Metatext

My writing has changed drastically over the course of this year. I may still write about the same thoughts and ideas as before, but my presentation of each idea and how I put them into words is completely different. Improvements in my grammar are evident, but perhaps the most important improvement is the one made in my method of execution of my ideas. Before most of my ideas stayed ideas, and only hints of them would ever show through my writing, making for a lot of papers with much fluff instead of substance. I now understand better how to write something proving my points rather then just establishing them.

An example of this would be my original Cultural Artifact paper on the Social Network film vs my final research paper. If you look at each, they both establish main ideas that I want to express - but that is where the similarities end. The Cultural Artifact goes on to talk about different points in the movie, but while doing so, I feel it almost turns into a summary of the movie rather then an actual evaluation of it, and the different cultural aspects it displays. The research paper, however, establishes a theme of how video games are art, and it provides an opposing argument from another source, and many sources proving the points I had brought up in the Thesus. I establish my ideas, express my views and reasoning for how I see the matter, and cite examples from outside sources.

There is evidence of my progression in my Cultural Artifact on the subject of online games. I am able to put the same logical thought process down onto paper instead of leaving the thoughts spinning around my head. Perhaps my biggest change isn't the fact that my writing itself has changed so much, but rather that my writing has changed me so much. I feel as if I almost view the world differently now, as with a different set of eyes that, while they are still my own, feel new and fresh to me. They allow me to observe and examine things more carefully, and with better understanding - as well as prevent me from jumping to conclusions and making prejudgements about things without adequate information. Not only has my writing grown, but I think I have grown as a person as well.