Coursework

This course provided an overview of complex issues within writing and introduced different thoughts towards writing and the nuances that support them. It addressed questions as these: What is writing? Where did it come from? How did it develop--and did it do so the same or differently in other cultures? How do writers develop--and what accounts for differences? What are different types of writing, different situations for writing, different tools and practices--and how do these interconnect? What does it mean to study writing? How do such theories change our notions of what texts are and what texts do? At the end of this course I interviewed three of my previous professors in various colleges to explore their relationship to writing and how that has developed and changed throughout their lives and careers. Through this journey I looked inward at my own relationship with writing and what being a writer means to me.

This course introduced ways that rhetoric is practiced in diverse contexts, not as a stable idea, but as an adaptive practice situated in cultures, identities, and languages, bridging writer, audience and purpose. This course started with classical Western rhetoric, but then explored the varied practices and theories of, for example, African American, Asian, Latinx, Indigenous, and queer rhetorics, to name a few. This course concluded with a rhetorical analysis and seminar paper that looked at a specific cultural event and the rhetoric that ties in. I chose to write about the Senior Prom and explore the rhetorical significance of the event for various cultures and how the events rhetorical situation has evolved over time.

This course gave an overview of various styles of creative writing and the basic techniques used to create them. We read examples of poetry, prose, creative fiction and nonfiction, etc., then had the opportunity to try out each style and explore the components that contribute to the style. I took this course at the beginning of the COVID-19  pandemic, so I produced many pieces of writing that were dismal and bleak, reflecting on my  extended stay indoors. We participated in a number of workshops to better ourselves as writers, and through that i shared poems and short stories about my life and experiences.

This course taught techniques to writing in the fiction genre. We had assignments around setting, character, event, etc., that helped hone in on different aspects of a story. The course focused on the breakdown of fiction writing and how each component plays an important role in connecting with the audience or portraying the desired message. At the end of the course, we curated revised work from the quarter into a miniature portfolio that displayed our knowledge of the elements of fiction writing.

This course helped me create and present a professional electronic/web-based portfolio synthesizing my university writing experiences. I learned theories and practices for selecting, arranging, and circulating/publishing written work. In addition to practicing principles of editing and design, I produced a substantive revision of a previous piece of my own writing that crossed genres and displayed my versatility and range of writing ability. This course involved much reflection on my writing journey as it has been so far, and how I would like for it to continue in the future.