Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

From UMassWiki

I never took a structured writing course throughout high school. In English class we wrote essays and worked on grammar and vocabulary, but we were never taught exactly how to write a decent paper. Before I entered college, everything I wrote sounded like a research paper. I have always been able to take concrete facts and apply them to a particular thesis, but I had no idea how to incorporate any type of personality into my writing. When trying to be imaginative I could not create a concrete argument in order to tie the ideas of my paper together.

Looking back at my very first draft on my identity paper, these traits in my writing are very apparent. While trying to be creative, I strung miscellaneous stories of my younger years together, hoping to create an image of myself as a person. Instead, I was left with random stories that an audience could never relate to.

The concept of applying personal identity to writing was something I had never thought about before I entered my college writing class. I never considered the fact that I have a voice that could be displayed in other manners then verbal communication. In class, we had an assignment in which we compared our experiences reading another students paper, to speaking with another individual. I was very frustrated that the majority of the class agreed that reading the paper told more about that certain person. I did not understand how you could even begin to identify with an individual simply by reading something they had written. It wasn’t until we learned about the rhetorical situation that it all began to make sense.

Through my second and third draft, I worked to make a stronger argument for myself. After almost entirely re-writing my paper, I came up with the idea to compare my different interests in music. This paper certainly had a stronger basis than before. I compared my interest in music with different locations and childhood memories. It wasn’t until I began to actually incorporate personal statements about myself into my paper that it finally felt like I was making a statement.

At first I felt really uncomfortable writing about a part of my personality I’ve never shared with anyone before, but I eventually realized it made my paper stronger. With each personal detail and vivid description, I could see my paper taking shape and displaying the argument in which I intended. It also made me better understand me. Although I know that I have a need for my home and personal security, I’ve never said it out loud or written it down. Being able to express myself clearly through writing is an experience that is new to me.

This writing assignment broadened my horizons. I still feel as though my writing needs a lot of improvement, but I am happy that I am finally learning how to critically look at my writing and see what it is lacking. Especially for a major in political science or international relations, I need strong writing skills. Hopefully as the writing class continues, I will continue to improve because I like being able to watch my work positively progress.