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UWRT Mid-Term Reflection Letter
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Misenheimer 1
Will Misenheimer
Professor Arnold
UWRT-1101-073
25 October 2015
Mid-Term Reflection Letter
Dear Professor Arnold,
I have been very satisfied with my progression throughout the course of this University Writing
class. I have been very encouraged with the new, higher levels of maturity that I feel I have displayed in
my most recent works. Upon arriving to UNC Charlotte, I held a mindset that writing was a formulated
statement, but I had no idea how to appropriately organize that argument; the only method I had really
been taught was the prescriptive, basic 5-paragraph format. The Literacy Narrative and Found Genres
assignments have truly benefitted me by enhancing the level of confidence with which I have in my
writer’s identity and style.
The Literacy Narrative assignment, seemed to come very naturally for me. This is most likely due
to the personal nature of the assignment and that students are writing about their own, respective interests.
This assignment allowed me to discuss baseball, an activity very close to my heart that I have participated
in for the entirety of my life, which allowed me to embrace my writer’s identity. Even about 6 weeks after
composing the narrative, I can vividly remember the confidence with which I wrote and the positive
feedback I would give to myself. To me, this system of my mind critiquing my thoughts is vital. Without
self-analysis, the thoughts that I translate onto paper may seem to be drawn out and lacking a main idea.
My confidence was increased greatly with the self-provided reassurance that the story I was telling
accurately delivered the main idea with the audience. My mission for the Literacy Narrative was to
effectively communicate my story as a baseball player to the audience in such a manner that the reader
Misenheimer 2
would feasibly comprehend the story without any prior baseball knowledge and take something
meaningful from the story. It was my hope that my collection of anecdotes would have a positive and
sentimental impact on the reader, regardless of the audience’s previous exposure to a baseball
atmosphere. The altered-book component of this project also challenged my abilities to creatively
communicate a topic that I am literate in. While I felt that the altered-book was slightly less thorough, I
believe that I effectively provided my testimony as a baseball player to the audience. Nonetheless, I felt
that the tasks I challenged myself with during the Literacy Narrative certainly improved my writer’s
identity in terms that I may deliver a meaningful story to all members of the audience, regardless of the
viewer’s background knowledge on the subject.
The Found Genres assignment benefitted me by testing my creative abilities as a writer as well as
giving me the experience needed to devise a thorough job resume. Prior to this assignment, I had neither
composed a job resume, nor really written a “creative” writing assignment that I was truly interested in
creating. I am thankful that I was given the option of which genre I would create because a closed-ended
prompt with a restricted genre also hinders the writer from achieving maximum performance and
delivering the point that he or she may feel needs to be communicated. While the experience I gained in
building an efficient job resume will certainly benefit me as I begin my journey in the work force, I
believe that the cognitive workout to be a more creative thinker will pay off with much greater rewards.
Thus, the benefits of the Found Genres assignment may be much greater than simply increasing writing or
resume-building skills; it helped me to better myself at delivering a main idea in a more concise, yet
creative way.
The progress that I have made thus far in University Writing is very encouraging and satisfying.
The Literacy Narrative and Found Genres assignments have benefitted me in many ways, from
developing a confidence in my writer’s identity to becoming a more creative thinker. However, there are
a few ways in which I hope to become a better writer throughout the remainder of this course. While I felt
very confident in my ability to discuss a subject that I was already literate in, I am unsure of my ability to
Misenheimer 3
achieve a state of literacy in a foreign subject and then form an effective story from it. I am hoping that
the upcoming Ethnography will give me the confidence and experience needed to mold a more complete
writer’s identity. I am eager to begin the Ethnography and test my cognitive abilities in new ways.
Sincerely,
Will Misenheimer
25 October 2015