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Reflection Essay for UWP 1

Taking the UWP 1, I get more access to learn various writing concepts than I did in the previous writing class. The lectures and readings provide me a comprehensive understanding writing concepts in this course, such as discourse community and genre. Meanwhile, two major papers encourage me to apply these ideas in writing. Before taking this class, I was lacked the experience of constructing the research paper, and I had no concept of the structure and format of an academic research paper. Besides, writing a narrative paper is painful for me. Even I did a lot of practice in the previous UWP class on this type of essay; I was still worried about reflection part in the paper. I tried to tell all my story in the narrative paper, but the result always looks like a flat and one-sided journal which was absent with profound thinking. Participating in the UWP 1 promotes me to overcome the obstacles in my writing, and my improvement can be found in my two major essays. More important, this course took progress and helped me to approach the learning outcome of the UWP 1 successfully.

Rhetorical knowledge In this class, we discussed the audience, purpose, and mode of the paper, and the rhetorical concept that we mainly focus on are the discourse community and genre. We define the discourse community and discovery various genres in both our daily life and academic studies. “Discourse community” is a new term for me, and before I did the reading in class, I thought discourse community is a way to categorize our society broadly, such as media or school. After reading Schmidt and Vande Kopple’s article about discourse community, I understand this term as a group of people who discover the same concept, share same common knowledge, evaluate related problems and use same professional knowledge. Meanwhile, I applied this term when I chose the topic for my research paper. Since I am majoring in the clinical nutrition, I decided to discuss nutrition as my academic discourse community. In this community, we share the same goal in the nutritional study and use our specific languages to discover the aspects that we are interested and passionate about in balanced diet. Furthermore, I used another rhetorical concept in my research paper, which is the genre. According to Devitt genre enact the purpose, value, and goal of a community. In my research paper, I focus on the how different genres generate specific and unique communications in my discourse community. I separated communication into two categories—communication between nutritional professions and communication between experts and non-members. 

Processes

The processes to outline and revise my literacy narrative essay is different with the paper of discourse community. However, the progress of constructing two papers from the first draft to final draft encourages me to dig deeper into my topic and introduce more suitable examples to support my statement.  

Literacy Narrative

I did a self-reflection on my writing background before constructing the literacy narrative which could help me to draw a map of my writing route from primary school to college. In my first draft, I did free writing about how my middle school writing experience in Newspaper club and my high school teacher affected my writing method, writing style and my attitude toward writing. Getting the feedback from my peers, I added additional examples to support my statement. For example, in the essay, I talk about a good paper should be detailed and profound. I mentioned the book report of Oranges is not the Only Fruit to underline my argument. Furthermore, the feedback from the professor directed me to only focus on one specific “story” in my paper. Therefore, in my final draft, I deleted the part about my middle school writing experience and removed the irrelevant information from the paper.

Research paper

To begin this paper, I had to identify the genre that I expect to discuss. But, I was struggling in deciding the kind of communication that I want to discover in nutrition because I thought that in my discourse community, the conversation has to be happened face to face since people need to discuss balanced diet and health maintenance. The chat between professor and I inspired me to consider other methods of communication, such as the book, food label and scholar paper. In the progress of revising my paper, the workshop helped me to figure out my concerns and points out the lack of this paper. For instance, the professor suggested me to develop the “My Plate” part which can emphasize my statement. Also, I explained some vague concepts clearer in my final draft, such as the aspect of “green flag word" and "red flag word."    

Knowledge of conventions In the UWP 1, we talked about the variety of genres and discourse communities. Exploring different discourse communities and genres helps me to have a better understanding of these concepts. During the class, we discussed discourse community in both our life and academic field. In the broadcast that we listened in class, we discover the genre in the Instagram community. Learning their purpose of uploading the pictures and commenting on their friends’ posts, I was able to connect discourse community with the genre, and this example helped me to comprehend the meaning of genre. And acquiring the knowledge about these concepts aids me to write better in my research paper.

