I’ve been in higher education for four years now. I was roughly 18 when I started going to De Anza College in Cupertino. As community colleges go, it wasn’t the worst and it’s considered the second best after Foothill College in Los Altos Hills (at least in my general area). I chose english as a major because I considered it an easy major (boy, was I wrong) and thought I was pretty okay at writing essays.

Writing has always be present in college. I’ve only ever taken english classes that were required for my major but some of them have been very different in terms of what is required of me with my writing. I had a creative writing course that completely threw me. It was awful. We were given an assignment with very little rules or regulations and I would always get my poetry or play or story back with so many red marks on it and comments that pretty much said I did the assignment wrong. In a creative writing class. Where you are suppose to be creative. My outlook with writing became to mold my writing style to whatever was asked of me in my classes from my teacher from then on. I took a Myth and Folklore class and that was a good one because we had to write an essay bout a myth or folklore that we chose and it was simplier becauser it followed the five paraphrase format that was drilled into me during high school. The most surprising use of writing was in my speech and debate class. I was able to use my own voice to express myself without being told that that’s not how you do it or I should’ve done it how the teacher would’ve done it. There was no fancy usage of language or excess amount of words; it was straight to the point which is how I talk. To this day, I still love that class. On the other side of the english class spectrum, I’ve had classes where writing was not even a component. The only time you’d write would be to regurgitate info from books read word for word for the midterm then final. To this day, I have never had an english class like that.

Look at all the times I’ve used writing for different classes and not, I’d have to say the five paragraph essay has stayed with me along with small things like the Oxford comma (I absolutely love it) but the biggest use of writing that has transferred has been molding my writing style to fit the teacher. And I don’t mean this in the casual sense since we all change a bit to fit a class but in the way of not really having a personalized writing style. I don’t write for fun or to challenge myself or because I am even interested in a topic. I follow the rules, write what is asked of me, and turn it in regardless if it reflects me as a person. To be honest, it’s pretty dang depressing when I realize I’m kind of just getting by and I don’t really have an eye for good writing in poetry or plays or even essays especially since I want to become a foreign english teacher but I am also hoping I find that one class that will make up for all the ones that have nothing to do with my future career.

On that really depressing note, the creator of the “This Is Fine” dog comic by KC Green (which is my favorite relatable comic by far) made a new one and I think we should all see it so I’m posting it in case anyone cares.

So I think its important to start off with I actually really dislike writing. And just to explain myself, it’s because writing has become (for me) a fixed practice also I like drawing better… But so many teachers are rigid about how I should write and what I should write, its become something that doesn’t represent me anymore. Most of my writing is school based but I don’t think that’s any reason for writing to be any less creative. I’ve taken a Creative Writing class where my teacher told me that my writing was not what she was looking for. I’m sorry, since when does a Creative Writing class have rules on my writing as long as I follow the prompt.

In my group, we agreed on some terms like purpose, audience, etc. and while those are gold, I think freedom needs to be added too. Writing is something that connects people whether it be academic or social or personally. I personally have an ongoing battle with academics which is one of the reasons I want to become a teacher. I don’t agree with how a lot of things have turned out in schools and writing is one of them. In the Metaconcept handout, there are three concepts that I agreed with and felt they represented my writing as well; writing is a social/rhetorical activity that adddresses, invokes, and/or creates audience while expressing and sharing meaning to be reconstructed by the reader.

Taking everything I’ve said into consideration, I would have to say that my theory is quite short and simple. I know a lot of people would disagree but my theory is that writing is a gateway for anyone regardless of intention. I know that sounds really lame (like super lame) but I think narrowing down my thesis consitricts it into focusing on only certain aspects of writing which can quickly become a flaw and not an asset.

Hi! My name is Ashley. I am 21 years old and a junior transfer from San Jose, California. I am an English major and I want to become a foreign English teacher. From this class, I am hoping to take away ways to teach composition and tips n tricks to help my students learn English. I want to find different ways to help them. I am really excited about the internship since that will help me greatly. In my literate life, I do not read or write for pleasure anymore. It is mainly for school. My reading material is textbooks or assigned reading for my classes and writing is usually notes or even memos to myself about what I am reading. The biggest insight for me was seeing how all of my writing is school based. It is usually short hand and not very interest based. Szwed’s text definitely made me realize that not only do I use my writing and reading for school but that is pretty much all I do. He mentions different way in which writing and reading can be used outside the school setting for example in a social setting or just normal day to day life. Reading all the different ways reading and writing can be used and seeing how i only really use it in one way most of the time was a bit sanding for me. I do also use reading for texts but that is such a small amount of my time that I don’t think it carries as much weight as my school time reading.