Hello! Welcome to Alexis’ writing portfolio for FIQWS 2019. Thank you for visiting this website. On this site, you will be able to see everything that Alexis has written this semester. The writing pieces that are included on this page are: The Outsider Essay, The Metaphor Essay, The Critical Lens, and the Research Paper. In addition to doing writing pieces, we also conducted peer reviews and reflections. Overall, this semester was very useful in assisting Alexis in exploring her theory of writing. She was able to see what techniques and methods were necessary for her to write in a Narrative Medicine class. Her theory of writing is as follows:

Being in a STEM school, I did not really focus on writing classes. I mainly focused on the importance of science and math classes and did not put all my effort into my writing. Throughout high school, I knew the basics of organization, citations, and grammar. When this semester started, I knew I was in for a rude awakening. In contrast to the book reports and research papers I had to write in high school that was very straightforward, the essays that we wrote this year contained prompts that allowed for room for creativity. In the essays that we wrote this year we were able to focus on our viewpoints on certain topics and compare viewpoints from certain narratives. 

The first essay that we received was the Outsider Essay in which we had to discuss a personal experience when we felt like an outsider. This essay was a little troubling for me because I am not good at expressing my feelings. While writing this essay, I learned the importance of phrasing words correctly. At the end of this essay, I wanted to be able to summarize my overall feelings toward this topic. “I do not wear the red, white, and black flag across my heart. But, I realize now that the tone of my skin, the looseness of my curls, and the lack of soca knowledge is only part of who I am.” I felt that the way I phrased these words in my conclusion was sufficient in conveying how I felt. The way that a writer phrases words can be used to elicit certain emotions that does not have to be written to be understood. Another example of how I was able to utilize the importance of phrasing words was when I wrote the phrases that people normally say to me and what I have to reply with other people. My first sentence is an example of this. “So like, what are you?” I can’t stand this. “Are you sure you aren’t Hispanic?” Please don’t start speaking Spanish.”

Another writing piece that assisted me with my writing skills was the Metaphor Essay. Initially, I experienced writers block while trying to choose a metaphor. I was able to choose a metaphor from the book “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J Gaines because not only is it my favorite book, but the message that Gaines is able to discuss throughout the book is breathtaking.  In this essay, I was able to connect “Systole and Diastole, Strength and Openness” by Colleen Farrell and “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J Gaines because both authors are able to to “captivate the reader through these metaphors because the metaphor is able to act as a bridge between what the protagonist feels and our understanding of it.” While writing this essay I learned the importance of organization. I had to properly structure the essay in a way in which the reader would understand the connecting points that I was attempting to make. I structured my essay by stating the metaphor that I would be using from one text and then explaining that metaphor in the next paragraph, then in my final body paragraph I compared the meaning and usage of both metaphors. 

Something that was done for each essay that assisted me was the peer review. For each peer review that was conducted, my partner has been very beneficial and helpful with reading my pieces. Not only do I get advice, but during the peer review I also get to read my classmates and give specific feedback. For the most recent peer review conducted, I wrote for my peer review partner Temi that he is able to maintain the focus established by the topic sentence when he elaborates on “how black people have had to conform their hair because of the norms set by society.” Additionally, I gave Temi some advice on how to structure his essay based on the prompt because his original structure was too confusing. 

Overall, this class was very beneficial in assisting me with my writing strategies. I have learned the importance of the way to phrase words, organization, and feedback. Throughout the semester, I have been able to adjust my writing in ways that I thought I never could. While the essays that were given to us were different from anything that I wrote in highschool, I feel like I adjusted well this semester and I will be able to use the strategies that I learned for word phrasing, organization, and feedback throughout the next stages of college.