Entering college and taking my first year writers composition class did not feel that intense to me. I didn’t feel like I was struggling or that I was not writing at the level that I should be. I honestly would consider myself to be more uncomfortable with my writing now than I was as a first year undergrad. Looking at the WPA Outcomes I do not see anything terrible. I agree that the expectations are reasonable, for me as a first year student. However, I am not so sure about the upcoming students. Although I remember writing a lot in high school , I did not feel as confined to my writing as students are now. It could have been something I did not realize but being on the teacher’s end now the students really are restricted as they are learning to write. That could be an issue entering college and all of sudden writing completely differently. Personally, I think my writing experience was a more fortunate one. My high school has multiple writing courses you could choose from and I took all of them, creative writing, phycology writing, business writing. Having all these outlets I think gave students the idea that there is no specific way to write, which as we know is hindering students now.
When reading “Principles for the Post secondary Teaching of Writing”, I found a few points interesting. In number 2 they discuss audiences. That let me begin thinking about the audiences I`d prefer to write for. I like writing in more free spaces where writing at least feels to be low stakes and more appreciative of one’s emotions. I think I’d prefer writing for peers, maybe even people in the same profession as me. I would describe my idea space and audience to write for as more of a blog audience. In number 3 they mention how writing is a social act. That immediately made me think about peer editing and how uncomfortable it always made me feel. Although now as an adult I do see the benefit of having someone else give feedback on your writing I still do have a need for privacy with my writing and I`m not exactly sure why. I love collaborative planning but once I start writing I would prefer to not peer edit. Lastly, in number 4, the “rules” of certain writing genres were mentioned. This immediately made me think of the show Jane the Virgin. Janes is in grad school at one point and is trying to write a novel. She ends up getting a professor that does not like romance as a genre and is not happy with everything Jane writes. She gives her an assignment to incorporate other aspects into her writing that don’t fit the “romance novel rules”. Jane is completely thrown off by the assignment and becomes very frustrated with the professor, trying to explain the “rules” to her. Without hitting all those targets Jane did not feel her book would fit into the genre of romance.
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