanrememberthedayinfirstgradewherewelearnedthewordgenreand
listedeverytypeofbookthatwecouldthinkof,consideringthemallgenres.Thisideawas
reinforcedthroughoutmyentirelearningexperience,untilIgottoWriting2.Iquicklylearned
thatgenresareeverywhere,allaroundus.InmyWP1,IwrotehowIfoundthatfoodbillboards
haveanumberofconventionsandsimilaritiesthattiethemintotheirowngenre.Neverbefore
wouldIhavelookedatabillboardandconsidereditsrhetoricaldevicesandhowitfunctionedas
awrittengenre.However,lookingatandanalyzingthreebillboardsformyWP1reallyhelped
meseethatgenresaredictatedandcategorizedbytheirconventions,andcanbeanythingthat
haswriting.
NowthatIunderstoodgenresandconventions,IthoughtIhadit.Okay,Igetitnow!This
makessenseandImreadytogooffandwritebetteressaysandwhatnot.ButwhenIgotmy
WP1back,Isawacommentthatstuckwithme.Thefeedbackread,pleasefeelfreetoinclude
moreofYOU,Kailah,inyourwritingforthiscourse.(Thissoundedabitlikeitcouldvebeen
writtenbyanybody.)Thiscommentstuckwithmesomuchbecauseitdidnotnecessarily
surpriseme.Imean,yeah.Ineversawthepointofputtingmyownvoiceintoessays.Writing
essaysforenglishclasseshadalwaysmeantproducingapieceofwritingthatcontained

insightfulpointssupportedbywellthoughtoutevidence.IwasgoodatdoingthisIhaddoneita
thousandtimes.Iwrotewell,butIrealizedthatIwroteinasterileway.Itwasjustaboutgetting
thepointacross,andmyorganizationwassoparticularthatIwouldlosemyvoice.Inmy
defense,IhavealmostalwayswrittenaboutbooksortopicsthatIdidnotchooseandtherefore
wasnotextremelyinterestedin,butnonetheless,theresultwaswellwritten,boringpapers.But
howcouldIworkonthis?Whatconceptcouldeverhelpwritersputtheirvoiceintotheirwriting?
Moves,ofcourse.
Atfirstmovesconfusedme.Ididnotreallygethowtheyweredifferentfromconventions,
andIdidnotlikenitpickingwritinginordertofindthem.Butitallclickedintwomoments.First,
whenwereadTemplateofMovesfrom
TheySay,ISay
andthenevenmoresowhenwe
watchedtheartistvideos.DuringtheTemplateofMoves,itbecameclearhowusefuldifferent
movescouldbeinwriting.Theydidnotnecessarilycontainideasforwhattowrite,butthey
containedwhatIneeded:waystohelpmywritingflowfromoneideatothenext.Forexample,
Introducinganongoingdebateisamoveinwhichawritercan[set]upthetopicofdiscussion
forthepieceofwriting.Theexamplethatthearticlegavewas,Somesay,Yes,good,weall
needholidaysfromthinking.Otherssay,Horrors!Theirvigilancemuscleswillgetflabbyand
theylllosetheirabilitytothinkcritically(BirkensteinandGraff).Ihadusetacticssuchasthis
before,butnowthatIexplicitlysawthetechniqueisolatedfromthecontextoftherestofthe
writing,itwasmucheasiertoseethesignificantpurposethatthismoveservedtogive
backgroundandsetupthewritingtodiscountoneoftheseopinionstomaketheargumentfor
theotheropinionstronger.NoneofmyWPsorsubsequentwritingsneededthismove,however
IthoughtitwastheonethatspoketomethemostandIplanonusingitinthefuturetohelp
bringmywritingtothenextlevel.Theconceptofmovesthenclickedevenmoretheclassafter
wewatchedthevideosofBobRossandtheDisneyartists.Whenwatchingthesevideos,I

foundtheminteresting,howeverdidnotreallygethowtheyrelatedtomakingmoves.Imean,I
gotthattheartistsweremakingmoves,butIdidnotmakethelargerconnection.Theninclass,
ZackcalledonSutherlandtoexplaintheepiphanyshehadaboutthevideos.Sheexplainedthat
sherealizedthatforourWP3s,weweregoingtobetheartists.Irealizedthatthe
transformationswereourartpiecesthatwewoulddesign,andthenthenarrationofhowand
whywemadethemovesinourpieceswasgoingtobeourreflection.Thisconnectionmademe
seeevenmorehowmovesareusedineveryaspectoflifeinordertoconvinceothersof
messageswewriters,artists,people,etc.aretryingtoconvey.
Afterstudyingthemovestemplate,IbegantobeabletorecognizeothermovesthatI
wantedtotrytousetoinsertmyvoiceintomywriting.WP3wastheperfectopportunitytodo
thisbecausewithmyiphoneappandflyer,mywritingwasgoingtobeveryinformalcompared
tomostofmypreviouswriting.SomemovesthatIdecidedtousewererhetoricalquestions,
readerfriendlyspacing,anddirectlyaddressingtheaudience.TherhetoricalquestionsthatI
usedwerequestionsthatIassumedtheaudienceofmywritingwouldhave,inordertoappeal
tothem.Forexample,IaskedquestionslikeWonderingwhymusichelpsyourrecoveryafter
workingout?andWhyisthisimportanttoyou?BothofthesesentencesarethingsthatI
couldpicturemyselfreadingandbeingengagedby,butneverbeforewouldhavepictured
myselfwriting,especiallyforaclass.However,Ithinkthecontextsinwhichthesequestions
occurredwereappropriateforthemandhelpedmegrabmyreadersattention.The
readerfriendlyspacingthatIemployedwasintentionalinordertoguidemyreadersthroughmy
writing,inboththeappandtheflyer,andnotoverwhelmthem.Inaddition,asseeninthe
rhetoricalquestions,Idecidedtospeakdirectlytotheaudience.Ifeltthatthismademywriting
seemmorepersonalandrelatable,whichwasimportantduetotheinformalityofbothofmy
writingplatforms.Beingabletofindmovesinotherpeopleswritingandfigureoutwhatpurpose

