Meredith Boles

Professor Rines
UWRT 1101- 002
12 April 2015
My Final Reflection
As I enrolled in my first year university writing class, I was honestly concerned.
Concerned to what assignments I would be asked to complete, if I would do well, and if I was
going to improve as a writer. Reflecting on the past semester, I can confidently answer these
apprehensions. During this course, I completed a Genre Analysis, Micro-Ethnography, Daybook
Entries, Discussion Forums, and in-class experiences. Throughout these assignments, I was able
to evolve as a writer.
Class is started with a five minutes writing exercise called Daybook Entries. Olivia either
gives us a discussion topic or a fellow classmate will choose one from the If book. I have
really enjoyed having this quiet time at the beginning of class; it allows me to get focused for the
class period. Depending on the discussion topic, Daybook Entries also allow me to get personal
with my response. After five minutes, we are given the opportunity to share what we wrote with
the class. This gives the class diversity because we are all entitled to our own opinions, so
listening to my classmates has made me become more open-minded. Daybook Entries are also
opportunities to receive participation points. However, this is not the only way to receive
participation points. Throughout class, if I share something or just have a comment on the
discussion, I can receive participation points. These points are apart of the in-class experience
because being aware that I am receiving points gives me an incentive to talk during class. It is

encouraging to talk because discussions, conversations, and debates are welcomed during class
time.
Discussion Forums are assignments that are given on Moodle. They are reading
assignments that consist of articles that introduce the topic that we are going to be talking about
in class, or informing articles that Olivia thought were important. There are two Discussion
Forums that are due at the beginning of the class each Monday and Wednesday. These
assignments are basically my homework. It is my responsibility to post a response to the forum,
as well as posting a reply response to another classmates response. These responses do have
requirements; my response to the forum should be 300-500 words. My reply to another
classmates response should be at least 100 words. These forums allow me to express my
opinions and knowledge on the provided reading. Doing these twice a week also keeps me in
check and prepares me for the next class.
During this class, we had two major projects. The first project was a Genre Analysis. For
this assignment, I chose the topic of childrens books. As Olivia introduced this project to us in
class, I immediately became nervous. It sounded like a huge and scary assignment, especially
since this would be my first paper since I got to college. This assignment was also really in-depth
to what genre truly is. Fortunately, the process was extremely smooth. There was a first draft,
peer workshop, time for revisions, second draft, more time for revisions, and the final draft.
The peer workshop was a great way to receive criticism and make improvements. I read
two classmates papers as I also had two classmates reading my paper. We provided comments
and advice to how to better their paper. More eyes that read my paper, the better. The classmates
that read my paper gave comments and an ending note that allowed me to see where I needed to
improve so I could make the appropriate changes before creating my second draft. After turning

in my second draft to Olivia and got my ghost grade back, I did not do as well as I had hoped for.
Although this was discouraging, I saw where I was as a writer and how much room I had for
growth.
The second big assignment was a Micro-Ethnography. Before beginning this project, as a
class, we educated ourselves of what a Micro-Ethnography was and how to successfully write
one. Like the Genre Analysis, I was able to be personal with the topic that I chose to do my
Micro-Ethnography on; I chose Dairy Farming. Before writing, we were required to have three
observations of the community along with two interviews. I felt more involved with this project
because it was more hands on and it also allowed me to explore my interests and bring my
research altogether. I really enjoyed the presentation part of this project. As a class, we took two
days to present our community and share our findings. I was intrigued by what communities my
classmates chose to research. Even if I did not read their paper, I still was able to get a glimpse of
what their project was about. I thought presenting was a good idea because in the future, we will
all at some point have to present on a much greater level.
The experiences that I have had in this class have improved my writing. I have definitely
gained a broader knowledge of what writing is. I have learned from the assignments that I
completed that thinking outside of the box is key when it comes to a college writing class. At the
beginning of the class, we started right away at developing a more concrete definition of what
genre is, which led to the Genre Analysis. I have learned that with the writing assignments, I
have to address everything that is required. In high school, this was overlooked. So, now when I
am in other writing classes in the future, I know to pay attention to the requirements more
carefully.

My biggest struggle when I started this class was not knowing what to expect. This was
going to be my first college writing class so I was intimidated. After the peer workshops, it was
challenging to take the criticism that my peers gave me and to reconstruct my work for the better.
Having the overlapping assignments, I also had to learn how to manage my time. My success in
this class will help me as I take more writing classes in my college career.
There were many things that I enjoyed about this class. It was very helpful to have the
extended time to revise the papers so I can make sure that it is exactly what I wanted. The peer
workshops were also very useful in making the revisions possible. Most of all, I liked how broad
the assignments were. It is very important to be able to adapt and familiarize yourself with many
different styles of writing. As a writer, I definitely feel like I have grown. I am no longer writing
five-paragraph essays. I also gained confidence in writing in styles that I was not familiar with. I
am able to see growth with every assignment from this semester. I am nowhere near being a
perfect writer, but there is always room for improvements. So, I will continue to write and I will
continue to grow.