Research I did various research on my discourse community, and both primary and secondary research facilitated my argument. For the primary research, I created a survey to the public about nutrition to support my paper. It was a challenge for me to decide the question in my survey. In order to gain more expectable result from the questionnaire, I had to narrow down the range of the question. Therefore, instead of asking the respondents what they know about nutrition, I tended to inquire where they get knowledge about the nutritional concept and their method to maintain the balanced diet in their life. The result from the survey provides an influential support “non-member” communication. The secondary resources that I used in the essay are course readings, scholar papers, and books from the experts. When I referenced the idea from the books, it was significate to analyze and pick up the useful information from a hundred pages books. For example, when I introduced the history of nutrition. I chose some milestone of nutritional research in the past instead of the list every single historical event. And excluding the redundant information from the research paper can promote the effectiveness of outside resource using in my paper. 

Metacognition Metacognition is a process to reflect on my paper. We built up our metacognition through writing the memo for papers. When I wrote the memo for the first draft, I would ask myself some simple questions, such as “Am I on the right track,” “what is the advantage of my paper” and “what is my concern.” Answering these questions can guide me to recognize if my statement is clear and if I accomplish the purpose of this essay. For my second draft, I will consider the development of each idea; meanwhile, I will check coherence and unity of the whole paper. This reflection will help me to realize some exact problem in my writing. Therefore, I can correct and revise the unclear part of the final draft.

Overall Reflection The practice, assignments and reading materials in the UWP 1 lead me to meet the learning outcomes step by step. The research paper not only give me experience in academic writing, but it also prepares me to do a better job in other science class. When we need to do a lab report or professional research, the skill that I acquired from this class can facilitate my work. Therefore, in the future course, I may have access to know more rhetorical knowledge which is different with this class, but the concepts I learn from the UWP 1 can pave my writing journey and prepare me to face upper-level concepts and writing. If I have more time on revision, I will develop the paragraph under each subtitle in the literacy narrative. And for the research paper, I may add more detail for each example I used in paper and explain more about the relativeness of the evidence and my topic. Besides, I will improve the conclusion of the paper. I think the conclusion of the paper is too general. It will be better if I can make more connections with my discourse community and genre and practical social concern or event in the nutritional field.

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Research paper (portfolio)

The Communication Genre in the Discourse Community of Nutrition

Introduction and History You are what you eat. Human health is related to their diet and nutrient intake closely. The lack of "'accessory food factors' that were essential for growth and good health" can cause fatal diseases (Zoumbaris 4). The first awareness of nutrition can be dated to the ancient Greeks when the philosopher Anaxagoras and other scientists suggested their conjecture which "food was the body's best medicine" (6). However, people were not able to prove the connection between diet and health until 1747 when James Lind, a British naval surgeon, discovered that lack of vitamin C could trigger the scurvy (6). A series of research about vitamin and disease had studied between 1700s to1900s, and the achievements promoted people's health and life quality at that period. Today, with advanced health care system and compressive understanding of body functions, new generations of biologists are working to define good nutrient. And nutritionist and dietitian emphasize the importance of "balance" in our diet. To discover how professionals in nutrition influence people in their diet and their mindset, I researched this discourse community. And in my paper, I will mainly focus on discussing genres in this community. Meanwhile, I will include some nutritional concepts that people able to gain will communicate with the expert in this discourse community. According to Gary D. Schmidt and William J. Vande Kopple, discourse community is a group of people who share same value, goals, and assumptions. People participate in the same community discover the same concept, share same common knowledge, evaluate related problems and use same professional knowledge. Nutritionist, dietitian, and students who major in nutrition are all belonged to the same discover community. They shared the same goal of advocating healthy diet in the society through their professional knowledge and promoting a right mindset for people toward keeping fit and health. I am a student in clinical nutrition. Becoming a member of this discourse community, I find the importance of using different genres to generate specific and unique communications in this community. Nutritional experts achieve the shared goals through addressing various communication under different circumstance and facing a different group of people. Therefore, in my research paper, I will focus on two types of communication in my discourse community— how nutritionist communicate with a nutritionist and how nutritionist communicate with non-members and the difference between these two.

Method Discovering the communication between professions and non-members, I used both primary and secondary research. For the primary research, I created a survey to the public which can help me find out what they know about nutrition and how they connect their life with the nutritional concept. The respondents are the integration of people in the different age group who come from different countries, grow up under different culture and educate in different levels. And all of them are not part of our discourse community. At the same time, I also did secondary research to further explore the communication between nutritional experts themselves and between experts and non-members.

