Taylor 1

Andy Taylor
De Piero
Writing 2
7 December 2015
Metacognitive Reflection
Coming into this school year I had no idea what to expect. As a first year with no
clue about what I wanted to study, I ended up with a couple GEs and an academic
writing class that I dreaded from the moment I signed up. I had never been a fan of
writing and I figured it would be best to get the requirement over with early. However, I
was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed this course and the way it helped me
grow. Throughout the quarter I was able to develop and fine-tune my abilities as a
writer and a thinker as well as gain a new appreciation for writing as a whole.
Possibly the biggest change I have made this quarter is my initial approach to
writing and the idea of writing. My approach to the topic before this class was far too
methodical. With my logical mind and love for reason, I maintained the belief that I
could attack a paper the same way I would a math problem. I always thought that I
could solve a writing prompt by simply plugging information into my preconceived
structures and formulas for a good essay. Throughout the quarter I experimented with
new approaches based on advice from Zack and my classmates as well as opinions
expressed in the course readings.
When WP1 came around I used my methods as usual. I found the topic to be
dry and the process to be painstakingly boring. Nevertheless, I plugged in the
information and did my best to get through it. As you may suspect from my attitude

Taylor 2
towards the paper, I received a disappointing grade. It didnt make sense to me at the
time but one of Zacks comments in particular stood out. He told me, Inject more of
your own voice into this piece. With all due respect, it came across as a bit dry in
some places and I wouldve loved to read about your stance . This is something
that I always struggled with. I often found that I tried too hard to be academic and I
could never really be myself when writing for a class. As I tried to work on this, I began
to discover my own voice through our weekly thlogs. Zack emphasized how informal
these were and it allowed me to relax and just let my ideas flow. I hesitantly brought this
strategy into more formal settings for my subsequent PBs and WPs. The personal
results were outstanding. Aside from the fact that my grades and feedback improved
immensely, I actually started to enjoy the writing process and found that I really believed
in what I was saying. Instead of just regurgitating information and filling up a template, I
decided to let my ideas take their own shape and see where it led. This newfound
approach carried me through the rest of the quarter and made each new paper more of
a personal expression rather than a tedious assignment.
Not only has my approach to writing changed throughout the quarter, but so has
my writing process. Until recently I always struggled to move ideas from my brain to the
paper. I was vaguely aware that this was a problem, but I could never figure out why.
That is until we were assigned to read a Peter Elbow essay titled Two Kinds of
Thinking. As I moved through the passage everything started to make sense. Elbow
explained that among the two main forms of thinking are first order: Intuitive and
creative (Elbow 50), and second order: Conscious, directed, controlled (Elbow 50).
Thats when things really clicked. I realized that in my writing process I was far too

Taylor 3
critical of my ideas. I questioned myself so often through second order thinking that
only the ideas I genuinely loved ever reached the paper. Taking Elbows advice, I began
to develop a new writing process. Keeping in mind the ideas another course reading,
Shitty First Drafts by Anne Lamott (this one is pretty self-explanatory), I convinced
myself to start off writing down everything that popped into my head as a result of firstorder thinking. At times I found this produced papers that far exceeded our maximum
lengths. Once everything was down on paper and I had a shitty first draft, I reread my
paper from a far more selective viewpoint. I weeded out the bad, elaborated on the
good, and restructured the disorganized. With this newly developed process I found my
final products to be overall more coherent, flowing, and effective.
While the approach and process are very important, I think the overall new
respect for writing is the most important knowledge I have acquired from this class. My
perspective and understanding of the subject has completely transformed since the
beginning or the quarter. For instance, I have an entirely new comprehension of how
complex writing can be. Through the very specific focus on aspects of writing such as
genre awareness and moves, I was awakened to the fact that every little detail of
writing has far more relevance than I could imagine. The reading How to Read Like a
Writer by Mike Bunn inspired me to approach these little details with a new analytical
perspective. Rather than reading solely for content, I began ask myself questions like
Why did that statement affect me the way it did? and How did this paragraph
contribute to the paper as a whole?. The idea of writing took on a whole new shape.
Now instead of lines of information, I see papers as a cumulation of well thought-out
moves and strategies tailored to a specific audience for a specific purpose.

Taylor 4
Approaching reading in this manner allows me to analyze the authors actions with the
purpose of improving my own writing through the adoption and development of new
strategies.
Through my growth and development over the quarter I became so involved in
the class that I forgot about my initial fear completely. I found myself viewing that class
as an opportunity rather than a requirement. I have learned a lot about writing and
thinking in this class, but I have also learned a little bit about life. Through my change in
attitude towards writing I have discovered that sometimes you can learn to love the
things you dread if you approach them with an open mind.