This year, taking SUPA Writing 105 has brought about so much new information for me both in and out of the classroom. I felt I had a lot more freedom in terms of my ideas, and the ways in which I conveyed them through my writing compared to classes I’d taken before. Although our schooling looked a lot different this year than it did in the past, I think we have all taken away something positive from this year.
Attention to detail
One of the most prominent lessons I feel this class has taught me is that attention to detail can make or break an idea, as well as the way it is conveyed within your writing. I have seen a huge amount of development in myself when it comes to my skills concerning how I gather my thoughts and organize them, resulting in what I view as a huge improvement in my writing, simply because I put in the effort to look a little closer at things. Something from this year that resonates the most with this lesson to me was the work we did on the New York Times covers. I chose Art Spiegelman’s Shooting Gallery, which conveyed the issue of police brutality and misconduct. I went into it excited for the assignment, because I already held a lot of passion for that issue, and thought I would have a lot to say. It was surprising to me though, when I actually sat down to analyze the cover, I felt I had nothing past surface level observations. The solution to this was really stepping back and looking at the smaller things I had previously just passed off as parts of the image, when in reality, they held the meaning and details I really needed to produce the work I wanted. For example, when I realized the “41 shots 19 cents” sign on the booth in the cover was referencing the case of Amadou Diallo, I had a new piece of information that I would have never been able to incorporate into my work if I had not looked closer to the source.
The process of analysis
Another concept that has really stuck with me after taking SUPA Writing is analysis and the process in which we go about it. Before we really dove deeper into it with a variety of assignments, my understanding of the meaning of analysis was simply that the writer was explaining something past surface level. Something that really helped me with the skills needed to do projects of analysis was the chart we completed in class of “What is analysis/What it is NOT” (see below). I have learned the importance of precision and patience when it comes to analytical writing, and how important it is to have the knowledge of the process, before attempting to carry it out.
Allowing myself time
A lesson I learned this year that runs both in and out of the classroom was simply just giving myself time for things. In the past, I would be so obsessed with meeting every single deadline and doing every single task I had set out for myself to accomplish without leaving room to realize that I am human, and it’s not at all realistic. Now don’t get me wrong keeping up with important assignments and things outside of my schoolwork is still very important to me, I have just learned to cut myself some slack, for the sake of my mental health, as well as the quality of my work. I have found that when I stop rushing myself in an effort to simply get things done, and actually slow myself down a bit, the work I produce is much better, and my own understanding of the work itself increases as well. When I can understand myself and my ideas to a higher degree, I feel more accomplished in my work.
My first idea, will not always be my best idea
Personally, one of my biggest struggles when it comes to writing pieces (or any assignment for that matter) is allowing myself to think freely. I find that once I establish a topic or choice or idea to put into the piece, I am blinded to any other possibilities that could work out better. Something that helped me change these habits a bit this year was our work with an “evolving thesis”. I had always been under the impression that the thesis of a paper represented the end-all be-all main idea. Recognizing the opportunity to develop my original idea into a more in-depth concept that brought more meaning and detail to my work made me a bit more comfortable and open to expanding my thoughts past what I thought was fine the way it was from the start. I feel this is best demonstrated through my Unit Two piece, linked below.
Click to read The Misoginy Within Modern-Day Rape Prevention Education
Finding inspiration from those around me
One of the most beneficial activities done this year in my opinion was the peer reviews. As mentioned above, I sometimes struggle with changing or developing my ideas. I feel the peer review played a big part in alleviating that feeling of being “stuck”. Having the opportunity to not only get an opinion on my pieces from someone working on the same assignment, as well as being able to look at that assignment and how it was interpreted from a new perspective of a person other than myself definitely changed a lot for me. I think when you can get an opinion from someone relatable (in the same class, working on the same assignment, etc.), it is much more beneficial than trying to mirror the strategies and thought processes of say, the author of a similar piece found on the internet. I think it's extremely important to recognize the value of the knowledge of those around us, even if it seems a lot different than our own.
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