Result Member-member communication Communication between professions is variable, such as writing scientific article or publishing books which issue the controversial questions. To learn more about how the genre is functioning the communication in this field of study, I did some secondary research and discovered that science always can be controversial. I researched the book Nutrition which edited by David Hagen and Susan Musser. The book records information of research paper, data analysis and professional study from nutritional experts. It mentions several opposing viewpoints in the different nutritional topic. One of them is to discuss if organic food is healthier than no-organic food. Alan D. Dangour and Elizabeth Allen, the nutritional researcher, contribute that there is no evidence to support the theory of the superiority of organic (Hagen and Musser 53). And they argue that buying the organic food can just give people a peace of mind. But then in 2004, Donald R. Davis, a research associate with the Biochemical Institute at the University of Texas, disputes the nutrition deficiencies in non-organic food compared with the food grow through the organic farming (45). He reports that the value of protein, phosphorous, iron, calcium, ascorbic acid and more than 13 nutrients have declined in the non-organic food. Moreover, the book mentions that the researchers from UC Davis study that organic food can reduce the incidence of the chronic disease since it can enhance the level of quercetin and kaempferol in vegetable which can offer the protection from some age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. These "arguing" is a form of communication between professions which can promote the development of the research. Sometimes, the communication is not necessary to be physical and talk to others face to face. The link between the nutritional profession can be built when they focus on one goal, the same study and explore the truth and value of it.

Non-member (communication-academically) Through my survey, I discover some methods that people gain knowledge and information about their diet. Since most of my respondents are students, they report that they acquire the professional idea of my discourse community through education in relative classes and reading textbooks. At UC Davis, NUT 10 is a course that most people engage in. In the class, more than 50 percent of the students majoring another subject other than nutrition. Participating in class and learning how vitamin and protein functional our body is a way that nutritional professions communicate with the non-member of my discourse community. My Plate is an example concept which advocates student to know how to split their meal for fruits, grains, vegetables, protein, and dairy rationally. MyPlate is introduced by USDA for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (“A Brief History of USDA Food Guides”). MyPlate is divided into four sections of approximately 40 percent vegetables, 30 percent grains, 20 percent protein, and 10 percent fruits, accompanied by a smaller circle representing dairy. Having the right mix of nutrition and the appropriate amount of food can inspire us to build a healthier eating style. In the NUT 10, we did the MyPlate project which was to record our diet for two weeks and then calculate the nutrient that we ingested. Through my result, I can see the transformation in my diet. Since I need to record the weight, calories, and micronutrients in the food, I paid more attention to what I eat. And I intentionally avoided the junk food, such as fries and ice cream, because of the staggering amount of sugar and fat in them. As a result, most of my classmate reflected that learning MyPlate and applying it in life is an excellent method to supervise their diet.

Non-member (communication-life style) Another common way that nutritional expert community with non-members is more casual than the previous one. Everyone can contact themselves' diet with nutritional knowledge and factor in their daily life. One of the examples is the food labeling in the market. People can learn the calorie and fat about specific food through the "Nutrition fact" form. Even they do not involve in the deep professional nutrition study; they can still control their fat intake and prevent excessive sugar in their diet through looking the number on the form easily. At the same time, in today’s society, food labeling is a controversial topic between nutritionist and food company. One of the examples is the standard of using the word “organic” for food. The trend of eating organic food gives farmers and companies business opportunity to develop their industry. To guarantee the quality of organic food and to avoid reducing the value of “organic” due to the mass production, a new certification, called Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC), is required for companies who produce organic food (Strom). But this Certification program is debated over by the side of people who concerning “a real risk that the new seals will turn products that just have the federal seal into second-class citizens, unable to command the premium prices needed for even the most basic organic production” (Strom). The balance between the standard of “organic” and company profit is still a controversy nowadays. And the gap and problem of food labeling between nutritional professions and companies are still in the conversation. Another way for a nutritionist to communicate with the public is to publish a relative book. The book Eat Out, Eat Right which written by Hope S. Warshaw, a dietitian, is a "director" to guide people eating healthier in the restaurant. The book gives the tips and strategies for healthily ordering the favorite food. For example, Hope estimates food through ingredients and cooking method and separates them into "green flag word" and "red flag word" (Warshaw 131). She defines “green flag food” as the healthy and “safe” food that we can order in the restaurant, such as vegetable, honey mustard and cocktail sauce. And “red flag word” is the food which better avoids eating since it can destroy the balance in our diet. This book gives a clear guideline for people to take control of what they eat and help them to avoid the best flavor of food. The communication through the book or food labeling promotes people to eat healthier and help them to know what they are eating.

