9/9

The first of the five key terms we discussed in class last week that really interested me was the one assigned to my group: critical incident. I thought it was such an intriguing idea; I could remember myself experiencing a few “critical incidents” during the writing process and now having a name for the experiences really adds value to this turning point. We summed up this incident as a sort of sink-or-swim moment in which the student realizes that the approach he or she is currently taking is not allowing them to properly convey a message. From this moment the student must not only determine what isn’t working but develop a new technique to improve the overall quality of writing. I also like the term “conceptual breakthrough” which is closely associated with the critical incident in that it is (in the best cases) what follows the realization that something isn’t working and sheds new light on a subject. Transfer is an important term as well because it has to do with the way in which a student uses his or her knowledge of past experiences as a tool in writing. The information a student decides to transfer into the paper can either help or hinder the writing process but the wonderful thing is that because a students knowledge continues to grow so, too, will their writing skills. Exigence is an important term to keep in mind; it is, after all, the driving force of discourse itself. And lastly, I want to keep reflection in mind. The writing process is a reflective process, whether you write fiction or research papers. They are all meditations on a specific topic. Not only does writing reflect what a writer has learned or experienced, it can also reflect the very passion that a writer possesses for the topic about which he or she is writing.