Laura Perez-Landin

Professor Speiser
Writing 2
6 December 2016
Metacognitive Essay
As a former struggling writer, I was afraid of taking Writing 2. After two years of being
criticized for my writing in high school, I was not ready to be further criticized in college. I
thought, might as well get it over with now instead of later. Then, as the course continued, I
became much more comfortable with writing. I have learned so much more about audience and
purpose through the ideas presented in the course like genres and discourse communities. Now, I
am more confident in my writing and ready to take on (almost) any assignment to come.
At first, any sort of writing scared me; however, we were eased through the process with
project builders. Project builders were helpful in developing the final essay. When I first was
introduced to them, I thought of them as pre-essays. It overwhelmed me in the beginning, but I
soon learned how helpful they were in the writing process. It made writing the writing projects
much easier and surprisingly fun. It was exciting to see ideas come together to prove a thesis. I
was putting the puzzle pieces together to create a bigger picture.
Although told many times to do rough drafts by teachers, I never understood them. I
didnt understand why someone would write a paper more than once if they can just do it right
the first time. However, after I read Shitty First Drafts by Anne Lamott, my mind completely
changed. Since I thought that people should get it right the first time, I would be frustrated that I
didnt. Then I learned that its okay to have bad first drafts. Its okay to just write whatever is on
my mind and then organize it and improve it later.

While writing the first WP1, I thought of Teaching Two Kinds of Thinking, by Peter
Elbow. I realized that I focused too much on second order thinking. I needed to work more on
my first order thinking. As a result, I just wrote words that came up in my head in whatever
structure, and then I would try to organize it to be more coherent. To my surprise, this made my
writing process faster and better. Instead of crafting my ideas in my head and then forgetting
what they were in the first place, I would write them out on paper and then restructure it so that it
came across more clearly. This way, all my ideas are delivered in the exact way I intend.
Furthermore, I struggled with connecting my evidence to my argument. In my mind, I
understood exactly why I used a particular piece of evidence and how it related to my argument.
Although my teachers would say I needed to explain my reasons in more detail, I didnt
understand how if it is already as detailed as it can be. This reminds me of Sommer and Saltzs
article Novice as Expert because they explain how students let sources speak for themselves.
Fortunately, like the students in the study, I improved my use of sources. Previously, I would
reread my essays for grammar errors shortly after I finished the essay. Since we took time in
between the drafts, I picked up on the conceptual errors of my essays. I understood when I
needed to further explain a quote, or clear up a paragraph with a better conclusion sentence.
In addition, the articles Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice:
Membership, Conflict, and Diversity by Ann Johns and Reading Games by Karen Rosenburg
helped me realize that I am part of a community. I do not have to agree with the writer. I always
thought that was why teachers made students read certain articles, to brainwash students into
thinking a certain way. Being my stubborn self, I never wanted to change the way I thought, so I
would always rebel against these types of articles. Here I learned to be more open minded with
readings, but I could still have an opinion. Not only that I can have an opinion, but that I was

encouraged to have a stance. I never wanted to ask questions because I thought the answers were
obvious. However, now I see that there is a deeper meaning and that I can ask for help to find it.
While the first and second writing project were more researched based, quite reflective,
and aided in achieving the course goals, the third writing project really reflected what I learned
in the course. I was able to show my creative side, but also how genres are important. I thought a
lot about purpose and audience in during this project. While all projects involved these two
topics, this one felt more involved because I was transforming one genre to another. I thought
about how the people reading a certain genre would want to read it and why they would want to
read it in that way. It made me see the importance of the conventions genres have and being
aware of them and their purpose.
I was able to test the knowledge I have gained from Writing 2 in my Anthropology
course. I started with writing parts of the essay first and focused on perfecting it after. After I put
every part together, I reread it and corrected any minor errors. I made the same mistakes I usually
do, but the difference is that I recognized these mistakes and was able to correct them before
handing in the paper. As a result, I got a 98 on my paper. I was completely shocked at my result,
and the grader even commented that I was a good writer. Without taking this course, Im sure I
would not have gotten that grade.
All in all, I am thankful that this class is a requirement. I have learned so much about
writing and I definitely achieved the course goals. All aspects of my writing have improved, and
I know there is still more I need to learn, but now I am more willing to learn it. I was closed to
the idea of writing any differently than I did before, but now I understand there is a bigger
purpose to writing than just turning in a paper for a grade. When I write, I am a part of a
discourse community, and I am putting my ideas into the mix.