Difference The purpose of two communications is the same; both of them contribute to educating public and encouraging them to modify their behavior and have a healthier diet. But the language using to communicate is variable. The diction is more professional and sophisticated in the research paper. The nutritional profession will analysis their studies with expertise and detailed chemical element data. Such as the book Nutrition, it contains a lot of words, such as riboflavin or ascorbic acid and name of the disease, which is challenging for non-members to understand. Instead, when professions talk to the public, the words they choose to use are more straightforward and more accessible for people to acquire the critical information in their sentence. Sometimes, the communication between non-members and expert still contain some scientific term, like fat and calories. But the public can directly make a connection between these "surface" knowledge with their daily diet and apply them in their dinner.

Conclusion Discourse community of nutrition encourages people to manage their diet and modify their behavior through genres of communication. Before I did this research, I think the communication in my discourse community can only find in face to face situation. But doing the research and getting a response from the public, I recognize that nutritional talking is not necessary to occur physically, but it can also efficiently achieve its value and goal through indirect communication. I am majoring in the clinical nutrition, but I am still on my way to become a real member of this community since I am not professional enough in this field of study. Therefore, to join this community, it is significate to acquire the in-depth knowledge and theory in nutrition. Meanwhile, understanding science is always controversial and debatable is important for us to discover more concept and update our knowledge in this field of study. Just same as the current debate on the food labeling, the communication between people from different groups can improve the management in nutritional industry and update “new rules” in this community. In a way, the value and purpose of this discourse community can be advocated the public through various communication.

Citation “A Brief History of USDA Food Guides.” Choose MyPlate, 11 May 2017. www.choosemyplate.gov/brief-history-usda-food-guides. 

Haugen, David M., and Susan Musser. Nutrition: Opposing Viewpoints. Greenhaven Press, 2012.

Schmidt, Gary D. and William J. Vande Kopple. Communities of Discourse: The Rhetoric of Disciplines. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1993.

Strom, Stephanie. “As the Organic Movement Fractures, Some Farmers and Food Companies Want to Redefine the Standard That They Built.” New Food Economy, 16 Mar. 2018. 

https://newfoodeconomy.org/thinly-sliced-impossible-burger-disney-new-york-tip- credit/

Warshaw, Hope S. Eat out, Eat Right: The Guide to Healthier Restaurant Eating. Surrey Books, 2008.

Zoumbaris, Sharon K. Nutrition. Greenwood Press/ABC-CLIO, 2009.

Survey question

Gender

Age

Culture background

1. What do you know about nutrition?

2. Where did you gain the knowledge of nutrition?

3. Did you ever treat by dietitian or nutritionist? If so, what is the method that the professions use to delivery and communicate the nutritional knowledge to you?

4. Do you pay attention on your diet? If yes, what is your method to keep a balanced diet?

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Literacy Narrative final draft

                      The Millstones in My Writing Experience I love to write. I may not be a great writer, but I can find my voice in my work, and I see writing as a method to share "what I know" and to express my opinion. Being a member of school newspaper club in China is the starting point for me to understand the "significant of thinking about the audience." Writing, in both Chinese and English become a way to record my thinking and my life. However, my passion for writing is not always in existence. I had a hard time finding the right method of writing when I just arrive the U.S. for high school. And my literature teacher Sister O'Dea leads me to dig into the real writing and helps me to the right writing method.

