Reflective Essay and Intro Page
In the summer of 2011, I wrote a piece of nonfiction called “Vision Correction.” Creative nonfiction is writing things that are true, nonfiction, like they are a story; hence the “creative”. Thus, I told the story of my vision problems, which led me to my struggle with perfectionism and my relationship with my mother. However, it also led me to a place I couldn’t go in that essay. The science and the sociological stuff behind my vision problems. or vision problems in general.
So when I was tasked with Re-purposing an Argument, I saw it as an opportunity to go to that place. “Vision Correction” became my “Source Essay”, you can find it within this section or through the link. This assignment allowed me to exercise a different part of my brain, the more scientific part. Though, I did struggle with leaving the deeply personal and literary nature of the prior essay behind. Still it was necessary to do so for the venue I had chosen, a CNN opinion article. Still, I didn’t fully commit which led to several good drafts, just not “good for the venue” drafts. Moreover, I chose the wrong examples like this Atlantic article about the Duggers, instead of this one from CNN which is in a short journalistic format about social issues. In the end, I had a long essay, even a good essay but not a great essay that served a purpose. So finally, I sucked it up. Sacrificing my artistic vision, I wrote a piece of journalism. That is “Inequality and the Patch,” my final “Re-Purposing an Argument” draft. You can find it under the Re-purposing an Argument tab, where there is also more information on my writing experience.
By the time, I had finished that struggle, it was time to change the medium for the “Re-Mediating an Argument” Assignment. Within seconds of reading the prompt, I knew I would do a podcast. It was perfect. My original audience was a bunch of NPR tote-bag bleeding heart liberals. They love podcasts. They make “This American Life” the top podcast on Itunes. It was from Ira Glass and this particular podcast called “What Kind of Country”, that I drew a lot of inspiration. The true difficulty in this assignment was technology. I had never used Garage Band (or Garbage Band as a I started to call it) before. I had to transfer files between my PC and a Mac. Then my PC crashed spectacularly. And I had a lovely sound-recording device but no where to record but in my dorm room. My hall has had so many noise citations that DPS will no longer answer our calls. Still I persevered. Things took longer than I hoped. I had to throw out a lot of good takes and use some with stumbles because you could hear someone chanting “chug” in the background.
But, ultimately, re-mediation offered me the opportunity to engage with a different process and a different style of writing.It forced me to write in short clear sentences and allowed me to do things you’re not supposed to do in most types of writing. I could connect with my audience using my voice, which sounds like the slowest, most Midwestern drawl ever to me but I was told that it has a soothing effect. I could step out of the piece and tell the audience directly what I wanted to talk about. It was more of a conversation even though I was the only one talking. This left me some freedom to be reflective in tone and a little personal but not to much. Thus, re-mediation helped me stretch my skills as a writer and branch (forgive my pun) into not just a new genre, but a new medium. My podcast is available under the “Re-mediating an Argument” tab, which features more discussion of what it was like to make a podcast.
What did I take from all of this as a writer? I did a lot of revising to reflect, and reflecting to revise. I had to change my writing sometimes to get perspective such as when I rearranged sections for my podcast. Then I had to reflect to know how to revise, which is how I ended up cutting 1,000 words for my “Re-purposing an Argument.” The reflection part was the hardest. I still contend that in several ways my earlier drafts for Re-purposing an Argument were better but I also contend that because my last draft has a purpose and an audience, it is best. Realizing this forced me to step out of myself, out of what I wanted to write and into what I needed to write. I learned to be ruthless and cut sections. I learned to be brave and mix them up. Moreover, I learned to keep at it. Whether drafting for re-purposing or trying to change a wma file into an mp3. A piece is never done. Trees can grow for years and years. And they always need pruning.
As always, for any further reference, please explore all that’s available under the Works Cited tab. More on each individual project is available under their tabs.