Matt's+Reflective+Letter

 I find it paradoxical that at the end of every college semester, when students are supposed to be reviewing and reflecting on the term’s work, we deal with the most stress and the lengthiest assignments of term. This portfolio reflection offered an opportunity to combat this irony, so that I was nearly forced to look back at the writing that I have submitted throughout the semester and then write about the writing. Although it was still at the end of the semester and I won’t say that I dedicated a lot of time to really examining my previous writing pieces, it was refreshing to have an assignment that asked me to simply examine the work I have already submitted and then submit those assignments as a final portrait of my work in this course. I don’t know that my writing has improved throughout this course, and I honestly don’t know if I learned all that much about my own writing—the course was extremely interesting and helpful in terms of teaching writing to high school students, but I don’t feel that I spent enough time with my own writing to really develop anything beyond where my technique was at the beginning of class.

 The one place where I think I learned a lot about writing and writing processes was in completing the Unfamiliar Genre Project. I chose to include in this portfolio the drafts of this assignment because I think they are the most unique and I spent the most time on them. The drafting process that I went through to submit this project is probably unique to this genre, but it taught me a lot about drafting and genre. First of all, I realized that in order to write a recipe, I had to actually create the recipe—so the practice of cooking was a sort of genre and a sort of draft in itself. I then realized, in researching the genre of recipe, that there were certain key components that had to be included in a recipe to make it coherent. I also decided that my recipe was going to be in blog form, and I had to reconcile these discoveries with this decision. The result was the creation of my first “draft”—a standard form, no-frills recipe. I wrote the ingredients and the simple steps for creating the meal that I had designed. I simultaneously recorded what I actually did in a more reflective style, hoping that this would adapt well to a blog entry. My next draft involved putting these two together to form one piece that was at the same time informative and directional, but practical and entertaining as well.

 This drafting process inspired me to look at genre differently. I recognized that within the genre of recipe, there are different forms of recipes and different purposes for writing a recipe. This is true of all genres—but what I didn’t realize right away (and what is probably the most obvious) is that these different “sub-genres” can combine to form a new “sub-genre” and it would still be considered a recipe. That’s how we are able to get away with writing a “food blog,” which is really just a recipe with commentary. Once I had my recipe and commentary, I also decided that I wanted to add photographs to illustrate the steps of my process and show off my creation. Standard recipes that are published in cookbooks usually feature either a single photo exhibiting the final product of the recipe, or photographs for each numbered step in the recipe. I wasn’t numbering my steps, but I wanted pictures throughout, so I needed to figure out a way to work these into the piece. I was then working with a new genre—photography—which also required drafts (not all of the pictures turned out great!) and I had to format the text so that the commentary flowed nicely with the illustrations. All of these steps are not explicitly shown in my included drafts, but I think I could accurately consider each step an individual draft that was important to the development of the final piece.

 Thus, looking back on this process, I recognize new ideas in drafting that I would not have considered before. Drafting is not always one coherent process that evolves in //one// piece of writing; instead, it can be (perhaps should be) a meshwork of the different genres, research, citations, and experiences that are brought together to form a final text. Drafting in this sense exposes a lesson in genre, as well: that genres necessarily overlap and play off of each other, no matter how close or far apart they may seem. I think my project is a fine example of the elasticity of genre and how this works out in a single piece of writing. In order to create the piece, I had to write a list, a set of directions, and a reflective narrative; I had to take pictures and design a blog page. All of these features came together to form what can now be defined in terms of one “genre.”

 This project required a lot of work outside of what I am normally familiar with, thought I can’t really say the same about the other two pieces that I am submitting. I consider myself a pretty strong academic writer and I am very comfortable writing essays for my classes at the university level. It shouldn’t surprise, then, that I included my “analyze and interpret” piece and my “inquire and explore” piece in this portfolio. Both of these genres/purposes required a relatively stable and formal tone, a fair amount of research or knowledge, and the ability to raise questions and make assertions. These are techniques that I am familiar with because of my experience with academic writing. I chose not to include my expressive piece because that is a mode that I am much less comfortable writing in, and it is difficult for me to take pride in work on that nature. Even now, as I write this reflection, I wonder if I sound too formal and methodical, and if this is interesting to read at all. I know that my voice and style is indicative of my experience writing papers for university literature classes, and it is very difficult for me to abandon this in order to write an informal piece. I’m sure that this is a weakness in my blog writing, because I was focusing so much on writing the recipe that I didn’t spend much time examining the traits of a blog that I could have practiced to make my writing more enjoyable for internet readers. Maybe I’m lazy for deciding not to take the time to work harder in this style, but that’s beside the point. I’d like to challenge myself if I have an opportunity in the future to work on combining these styles much like I did in my Unfamiliar Genre Project. I’m sure I could produce some great work if I can work my analytical voice into a reflective narrative that is enjoyable to read.

 Looking back on this reflection (how recursive!), I suppose I did learn a lot about my writing in this course. I certainly have things that I can work on as a writer, and it’s nice to know that this includes using my strengths as an academic writer to enhance my possibly dull expressive writing. I am hoping that I can work on this and improve in this regard. I also realize that the various genre studies have allowed me to think more critically about the concept of genre, and this creative thinking will help both in the secondary classroom and in my own writing. All in all, I am proud of what I was able to accomplish in these writing samples and in this class as a whole, and I am excited to teach writing so that students have the opportunity to expand their understanding and practice these techniques in the same way that I have.