theyservedallowedmetousetheminmyownwritingwiththespecificintentionsofserving
purposessuchashelpingmywritingseemrelatableandsmooth.Knowingwhatmovesareis
definitelyhelpful,howeverknowingwhyeachmoveisusedwasthenextstepinhelpingmefind
myvoiceinmywriting.
Impersonatingappdesignersandgymtrainerswasonething,butInowhadtoseeifI
couldsuccessfullyusemovestoembedmyvoiceintoacademicwritingtoultimatelymakeit
lessstaleand,well,boring.ThetestcameinmyWP3reflection.Inmypreviouswritingof
thesisdrivenessays,thestrictformulathatIvisualizedinmyheadhelpedmekeepmyideason
track.Ineverhadaproblemfindingenoughtowriteabout.Ialwayshadaproblemwithessays
thatweretoolongwithtoomanyideasthattendedtomanifestthemselvesthroughwordy,
tedioussentences.AnexampleofthistypeofwritingfromtheintroofmyWP2is,FormyWP2,
Ianalyzedthreearticlesthatallstrivedtoaddresstherelevantissueofhowmillennialsactually
feelaboutoursupposedhookupculture.Yawn.Althoughthiswasokaysometimes,andIgot
betterwithwordiness,Ihadbeenatastaticpointinmywritingdevelopment,wherethenext
stepwasmakingmywritingmoremeinordertoavoidtechnicallycorrect,yetboring
sentences.AlthoughIwasafraidthatabandoningmystrictessayformatwouldallowmyideas
torunwild,notcontainedinanyway,theexperimentingpaidoffinmyWP3.
Areflectionwastheperfecttimetoputmyvoiceintomywritingbecausealthoughthe
organizationandcontentmatters,itismoreopenendedthanathesisdrivenessay.Istartedby
explainingthatFormyWP3,Ireallywantedtowriteaboutsomeaspectofmusic,becausethat
isoneofmybiggestinterests.Ithoughtitwouldbeinterestingtoinvestigateanarticlethat
showedarelationshipbetweenmusicandthebrainormusicandthebody.Onethingthatallof
myclosestfriendsknowaboutmeishowinlovewithmusicIam.Thefactthatthiswasableto
surfaceinanacademicessaythatIwroteforawritingclasswasunprecedentedtome.

However,Irealizedthatthisisthekindofinformationthatpeoplewanttohearabout.When
ZackcommentedonmyPB3A,
Afellowmusicbuff,ehhhhhhh?Yourarticlesoundsneat,I
realizedthatthiskindofinformationcreatesarelationshipwiththereaderthatengagesthem
more,andisultimatelyappreciatedbythembecauseitmakesthewritingwaymoreinteresting
toread.TheleapsandboundsthatIfeltlikeIhadcomesincemyWP1andWP2mademefeel
accomplished,howeverIwasnotcompletelyconvincedthatIwassuccessfulinmyendeavors.
WhenIgotmyWP3backandreceiveda10/10,Iwassoecstatic,andreallyfeltlikethethought
andworkthatIhadputintomyessaysoverthequarterpaidoff.
Iwentfromdreadingtheweeklythlogsandforthefirsttime,strugglingtofillupthe300
wordspace,tobeing(almost)disappointedthatwedidnothavetodothlogs9and10.Itsnot
thatIwantedmoreworkthanIalreadyhadtoworryaboutduringthefinalweeksofthequarter,
howeverthisspoketohowmuchmorecomfortableIhadbecomelettingmyvoicethroughinmy
writing.Atthebeginningoftheyear,whenZacktoldusthathewouldwalkhisdogswhilehe
readourthlogs,Iactuallypicturedhimbeingsoincrediblyboredwithmythlogsandjust
scrollingrightpastthem.Imean,Iconsistentlywrotethingslike,
inclassImgettingmuchmore
acquaintedwiththeideaofagenre.Blah.Iwouldevengetboredreadingmyownthlogs.After
alloftheexercisesthatwecompleted,Ifounditeasierandeasiertoreflectnotonlyonmy
writing,butwhatknowledgeIhadacquiredandhowIbegantoviewthingsdifferently.Thisclass
tookmywritingtothenextlevelbypushingthewaythatIthoughtaboutgenres,rhetoric,
conventions,organization,moves,andmyvoiceinmywriting.

WorksCited

Graff,Gerald,andCathyBirkenstein.
TheySay/ISay:TheMovesThatMatterin
AcademicWriting
.NewYork:W.W.Norton,2010.Print