A Collection of Work and Reflections by Hannah Goodwin
Originally Published May 2019
This semester I have reflected extensively on my writing development over my time in college. I thought it was fun to go over my writing from the past 8 semesters. I found it interesting to see how my writing was affected by the long stretches of time I spent without writing. For example, I didn’t take any writing classes the spring of my sophomore year nor during the summer, so when I returned in the fall of my junior year, I struggled to adjust to the writing assignment expectations of my English class professor.
It was powerful for me to re-purpose the text I had written originally about the semester my grandmother got sick (Αγαπε). I thought it was a nice way to reflect on a situation that I continue to learn from as I get older.
I am a writer who writes when I am motivated to do so. Sometimes it is hard for me to motivate myself to write well even when I want to have a good final product.
My writing has changed over time along with me. Some depth was added to my writing after I had deeper experiences and took the time to reflect on them with family and friends and my practice of writing aided me in doing that.
This reflection led to my better understanding of sensitivities in audiences and I have become more rhetorically aware as I write rather than just at the end of my revision process.
I think good college writing depends on its purpose and place, so good college writing is something that satisfies its goals or what the writers set out to do. To differentiate college writing from other writing, college writing is something that is good if (in addition to my assertion above) it makes the writer proud or pleases her. If it is college writing for a class or academic purpose, it is subjective and depends on the professor who grades it. I have found for myself that I think I have written well academically when I receive the grade I wanted; however, some of my highest graded papers are what I don’t consider good. I much prefer my own way of writing over any assignment a professor gives me. My perception of good college writing is dependent on whether I’m satisfying the goals of the assignment. When I speak about good academic writing in college I must add in that extra descriptor: academic. My definition of good writing as exploring thoughts and ideas above makes room for researched academic papers. My perception of good writing is dependent on whether it evokes the emotions/feelings/thoughts and reactions the writer intended.
To be a good writer in college I think it is important that the student writes in and out of the classroom. I have never found writing for an assignment (when no creativity or introspection is involved) to lead to good writing. It has always fallen flat for me. Good writing explores thoughts, ideas, experiences, and a host of other aspects of human life. All other writing lacks that beautiful meaning that I desire.
Thank you for taking the time to peruse my portfolio using the links below.
Pictures (top to bottom, from left):
Keara, me, and Sarah at the Computer Science department's annual Quivia (Quiz Bowl + Trivia) accepting the 2nd place prizes. May 2, 2019.
Briana and me at the football field cheering on WFU. September 2018.
Me, Sierra, Miranda, Briana, Kalyn, and Lauren at the Celebration of Black Excellence Gala. Winter 2019.
In kindergarten and first grade, I had a teacher named David Eddy. I took all my assignments seriously, but I shined when I turned in my writing assignments. Once in Mr. Eddy’s class we wrote comparisons between subjects and objects and I wrote that my skin is the same color as my grandmother’s coffee after she puts creamer in it....
A reflective look of how assignments through my four years affected my writing development and informed my identity as a writer.
To my future son,
In effort to be understood, I want to tell you everything about me and my life. I’ll start with the heroes and villains of my childhood; from the child’s perspective this is a simple distinction, but I have learned as I’ve gotten older that I struggle with knowing which, if any, box to place a person into....
I thought I was done with my childhood until I lost my grandfather and all I wanted to do was wear an Easter dress just like the ones he and my nana used to send. I thought I was done with my childhood until I lost my grandmother the following April and all I wanted was to be transported back to kindergarten in December, when I got to embrace the Swedish roots she passed down to me and dress up as Santa Lucia....
When presented with the opportunity to learn more about a discipline on campus, I chose the politics department. I consider the American Government class I took to be my favorite basic requirement class I took in the realm of the social sciences and so, I thought it would be interesting to learn about writing in the discipline from the following women....
I am biracial. Half Black, half White. And I have been acutely aware of belonging to this group, this minority in the United States, my whole life. Luckily, the presence of my older sister, Haley, has helped me to not be completely alone in navigating these rough waters....
I entered the bungalow that housed the afterschool program and located one of my favorite humans: Alexis. She was tall – a whopping 5’2”! She was thin and curvy and I needed to get some assurance I would be as beautiful as her someday....
public class Life {
public static void main (String [] args) {
// There are several variables that have played a role in my love of video games and computers:
String UncleDaryl = "I bought you a new game! ";
Below are links to articles I wrote for the student-run newspaper, The Old Gold & Black. The four articles I have selected to present are the ones that I enjoyed writing the most.