Kim Baker Final Reflective Letter English 1101 December 4th 2013

Dear Rebecca, Writing has always come naturally to me. I began to write for fun when I was in 4th grade. I would borrow my moms laptop and write stories about my dream life with fictional characters that would resemble my friends and I. Once I got into high school and started having to write things other than stories, such as 10-page essays, I lost a little motivation to write. I think that I let my skill for writing suffer as I stopped making use of it for leisure. I struggled to use every ounce of motivation I had to get through my junior year with a 15-page research paper. I was upset that I was not able to further my interest in learning about how to write more than just fairytale stories. I longed to have the skills to be able to write an intriguing short story that included drama and irony, although once writing was portrayed as torture I turned my back on the opportunity to learn anything.

I did not know what to expect when I came into class on the first day of English 1101. I assumed that college English would include a lot of tedious reading of long books about things I was unlikely to be interested in. Little did I know, that was not going to be the case at all. When I found out that we were going to be keeping a journal and a blog, I was excited. In the past I had enjoyed having a place

where I could write personal reflections and interpretations of things. It is much easier for me to write in an open-ended manner than to follow a strict set of guidelines that would force my writing to be similar to every one of my classmates.

Another thing that I enjoyed about this class was that I could also incorporate my love for story writing in some of the essays, specifically the literacy narrative. Not only was I able to write stories but I learned so much about how I could relate the stories of my life to the kind of writer I have become today, and how they have had a strong connection. After reading about Malcom X and seeing the way his time in jail helped to sponsor his literacy which ultimately influenced the writer he became, helped me to realize that most of the experiences I have had growing up have also greatly influenced my literacy. While learning about discourse communities and the stance of being on the inside verse the outside of a particular community, I was able to open my eyes to a whole new platform of writing. I have never done much writing that included observations, other than in science classes. It was very interesting as well as easy to write based off observations and what I thought about them.

After taking this class, I have not only become a better writer but I have come to better understand what makes me a good writer and also what writing is in a deeper sense. By reading the pieces about genre analysis and discourse communities, I have also realized that great writing can also come from in depth observation of something that might be right in front of you.