SEMESTER METATEXT

For your final you will write a semester metatext, an essay about your development as a writer this term. As with any essay you must have an idea—not just that you learned or didn’t learn, but some more complex understanding about this—and you must provide evidence. What kind of evidence? You should quote from particular essays, especially from the metatexts you’ve written on particular drafts. You should mention particular moments that were important in your development. I will be impressed more by your awareness of yourself as a writer than by any gushing about how much you learned. Discussing what you have difficulty with is valuable.

Here are some questions you will wish to consider:

How do I approach the task of writing? (And how has it changed, if at all?)
What is my attitude towards writing? (And how has it changed, if at all?)
What do I consider good writing to be in the college setting--or any setting? (And how has this perception changed, if at all?)
What specific skills have I learned in reading and writing?
What am I concerned about as I move into English 1201 next term?

To prepare for the final, which must be written in class, December 17, at 12:45 a.m., in this classroom, review all that you’ve written this term. Consider this a research project for which you are an objective investigator, sifting through evidence for places of growth, frustration, understanding. Highlight your writing; write notes in the margin; do some freewriting; come up with a main idea; create a plan. But I’d like you to do the actual writing of the metatext essay during the final exam period.  The student examples are from a Basic Skills class, but they will give you a good idea of what you have to do.