The Moment I "Hate" Writing I came to the U.S. for high school when I was 14 years old. In the first semester of my freshman year, it is difficult for me on adapting to all English Teaching, and I had a hard time to find the right method of writing. No matter how much effort I put to develop and revise my essay, I always get a really low score. Experiencing the pressure comes from the second language and writing class, I tend to loss confident and interest in writing. At the same time, after reading my peers' works and surprising by their vivid descriptions and profound ideas, I was jealous of their talent of language, but I had less motivation of revising paper because I thought there is no way to improve my thinking and logic as comprehensive as they are. The passive emotion obstructs me to discover the right method of writing. But things turned better after I met my literature teacher Sister O'Dea in my second semester in high school. She leaded me to discover the real writing and helps me to find my voice in my work.   Sister O'Dea always told me that a good paper should be "simple" but also "profound" and "detailed." I was confused when she states the standard of good writing. I thought a paper could not approach these three words simultaneously since "simple" and "complexity" are standing on the opposite side until I write in her class.

Being simple Being simple does not mean using the easy word but emphasizes the idea of choosing the appropriate diction in the sentence. "Using wrong words," "bad word choice" and "use a simple word" are some comments that I got in my first book report, Macbeth. In my first draft, I used some fancy words to praise how inflectional and greatness his work is since I know it is a famous tragedy by William Shakespeare. One of the feedback that Sister O'Dea commented on my paper are "Do not use the word which looks complex to make your paper seems better." This advice warned me to reflect on my writing method and to recognize that my writing propose is wrong. When I attended school in China, writing an assigned paper, everyone focused on "decorating" their argument, their sentences, and their "deep" perspective, but no one expressed their true opinion in work. Therefore, when I compelled myself to achieve teachers' expectation of writing fancy words and thesis, my language became fake and less attractive, and I lost my voice in my paper. Similarly, I stated the success of forming enigmatic characters in Macbeth, but I never discuss how Shakespeare utilizes the tactful phase or choice of word alludes the mystery of Macbeth family. Therefore, in order to make my paper more developed, writing with detailed information and profound thinking are the next factors to construct an essay.

Being detailed and Being profound "Why this is influential to the character?" "How to demonstrate your argument?"  are some comments that I used to get from Sister O'Dea. In my paper, I stated my topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph, but instead of analyzing it and using an example to explain my argument, I tended to use different kinds of sentences to repeat and rewrite my topic idea. Sister O'Dea pointed out to me that I can include some personal experience and evidence to support my statement. Referencing the quote from outside resources makes my idea standout in the paper, and it can "fill up" my paragraphs and enrich my viewpoint. Sister O'Dea is also strict on guiding us to choose the most appropriate and fit examples in our argumentative paper. When we wrote the book report of Oranges are not the Only Fruit, I discussed how the main character Jeanette find herself and accept her true identity. Sister O'Dea crossed out most of the quotes I used in my paragraphs because they are not the best quote to support my idea. She emphasized the importance of selecting evidence from the resource. To help me acquire the ability to find the best quote, she spent weeks with us to do the close reading and explore every tiny detail in the book. And I realized that finding quote is not a rush process, and I have to go into each word to understand and reflect on the real meaning and allusion behind it." Meanwhile, I finally understand what Sister O'Dea says that "Writing profound not just with deep thinking, but also providing strong and persuasive the evidence."

Conclusion The concepts of “being simple, being detailed and being profound” benefit my writing through the high school to the college. In the UWP classes that I took in my freshman year, the professor also expected us to construct a strong paper with a clear thesis and developed paragraphs. Meanwhile, these concepts are not only useful for the writing class but also inspire me to do better while writing a scientific paper. Now, I am still in the progress of discovering me own writing type and practicing my writing skill. However, every time, thinking back how Sister O’Dea leads us to approach our goal in writing step by step, I begin to enjoy the process of collecting evidence and quotes and utilize them in my sentences to improve my paper.

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Cover Memo 2 In the second draft, I change the whole structure of my paper. I rush to finish the first draft because of the midterm week; therefore, there are lots of problems in my first draft. My peers mention the logical problems in my work which I have revised in the second draft. Meanwhile, to reconstruct my essay, I separate my writing experience into three main parts-my experience in middle school, the obstacle I was facing when I just come to the U.S., and the process of my literature teacher helping me to find the right method of writing. I like the organization of this paper. I think these are three important writing stages that I have experienced until now. Meanwhile, these are the moments that shaping my writing style and my attitude toward writing.

