Reflection on Purpose and Strategy

Throughout the term, you have developed and refined your writing process. You have worked from concept to product, using a variety of methods for idea generation and using self-revision and peer-revision techniques as you draft and revise. In this module, you will use reflective-writing and peer-revision techniques in your Reader-Response Essay.

So, what is "reflection?" How will reflection help your writing? Is this some trick to sign you up for a psychoanalytic therapy session? No, it is not. Promise!

Sometimes the process of figuring out who you are as writers requires reflection, a "looking back" to determine what you were thinking and how your thinking changed over time, relative to key experiences. Mature learners set goals, and achieve them by charting a course of action and making adjustments along the way when they encounter obstacles. They also build on strengths and seek reinforcement when weaknesses surface. What makes them mature? They're not afraid to make mistakes (own them even), and they know that struggle can be a rewarding part of the process. By equal measure, mature learners celebrate their strengths and use them strategically. By adopting a reflective position, they can pinpoint areas that work well and areas that require further help—and all of this without losing sight of their goals.

You have come to this course with your own writing goals. Now is a good time to think back on your writing practices with reflective writing, also called metacognitive writing. Reflective writing helps you think through and develop your intentions as writers. Leveraging reflective writing also creates learning habits that extend to any discipline of learning. It's a set of procedures that helps you step back from the work you have done and ask a series of questions: Is this really what I wanted to do? Is this really what I wanted to say? Is this the best way to communicate my intentions? Reflective writing helps you authenticate your intentions and start identifying places where you either hit the target or miss the mark. You may find, also, that when you communicate your struggles, you can ask others for help! Reflective writing helps you trace and articulate the patterns you have developed, and it fosters independence from relying too heavily on an instructor to tell you what you are doing.

Throughout this course, you have been working toward an authentic voice in your writing. Your reflection on writing should be equally authentic or honest when you look at your purposes for writing and the strategies you have been leveraging all the while.

In this module's assigned reading, Sandra L. Giles writes about her experiences both as a student and as a teacher of writing. You may find that you can identify with her early impulses to "please the teacher" before she ever thought about what she wanted to achieve in her course work. She traces how she went from an immature position of learning to a mature position with the help of reflective writing.

You will leverage Giles's "cover letter" idea (a self-reflective writing exercise) to foster reflection about your writing as well as to polish your work for presentation. Your letter to the reader will:

1. articulate the purpose of the essay

2. describe the writing process that resulted in the essay

3. identify and reflect on any other assignments (review sessions, activities, readings, etc.) that have informed the essay.

In the process of writing the letter about the essay, you may notice that what your essay says and what your letter says about it don't correspond as well as they should. Consider it your opportunity to revise accordingly.

The second goal of the letter is to allow readers to compare your stated purposes and strategy in order to provide an assessment on whether the writer is nearing the mark of the intended target.

Assignments

Read Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking? by Sandra L. Giles.
Post a response to Giles essay.
Complete the "Letter to Readers" writing exercise.