Madeline CizMadia

Dr. Jan Rieman

UWRT 1103
27 September 2014
MidTerm Reflection Letter
Dear Dr. Rieman,
At first, I thought that the WTE assignments wouldnt really help me gain anything more about
writing except maybe to help writing come more naturally to me. Now I can see how they have
helped me reflect on myself and the way I have grown in my writing. Just as I have learned to
take writing more seriously and connect to it more, my writing and reading have become more
relaxed and less constrained. I used to feel as if my writing was limited by the boundaries of
correct formatting and these words cant be used types of restraints. Through the WTE
Writers on Writing I was able to really reflect on my growth and how my writing styles are not
as different (compared to professional writers) as I thought they were. I think part of growing in
writing is gaining the ability to look back on the past and make those connections about how Ive
grown and what improvements Ive made. Had I not been able to make those connections, I
wouldnt be able to recognize current and future ones and improve myself through that
understanding. I dont think that my view on research has changed, but I definitely think that
since Ive witnessed so many testimonies to writing and research, my writing has gotten more
relaxed and less strict and formal. Passages like the de-grading article have helped me solidify
and write out my opinions on writing, reading, and other related topics.

Out of every type of writing that I have done since arriving on campus has been our writing
into the day activities at the beginning or end of each of our class periods. I enjoy this the most
because it differs so much from every other type of writing that I have ever done in any class
ever. All other writing has been so strict and restrained by guidelines, even my AP English
teacher required us to have an out of the box conclusion which was very hard to think of with
some prompts. The writing into the day prompts all have very simple guidelines and no
restrictions. The freedom to write whatever and however I want is refreshing and I cant be
penalized for doing it wrong.
When I was doing the Writing to Explore prompt about the art of handwriting, I had an idea
that relates identity to our personal style of handwriting. When I was writing, I thought to add
this to my piece, all of the ideas flowed faster and smoother, and I was able to write much more
than I would have otherwise. That paragraph turned out to be the longest paragraph out in that
entire essay because I was able to write with such ease. When I can write due to motivation that
occurred during the writing process, everything comes much more naturally and I feel like
everything fits into place and flows more than my other writing has. Unfortunately this type of
occurrence is rare when I write.
For our freshmen seminar class, Dr. Warner told us to write a letter that described our goals
and what we wanted to get out of the semester. This is the writing that I am most proud of
because I was able to really focus on myself and see how my life in the past, present and future
connected. We were told to write about how we saw ourselves and about our goals not only for
the semester, but also for college and life after college. I loved how I was able to tell about
everything I wanted to be and how I wanted all of my choices in life to impact what I want to do
in the future. Even though I acknowledged that the biggest obstacles in achieving my goals are

finding my niche and distinguishing myself against all of the other students who also will apply
to vet school, I loved writing out and planning how all of my goals lead to one final dream of
becoming a veterinarian.
I am least proud of two different things that I have written this semester so far. Some of the
earliest reading responses that I have done for class this year has been the worst piece I have
written thus far. I feel like at the beginning of the semester, all of my reading responses have
been lacking in depth. When discussing and reading the responses in class, it seemed that
everyone was coming up with really good and insightful responses that I wasnt seeing in the
texts themselves. It felt almost as if they were all diving in and I was just skimming the surface
of it all.
One of the questions I have that relates to writing is about our own mental response to an
opinion based piece. I wonder how often an opinion based work strengthens our own opinions
against theirs and how often it actually achieves its goal of convincing the reader to believe what
they are writing about. Another question I find myself asking is whether or not some works of
various authors actually reflect a well thought out opinion based on their own inquiry. I know
that so many people like to write blogs compulsively when they feel strongly about a subject;
however, if they do this without inquiring into what they are writing it could be completely false.
This semester, I would like to work on the flow of my writing and improving it so that it does
not sound slightly choppy and unfocused. I want all of my thoughts to connect and transition
smoothly and not be as awkward as they have been. Another thing that I feel I need to work on is
how I conclude my writing. Some students have these beautifully crafted conclusions to their
writing and mine sound incomplete. I want to be able to wrap up my thoughts completely ad
coherently rather than just saying in conclusion.

I think that this semester for our inquiry project, Id like to focus on identity, more
specifically personal identity. We as Americans all identify ourselves as different from one
another. We want to be the same in the sense that we want to like what is cool and popular, but
we also want to be distinguishable in our own way. I think that we unintentionally group people
from other countries into one group that identifies themselves with the same things. Although
they all identify with one culture, I think that they also identify themselves separately like we do.
I want to look into all of the different ways that people identify themselves.
I think that persistence/eagerness and openness are the habits of mind that I need to improve
on the most. I think that persistence and engagement coincide with each other in that if you are
engaged with the topic, you are more likely to be persistent in following it through. Sometimes I
dont feel engaged with a topic and it doesnt give me much motivation or persistence to finish. I
also think that if a person is not open and comfortable with who youre writing to, you cant fully
write your true thoughts and give your opinion about topics.
Personally, I like reading your responses to my writing. A lot of the comments that you leave
that show how I could have improved my writing such as I wonder if you are too quick to
dismiss the point the other author makes about how spelling can evolve/adapt to new
communication situations open a lot of doors to great conversations. I feel like I benefit a lot
from large group discussions and it would be fun and helpful to our conception of material if we
discussed some of the questions you pose in everyones writing. If I had to ask you one question,
it would be inquiring about the flow of my paper and how well I conclude it, since I feel like
those are my two greatest weaknesses in my writing.
In my opinion, through all of our work, we are cultivating all of the habits of mind. I still
could use some work on some of them and I want to build them throughout the rest of the

semester. I think that my WTEs have been improving in content as I go along and connect with
the work more. At first I didnt completely engage, but now I do. As far as participating in class
and sharing with groups, I feel like I have done a much better job at putting out my opinion and
sharing than I have done in the past years. What I say may not be the best, but at least Im saying
it. All of the major assignments and reflective work from me and/or my group have been turned
in on time. I take the time at outline everything and put thought into the work I turn in. All of
your teacher commitments that you have in the contract has been met by everything youve done
both in class and out of class. Like I mentioned above, I think more class discussion would be
beneficial to everyone.
In light of everything weve done this year, I think it is going very well and Im really
learning more about myself and the way I write. Although writing has never been a favorite
subject of mine, its quickly becoming more natural and enjoyable to do.
Sincerely,
Maddy CizMadia