Burgert 1

Andrew Burgert

Professor Jan Rieman

ENGL 1103-001

October 26, 2010

Becoming a Better Writer

Writing has always been a difficult proposition for me. Through this class, I hope to

make writing require less effort. With frequent writing assignments, I am being encouraged to

improve my writing skills.

An academic writer writes compositions that are intended for academic purposes. With

the majority of my writing being academic in nature, I am little but an academic writer. I fail to

see the dimensions in academic writing, however, unless they include research, writing, and

publishing. The thoughtful decisions I make now are driven mostly by the prompt (explicit or

implicit) given for the composition in question. The prompts thus far have really inspired me to

contemplate the ideas supporting the topics.

My reading practices to this point have varied little. Some articles were easy to read

straight through. The Blue Sweater was also an easy read. The extent to which I engage with

academic texts varies depending on how complex or verbose the text is. For example, Brandt’s

“Sponsors of Literacy” was not unlike a stainless steel wall of text - polished and smooth, with

no way to get up without a powerful drill – whereas Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read” and

Alexie’s “The Joy of Reading and Writing” were a joy to read. Their structures were less

complex, and their themes were interesting and engaging.

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As for various modes of composition in this course, keeping a log is new for me. I used

this mode in the Writing Log and Observation prompts of the Writing to Explore assignment. In

the past, I have used the outline development, single-draft composition, and “daybook entry”

methods of composition. I have used examples from a text to support my interpretation of said

text at least once in this course, but I do not believe I have consciously used ideas from

previously consumed texts to interpret others. I have often done research for academic

purposes, but the Inquiry paper will be the first time I do research on an aspect of literacy. In

fact, this course is the first time I have seen literacy used as a primary topic.

Starting with my Sponsors of Literacy-themed paper, “I’ll Never Not Read Again”, I found

writing the paper to be exceptionally difficult. I have worked on bigger papers before, such as

the Graduation Project, but those were over a very long term. I soon discovered the challenge

involved in writing two page papers every week - in addition to other assignments. The peer

workshops reinforced the number of revisions necessary for writing a paper. The daybook

entries at the start of every class period are nothing new – I have done similar things in many of

my English classes.

Looking ahead, there is a greater amount of items left to be completed, with greater

work/effort to be expended on each. I have already done six Writing to Explore papers. There

are only four of them left to complete, and on average, I expect them to take the same amount

of work as the previous six. The Inquiry paper, however, seems like it will require significantly

more effort than everything else that has come before it in this course. My current idea for the

Inquiry paper is describing in general the ways and reasons people read. I am concentrating on

reading because I have a stronger affinity towards reading. The portfolio, in addition, will be a
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great expenditure of effort on something that I have never done before – returning to and

revising completed papers and then “reflecting” on them.

Relating to literacy practices, I feel much more comfortable reading than writing.

Writing is challenging, and continues to be challenging - increasingly so, depending on the

length and breadth of the paper. My personal goal would be to make writing an easier and

more productive experience for me. I love this class, how it is run, and the class environment.

It almost makes it worthwhile by itself!