Reflection

As the summer session comes to a close, there seems to be more work than ever. I find myself rushing to get everything done, with only a few hours to eat and sleep. I'm a very nocturnal person which is why I'm working on revising my research paper till 4 in the morning. However, during the breaks I take while I write, I've come to reflect on how this class has affected me as writer. As a final post to the blog, I thought it would be appropriate to share my experiences writing in English N1B.

Today during class, Natalia mentioned the importance of detaching yourself from your writing a little. When she said this, I felt like she was referring specifically to me. (This does seem egocentric of me.) Often when I write, I become emotionally attached to my writing, and I feel like the final product is a great achievement. Somehow, the paper I had just written was a part of me, and I had just put down a part of me on paper. A finished essay is only satisfying to me if I feel that the paper went the way I wanted it to go. When writing gets frustrating, it can ruin my mood for the rest of the day. This prevents me from being productive and lends itself to procrastination. This is how I felt about this final research paper which took me awhile to even start the revision process, because I already knew how unhappy I was with my first draft. I know writing isn't supposed to be perfect, but I at least want to be happy with what I had created. Fortunately, I'm happy now with my final draft, and hopefully, it's better for my readers.

This is very different from my experience writing the reading paper. With that one, I had a clear vision of what I wanted my paper to look like in the end, and I worked it out the way I had planned. Even the revision process seemed to come naturally, because I felt like the paper was only getting better and better.

I took this class thinking it would give me more practice in constructing analytical essays since I have to write a lot of essays in Gender and Women's Studies. One of my weaknesses in writing is not having enough analysis in my paper. Many times, I receive my paper back with comments such as: "This is a good start, but I would like you to go deeper in the analysis." I still received these kinds of comments on my paper, but hopefully I've gotten better.

Anyway, I hope everyone is working hard or even done with their paper. Good luck and I hope everyone enjoys the last 10 days left of summer.