Vitaly OConnor

Mrs. Olivia Rines

UWRT-1101

Midterm Reflection
I was afraid this moment was to come; Ive lost faith in myself as a writer until
just recent. But still even with the extent of freedom I thought required, in becoming a
great writer. Ive let myself down; the complexity competes with me a rate that often
leaves me wondering if I should indeed leave this to the professionals. But on the on the
other hand, I crave to master elements of writing I do not yet understand. I often think
myself it deep lost thought, and sometimes its like writing a book. But if I ever dare to try
to express myself in reality, I realize that the cluster caused in the moment of expression
is far to great to ever keep a clear head on what is of value.
When this first class stared, I told myself that there wouldnt be a time of
weakness. That I would not fall, but a series of unfortunate events has caused the
opposite. I know within that I have what it takes to write a piece that may hold some
value to someone other than myself. Then again dont we all. (perhaps not all)
In general I feel that Ive worked very hard to accomplish the work done in this course.
But I also have had a series of idiotic mistakes that jeopardized all the hard work I
accomplished. As the class started I wasnt sure exactly what to expect, the form of
teaching is brilliant. One of my favorite parts would be the daily notebook. It allows me
to express myself in anyway I wish, and at the same time sets me on a path with enough
structure to accomplish the needed task. I never thought a random topic written about

daily could have influence in my overall perspective of writing. Its like warm up before a
soccer game. It gets me in the writing zone, motivates me to express myself more often,
in a writing form. My development in writing has taken a better turn, I tend to express
myself in ways I never knew. I understand things I havent for a long time, the online
activities are very fun, forced interaction with other students writings are brilliant. I love
the diverse views all my classmates have. Not exactly all of them. Havent read all
writings posted.
Id like to break down a few things Ive learned, beginning with genre and how it
breaks down. How I as the artist am to accurately use information of a genre to express
myself in writing. A genre is understood as a concept, that is the most basic of thoughts.,
Examples would be: gas station, grocery store, etc. Those concepts break down into
schemas and mental models. Schemas are known as clusters of information that help
better understand ones concept. They break down into three types. The first is world
knowledge- (all the knowledge found within the world that the one may use as advantage
in understanding a concept, the second would be understanding the text, and the third is
found within the self experience one has in this world that help them better understand
the world around. Because understanding a concept helps one understand the world
surrounding them. The trails of concepts that build up ones perspective are known as
mental models, these mental models are interconnected concepts that act as a building
blocks. Ive also learned the difference between genre and text. Genres tend to be ideal
and texts play as actual manifestations of genres. For example one may think of sport,
that would be classified as the genre. The text further and better explains the genre. The
information saved and further used in the further is known as genre knowledge. This is

thought of as all the information accumulated and saved over the years about a certain
genre. Anything that helps one better understand and better comprehend a genre is known
as genre knowledge. Intersexuality is the form or bond that text has when bringing a
genre to life, the text is intersexual. Its textual information passed on from one text to
another, play as a very important role in explaining or bringing a genre to life. There are
two types of intersexuality. Referencing would be known as the information accumulated
that is already existent. And genre mixing is regenerated descriptions that are self
thought. Models with no specific social function are knows as discourse models. There
are 7 different discourse models. They are

Narrative

Description

Report

Information

Argument

Instruction

Interaction

I love how Baxter states the following because it comes with simple understanding. He
states The world around us is constructed by the discourse we use (Bax 30). That
discourse model once chooses will help others understand what, why and how one tempts
to explain themselves. For example if I were mad I would use an argumentative
discourse model. And so on, understanding a genre isnt exactly complex if one wants
and has the curiosity needed. The only confusion is genres, is breaking one down. If the
world knowledge isnt used accurately, and the self regenerated information isnt depicted

properly. Then jeopardy of full comprehension occurs. As a none experienced writer, Ive
been motivated in this class to better myself in writing. This may sound as a lie, but Ive
spent about 1 hour a day on this class so far over all. Realizing now that I should have
spent two hours daily. I feel as that Ive gained an amount of data that will be very
beneficial in the future. As far as a grade, id rather not. But I will accept any grade you as
the teacher see fit.

Vitaly OConnor