Writing Is More Than Words

I learned in English 110 this semester that writing isn’t just a skill, but also a process that is formed by who you are and your experiences. Learning to write changes how you think about what language is and can be. I was made to think about how language standards both strengthen and marginalize groups of speakers. I learned this through literacy narratives, close readings, translation projects, and my synthesis essay. When looking back on my growth throughout the semester, I noticed how much I have learned about language, editing, and linguistic choices. I think the biggest lessons I took away from this semester were how language relates to identity, how working together may improve writing, how to convey ideas through a lot of different forms of media and genres, and how to recognize and evaluate rhetorical situations.

One of the clearest lessons this semester that I learned was how collaboration can drastically improve my writing. I noticed the impact most when comparing my early drafts to my final versions. Peer review made me notice gaps in my ideas. My 1-on-1 meetings with the professor also pushed me to think more about my claims and what they are about. Furthermore, going to the Writing Center helped me understand how to revise properly, rather than fixing only grammatical errors in sentences. Something specific that I took away from my visit to the writing center was the issue of my peers’ understanding of the topic or task at hand being on the same level as mine, and not the understanding of a professor or how the school wants you to write. However, having access to multiple viewpoints, whether it is the professor, the school, or even my peers, drastically improved my writing as I had access to multiple audiences and could communicate effectively what I envisioned for myself and others. The biggest change is evident throughout my Language and Literacy narrative, as what I started with was completely different from what I ended with, even though the main premise and idea remained the same. 

Another major lesson I learned is that Standard English is not the only way to communicate ideas effectively. Before taking this class, I had a very black and white viewpoint on this topic. I used to believe that “proper writing” had to sound a certain way, as in it had to sound similar to and always live up to the academic standard. This viewpoint changed when I read authors like Vershawn Young, Amy Tan, and Nate Marshall. Young argues that people should be able to write in the language they grew up with; he shows this by writing in his own dialect. Tan explains how her mother was judged for her “broken” English, even though she knew and understood everything perfectly. Marshall speaks out on how he needed to accept his own language dialect and words rather than having to fit into the academic standards. These texts made me reflect on my own LLN as well, where I talked about learning English as a child and how that shaped the way I understood myself. I set the tone and scene to a moment in time when I wasn’t able to speak English, and how that led to me being misunderstood and afraid.

I also learned how powerful different forms of media can be in shaping an argument. Before this class, I never really thought of posters, paintings, or even videos as a form of writing. But when we studied multimodal examples, such as the gay activist posters and social media content. I realized how visuals can deliver messages in ways that writing alone sometimes can not. For me, it was reading Ferdi’s Translation 1 project, which was a slideshow presentation on his experience learning about a different culture and language. “The people had their own way of preserving language.” (Alexander, Ferdi 2025) This resonated with me thoroughly, as the presentation had many different pictures from that place, which helped create a better feeling of connection to that culture as a whole. Something which couldn’t have been done with texts alone.

Finally, I learned how to identify and analyze rhetorical situations across different genres. The close readings of Langston Hughes, Marshall, Tan, and all of the discussion boards helped me practice how to properly look at the audience, purpose, tone, context, and meaning of a text. These skills became even more important when I had to create my own translations. I had to think about who I was writing for, and why, all of which changed the way I structured my work. It made me more conscious of the choices I made, whether it was the language I used or the emotions I wanted to writing to convey. My synthesis essay made me reconsider who I wanted my audience to be; the topic of prescriptivism wasn’t just for the classroom, but for people as a whole. Anyone who speaks nonstandard English has experienced prescriptivist ideas against them, and I wanted my essay to connect to everyone out there who did. Moreover, for my Translation 2 assignment, I had to figure out how to convert that idea into a poster, so I had to reconsider the tone and context as well.

Overall, this semester helped me understand writing as something that is living; it shapes people and is also shaped by people, culture, identity, and purpose. I grew not just because my grammar improved, but because I learned to think differently about communication as a whole. I learned to have trust in my own voice, to value collaboration and take the tips provided, to appreciate different dialects, and how to implement rhetorical analysis into my work. But more importantly, I learned that writing is not about fitting into a standard. It’s about learning how to express who you are and what you stand for. I believe that is a lesson that I will carry far beyond this class.