For the feedback, I want to know if the structure of the paper clearly, and what I need to change to improve the organization of the whole paper. Besides, I want to ask about two examples that I have mentioned in the essay- if I explain and describe them clear, and do I need to add more detail or delete some information in my final draft. And I have a hard time to decide how to write my conclusion (how to end my paper). So, my conclusion is not finished; I hope that I can get some advice about it. At last, I hope that I can get some suggestion on how to revise my paper, and what detail and problem should I focus on when I revise my paper.  

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The Millstones in My Writing Experience (draft 2)

I love to write. I may not be a great writer, but I can find my voice in my work, and I see writing as a method to share "what I know" and to express my opinion.

Being a member of school newspaper club in China is the starting point for me to understand the "significant of thinking about the audience." Writing, in both Chinese and English become a way to record my thinking and my life. However, my passion for writing is not always in existence. I had a hard time finding the right method of writing when I just arrive the U.S. for high school. And my literature teacher Sister O'Dea leads me to dig into the real writing and helps me to the right writing method.

I am a "writer" for the school newspaper. In my middle school back in China, I join in our school newspaper club, and I participate in the English section. Three months later, I get a chance to write for our school's exchange program, and this will be the first article that I can post in the newspaper. I write a brief introduction to these exchange students and announce the upcoming welcome party for them. 

"Do you know who will read this article?" my editor asks me after he reads my work, "The introduction about these students is fine, but the announcement part is too boring. This is not just a one-sentence announcement to notify this activity; instead, readers should find interesting to read begin looking forward to this event. But if I am a student who read this article, I do not think I will join this party."

My editor suggests me to think about the type of article or story that I enjoy spending time with. I recognize that facing different readers under various conditions; the author will utilize different tones and different diction to create a more vivid and attractive work. Meanwhile, through reading back some similar articles which post in the school newspaper, I learn the importance of thinking the audience while writing the paper. Therefore, to revise my article, I change my language to be more positive to "energize" my sentences.

The Moment I "Hate" Writing I came to the U.S. for high school when I was 14 years old. In the first semester of my freshman year, it is difficult for me on adapting to all English Teaching, and I had a hard time to find the right method of writing. No matter how much effort I put to develop and revise my essay, I always get a really low score. Experiencing the pressure comes from the second language and writing class, I tend to loss confident and interest in writing. At the same time, after reading my peers' works and surprising by their vivid descriptions and profound ideas, I am jealous of their talent of language, but I have less motivation of revising paper because I thought there is no way to improve my thinking and logic as comprehensive as they are. The passive emotion obstructs me to discover the right method of writing. But things turn better after I meet my literature teacher Sister O'Dea in my second semester in high school.

She leads me to discover the real writing and helps me to find my voice in my work.  

Sister O'Dea always tell me that a good paper should be "simple" but also "profound" and "detailed." I was confused when she states the standard of good writing. I thought a paper could not approach these three words simultaneously since "simple" and "complexity" are standing on the opposite side until I write in her class.

Being simple Being simple does not mean using the easy word but emphasizes the idea of choosing the appropriate diction in the sentence.

"Using wrong words," "bad word choice" and "use a simple word" are some comments that I got in my first book report, Macbeth. In my first draft, I use some fancy words to praise how inflectional and greatness his work is since I know it is a famous tragedy by William Shakespeare. One of the feedback that Sister O'Dea comments on my paper are "Do not use the word which looks complex to make your paper seems better." This advice warns me to reflect on my writing method and to recognize that my writing propose is wrong. When I attend school in China, writing an assigned paper, everyone focuses on "decorating" their argument, their sentences, and their "deep" perspective, but no one expresses their true opinion in work. Therefore, when I compel myself to achieve teachers' expectation of writing fancy words and thesis, my language becomes fake and less attractive, and I lost my voice in my own paper. Similarly, I state the successful of forming enigmatic characters in Macbeth, but I never discuss how Shakespeare utilizes the tactful phase or choice of word alludes the mystery of Macbeth family. 

Therefore, in order to make my paper more developed, writing with detailed information and profound thinking are the next factors to construct an essay.

