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Luke Swanson
Professor Vaughn
Intermediate Composition
20 April 2016
Reflection Essay Intermediate Composition
After I enrolled in Intermediate Composition and picked up my textbook entitled Writing
about Writing, I will be the first to admit that I was dreading the class. English had never
particularly been my strong suit, and the thought of an entire class centered on writing about how
to write seemed like some kind of cruel joke. I remember thinking that the only thing worse than
a writing course would be a writing course centered on how to write. All my previous exposure
to writing courses focused more on the aspect of research, literary works, or some sort of
opinion-based reflection. I had tolerated them throughout the entirety of my academic career.
However, it wasnt until we were forced into this new realm of writing about writing that I
realized how much Ive grown this semester. Throughout my time in Intermediate Composition, I
was continually forced out of my comfort zone. I had been familiar with the concepts of writing
and applying them to other topics in the forms of research and opinion, but I never analyzed
them from a perspective of my own literary strengths and weaknesses. Because of this, I greatly
enhanced my skills as a reader and a writer. Throughout the course of the semester, I learned to
read and write through a different lens. Not only did I learn more about my own literary
foundation as a reader and writer, but I also learned how to more effectively communicate my
ideas, contribute to research, and find literary aspects in everything that I do.
Although less prominent, my progression as a reader has experienced notable growth
throughout the semester. I didnt actually change anything about how I was reading. There were

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no techniques or specific methods that we used in class to read different genres. Rather, it was
the way in which I viewed them, and what I was looking for while reading and analyzing the
text. Prior to Intermediate Composition, I looked for what the author was trying to communicate,
and not much else. Ive realized throughout the semester that its just as important to focus on
how the author is communicating his or her points. Sometimes the lexis and tone hidden between
the words in most literary works can be even more polarizing than the text itself. Our
comparative genre analysis was the best example of this. We analyzed different genres of text all
done on the same topic, which forced me to read deeper than the initial layer of words the
authors put out. This was a new concept to me, but it really helped me develop my ability to
think critically about the reading. All my life I had been strictly a reader, and I looked at others
text purely as an audience member. One of the most interesting and effective strategies that I
learned to utilize was learning to analyze the reading as a writer myself. This was not only
important in the context of our multi-genre analysis, but it also helped me to analyze our future
readings as well. Identifying the certain lexis and territory that the authors occupy throughout the
text became the primary focus of my literary analysis. In my English classes prior to
Intermediate Composition, the main focus was centered on what the author was saying, and the
topic of discussion. Understanding the readings in a way to reveal how the authors write reveals
so much more, and it gave me a new way to look at future readings.
Through my ability to read effectively and analyze text in different ways, I was also able
to apply these new techniques to my writing skills, where I noticed the most growth throughout
the semester. Just like my reading skills, I really didnt notice a whole lot of difference in the
actual way I was writing, but the new mentality in which I had towards it. This was an invaluable
experience for me, as I had never thought it was necessary to write about my own writing. This

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realization was sparked from the first essay we wrote, and continued to develop as the semester
went on. In our first paper, we were asked to discuss our own literary history, habits, and
practices. It seemed like a simple assignment that really wouldnt require much thought or
provoke much thought afterwards. However, it proved to be the exact opposite. I struggled for a
while to figure out what my literary habits even were, and what the defining moments were in
my literary development. In fact, my original idea to write the paper wasnt even focused on
literacy. I had brainstormed and began to write my paper on my interactions with my family, and
how I thought that made me into the reader and writer that I am today. Not until Professor
Vaughn and several of my classmates told me that it wasnt a literacy and that I should focus on
something else did I realize I had no idea where my literary development even came from. After
a lot of deliberation and even phone calls to my parents did I figure out I loved teaching and
that it affected a lot of the things that I did today.
However, being able to effectively communicate and write about my literary roots wasnt
even the most valuable source of writing improvement I experienced. The future of my reading
and writing career will forever be impacted not only by new critical thinking skills I talked about
earlier, but also bearing in mind my strengths and past literary history. My strengths were always
there, but I wasnt necessarily utilizing them properly until this class. I didnt ever view my
writing through the lens of teaching, and how that could potentially shape the way I
communicated my ideas. I didnt ever read a book with the same mentality that I would to a
classroom full of elementary school kids. I never viewed my research as contributing to an ongoing conversation, or eventually something that I would be presenting to others. As I gradually
came to terms with these realizations after the first paper, I began to embrace them and apply
them to the other assignments we did. Even something as simple as the discussion board or the

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in-class discussions gave me great opportunities to apply this new method of applied analysis
and thinking. I noticed a difference not only in my writing, but in the overall development of my
critical thinking process.
The growth that I experienced this semester through re-defining the way I read and write
has not only transformed my literary skills, but also translated into multiple facets of my life.
Ive learned to read under a broader scope, and Ive learned to write in terms of my own personal
strengths and applying the same mentality I have when reading. Ive become more integrated in
student mentoring organizations that play to my strengths and help me to apply these concepts
such as Bearcat Buddies and UC Navigators. These organizations not only give me a chance to
find out more about myself and improve upon my skills, but also give me more opportunity to
translate that over to my reading and writing. Many view reading and writing as something that
stays in the classroom and doesnt venture far from the realm of research. I fell into this category
for so long, but through Intermediate Composition I have learned to apply my literary elements
so much further. I owe so much to the literary revolution that played out in my life this semester,
as it taught me new ways of reading, thinking critically, writing, and applying these concepts into
everything that I do.