Lauren's Blog

Coming into my first semester at Weber State, and my first full year of college, to say I was nervous would be an understatement. I was unsure about how I would do in college, and I worried tirelessly if I would actually be able to make it. This English class helped me build more confidence in my writing and consequently, the rest of my learning abilities. This class has helped me to learn not only how to write a college level research paper and personal narrative, but also how to find my voice while writing and apply that to my work. I feel as though it’s changed my outlook on writing almost entirely. I think it’s helped me greatly to know that I can have a personal relationship to my writing, because that’s something I’ve always struggled with. I was always unsure if I could use my own voice while writing a paper, and I think knowing now that I can be has strengthened my confidence in doing so.

There are many aspects of this class which I could apply and use in other classes. The ability to write coherently is no doubt integral in any class. I would like to go into forensic science as my major, so I will undoubtedly be writing another research paper or two in the foreseeable future. The ability to do this kind of writing may actually have been the most valuable lesson from this class, because that style of writing has always been something that I’ve struggled with. I can think back on past English or science classes with the task of writing a research paper, but never being completely sure on how to go about doing so. It was because I didn’t understand the structure, or what went into each section. After taking this class, I feel that I understand this kind of writing exponentially more.

There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m going to miss this class quite a bit. I always enjoyed the atmosphere that this class had, and the structure and pace of it. It was nice to actually focus on writing in a writing class, sounds ridiculous right? This is the first English class of mine to do so. I’m so glad I chose this class to fulfill my English 2010 requirement!

Staring at a blank computer screen, the cursor flashes, mocking me. My mind is blank. Flash-flash. Words escape me, and I tense to the faint sound of a ticking clock. What is this madness? It is writer’s block, and I am looking for a way to dig my way out with words, phrases, and complex sentences. This condition is something many writer’s will struggle with during their lifetime, though it is not commonly recognized. Some even doubt that the condition exists altogether. What exactly is this polarizing condition known as writer’s block? When faced with the issue, how can it be solved?

While conducting my research, I noticed a few common themes appearing across my topic. I noticed that while some could describe many times this condition occurred, there are few that believe the condition doesn’t in fact exist. I also found that for some, when facing writer’s block it helps to focus on something else, be it food, an aquarium, music, etc.while for others, they choose to power through it and write as much as they can without fear of being “good” or not. Due to this being a polarizing subject, I can sort almost anyone into categories depending on if they believe writer’s block is a real condition, or not. While more of my found sources believe in this concept strongly, the latter also presents an interesting perspective.

An interesting contrast that I found between these two groups was how they choose to work past writer’s block when they come across it, even if they may not always call it by name. For instance, I found a source who does not believe in writer’s block being a legitimate condition, but also gave advice on how to work past a temporary feeling of being stuck while writing. I could label the first group generally by saying they choose to temporarily focus on another subject be it eating, music, meditation, or the beach. The second can be categorized as people who just power through their condition, either by take it on piece by piece, or using a blitzkrieg type method where they simply write as much as they can and edit later on.

This fall, I decided to pledge for a sorority. With that decision comes many responsibilities that I must uphold in order to become an active member of said sorority in the near future. In order to take care of these responsibilities as well as be aware of upcoming events, I am a part of a group chat titled “Group of Friends” on an app. Below are my descriptions and processes of crafting my genre analysis, set to R. Stevens Amidon’s construct, lastly are my pictures displaying my genre analysis.

For Section 1, I discussed the social image of this genre of writing. Essentially, I was discussing the genre of the text, being a form of communication with the purpose of spreading information between advisors and the probationary members of my discourse community. It was easy to explain the kind of information or knowledge which I expect to gain from this genre, because the entire purpose of this document is to spread information from member to member. For Section 2, I state the writers within my document, this being the two advisor members and our eleven probationaries. A probationary member does not necessarily have any credentials, besides being a potential new member. To be considered an advisor, they must have gone through the same process we are currently going through. Writers can only be members of the group. In the audience section, I discuss the members of this group chat. They are the only people who can view this document. Regarding the audience, they also happen to be all of the writers I previously mentioned. All members of the document are required to also be writers on said document for the sake of communication. The advisors are seen as the leaders and as superior. The potential new members are seen as submissive followers. Both may relay information, but the tone and way of communication differ depending on the type of member.

As I stated previously, this is a strictly information based document. Its sole purpose is to share and distribute information between the advising members, and potential new members. The text may adapt depending on the needs of the audience. In Section 3, the formal features of the document are discussed. The general structure of the sharing of the information begins with a message from an advisor, followed by responses by the PNMs. The tone of this document has an overall feeling of forcefulness from the advisors, but it remains to have an overall personal feeling to it. The voice of the writing can differ depending on the current writer, or the current topic of discussion. The tone is not always formal, so full names are not necessary, and contractions are deemed acceptable. As this is an informal group chat, complete sentences are not expected within this genre. It is uncommon to see complete sentences within the text, let alone full paragraphs. Transition words are only utilized when moving between topics.  Due to this group chat taking place within a texting app over mobile phones, the format within the text (font size, headers, line spacing) cannot change. Graphics/ Illustrations are often used with a corresponding caption to explain said graphic to the audience.

At first, it seemed that studying this piece of evidence would be a complex procedure, but I’m happy to say that in this particular case, it may not be too difficult to grasp the genre at hand. It is a form of discourse with the intent of relaying information between its members in an informal but often times forceful way. Between the advisors and probationary members, there are many dynamics at hand so it’s interesting to see the interactions within the document. While it is informal, thete are particular forms of etiquette involved which make this document in particular, a very interesting one to observe.