Being detailed and Being profound "Why this is influential to the character?" "How to demonstrate your argument?"  are some comments that I used to get from Sister O'Dea. In my paper, I state my topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph, but instead of analyzing it and using an example to explain my argument, I tend to use different kinds of sentences to repeat and rewrite my topic idea. Sister O'Dea points out to me that I can include some personal experience and evidence to support my statement. Referencing the quote from outside resources makes my idea standout in the paper, and it can "fill up" my paragraphs and enrich my viewpoint.

Sister O'Dea also strict on guiding us how to choose the most appropriate and fit examples in our argumentative paper. When we write the book report of Oranges are not the Only Fruit, I discuss how the main character Jeanette find herself and accept her true identity. Sister O'Dea crosses out most of the quotes I used in my paragraphs because they are not the best quote that I can use to support my idea. She emphasizes the importance of selecting evidence from the resource. To help me acquire the ability to find the best quote. She spends weeks with us to do the close reading and explore every tiny detail in the book. I realize that finding quote is not a rush process, and I have to go into each word to understand and reflect on the real meaning and allusion behind it." Meanwhile, I finally understand what Sister O'Dea says that "Writing profound not just with deep thinking, but also providing strong and persuasive the evidence."

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Am I a writer? 

"When can I call myself a writer" and "How to become a qualified writer" are always the questions that I will ask myself while writing papers. When I was in primary school, I thought being a writer means constructing a five sentences paragraph. And then, after I graduated from the middle school, I am satisfied with writing a three paragraphs paper-a introduction without a strong thesis, a body paragraph which lack of organized topic sentence, and a conclusion with the absence of further developed an argument. 

To be honest, I do not like to write. Because, neither writing in Chinese, my first language, nor in English, my sentences are plain and boring, and my idea is loose in the paper. After reading my peers' works and surprising by their vivid descriptions and profound thoughts, I am jealous of their talent of language, but I have less motivation of revising paper because I thought there is no way to improve my thinking and logic as comprehensive as they are. The passive emotion obstructs me to discover the right method of writing. But things turn better after I meet my literature teacher Sister O'Dea in my freshmen year of high school. She leads me to dig into the real writing and helps me to find my voice in my work.  

Sister O'Dea always tell me that a good paper should be "simple" but also "profound" and "detailed." I was confused when she states the standard of good writing. I thought a paper could not approach these three words simultaneously since "simple" and "complexity" are standing on the opposite side until I write in her class.

Being simple Being simple does not mean using the easy word but emphasizes the idea of choosing the appropriate diction in the sentence.

"Using wrong words," "bad word choice" and "use a simple word" are some comments that I got in my first book report, Macbeth. In my first draft, I use some fancy words to praise how inflectional and greatness his work is since I know it is a famous tragedy by William Shakespeare. One of the feedback Sister O'Dea comment on my paper is "Do not use the word which looks complex to make your paper looks better." I recognize that I misunderstand the propose of "writing" all the time. When I attend school in China, everyone focuses on "decorating" their argument, their sentences, and their "deep" perspective, but no one expresses their true opinion in work. Therefore, when I compel myself to achieve teachers' expectation of writing fancy words and thesis, my language becomes fake and less attractive, and I lost my voice in my own paper. Similarly, I state the successful of forming enigmatic characters in Macbeth, but I never discuss how Shakespeare utilizes the tactful phase or choice of word alludes the mystery of Macbeth family. 

Mono cover

In this literature narrative, I talk about how my high school literature teacher influencing my writing, and how her comments inspiring me to understand the purpose to write. The strength of my draft is the subtitles that I use for organizing my idea. The weakness is the coherence of my idea. I don't fully finish my paper. I am stuck when I write the last the idea of "being profound." I thought it might have some repeat idea in this part. So, I need more time on reorganizing my writing. 

This is my first time of writing literature narrative, and this the first draft which have not been revised. Since this is an essay of telling my own story in writing, I simply talk about my experience in high school and include the examples that I can remember; it might be boring.

For peer, I want to ask it my story is clear and interesting to read. I expect my peer can give me some feedback on the structure of the paper. And I want to know if my paper keep coherence. At last, I hope my peer can help me to check my grammar error.