We read a lot this semester. Most importantly, we read literature written by authors with backgrounds in different genres who have differences in language use and writing styles. I found this helpful for the transitions we made during the semester. We explored different kinds of literature and created our own. I especially enjoyed working on the conference paper. Browsing the CUNY online data system was helpful and provided great sources for my paper. In the process of writing this paper, I learned more about finding specific kinds of sources by using keywords in the search engine and searching different kinds of databases. This kind of information will help me as a writer and in future projects. 

Reading the Turabian was extremely helpful when it came to reflecting on my writing and the things I need to work on or fix, or when it came to things I didn’t really know much about. The book was extremely well organized and filled with concepts and examples. Examples of what to do and not to do, which I found very helpful. Turabian helped me see that writing shouldn’t be passive and that there were specific tools you can utilize to become a writer with an active voice. Learning about how to structure my essays in a way that addresses the problem, considers my readers’ questions, and then answers them by attempting to anticipate questions during my process of writing was very eye-opening.

While writing my essays throughout the semester, I realized that I’m someone who overthinks a lot. So I need to provide myself with enough time to think about my topics before I begin writing. I’m also someone who depends on editing my papers very heavily. Basically, my paper needs to be a lot longer on the first draft than the expected final draft length for me to comfortably add and delete as needed. I found that this process works best for me. I also discovered that this process takes much longer, so I will definitely be trying to give myself more time planning and working on my writing in the future.

I found writing the Op-Ed paper to be kind of challenging for me. I think that, as Turabian said, although you pick a topic, it’s ok to go another direction based on the information you find as you do your research. I did not do that, which made writing my op-ed very hard. I stuck to my topic even though I believe there were subtopics of the topic I picked that would’ve served my writing and ideas better. Now that I look back on it, I believe I would’ve been better off if I had diverged from my original and been more fluid with the sources I used and the topics I discussed in my paper.

Having writer’s block was an enormous challenge this semester, and specifically with a paper as long as the conference paper. There were so many moments when I had no idea what else I could possibly write. But then I’d go back and interact with my topic. I’d listen to Lana’s music, or look at any discourse people are having about her on Reddit, or read comments on Instagram from posts about Lana. Doing stuff like this really helped spark some kind of idea that I used to incorporate into my paper and turned into a section of the essay. 

Something I enjoyed doing in class this semester was working on discussion questions and then presenting them to the class as a discussion. I loved this activity because I got to take all of the questions I had about the reading we did that I didn’t understand or wanted a different perspective on, and got to hear answers from tens of my classmates. This gave me so many such a variety of perspectives and allowed me to exit my style of thinking and immerse myself in someone else’s. It almost created new pathways in my brain, which led to the formation of new ideas and helped me in my writing the in-class essay. I also thought about how speaking, writing, and reading are very similar. I tried to write my in-class essay while having the class discussion process in mind. Like an exchange of ideas between me (the writer) and the person reading my writing.

The process of gradually progressing from one level of writing to another while analyzing other authors and different forms of literature has allowed me to see growth over time. The compilation of my work over the semester and rereading it all have also been helpful. It was very insightful to see how my writing has evolved and the different ideas I came up with throughout the semester. I’d like to think that I’ve improved my writing, but I also know that there is always room for improvement. I know that I can always go back to every paper I’ve written during this course and be able to find ways to make it better. I appreciate the opportunity to build a “body of work” that is visible on a website. It makes the hard work put towards writing these papers even more worth it and tangible.