Throughout this essay, I will aim to show my evolution as a writer and how the Minor in Writing Program helped with this particular transformation from an amateur writer to a well-rounded, academic and creative contributor to literature in several different fields of study. In order to do this, I will analyze, critique, and reflect upon past pieces of writing that I have done for various classes or in other non-academic contexts. I will demonstrate that through my experiences as a college-level writer, I have grown from a strictly methodical and structured essayist, to a more improved creative writer and storyteller. Along with this development, I have also become incredibly versed and interested in feminist theory and how this topic has also shaped my writing. In this writer’s evolution essay, I will argue that the academic institutions that are in place, and the rules and expectations that they hold on the professors and students, are inhibiting the creative and flexible writing processes that could be taking place in order to produce original, interesting, and beautifully written prose, rather than the rigid and outdated academic writing that is so supremely focused on in academia.

 

 

I’m pretty sure that “bored” would be an understatement for the way that you’re feeling right now, and an incredible understatement for the way that I, personally, feel after writing this dense paragraph full of uninteresting information. Nevertheless, bear with me, please. In all fairness to me, that is how I’ve been trained to write. The style dates back to way before I was born, and continues to have a great influence over teaching styles and the ways in which young writers first learn how to write. Don’t get me wrong- this style of academic argumentation has its very useful purposes. I don’t dispute that fact, or the fact that it allows for readers (and writers) to fully comprehend what it is that will be argued throughout the piece of writing. After all, that paragraph is how a lot of my professors would expect my essays to begin – a clearly defined topic, introductory information, brief outline of methods, and a sentence that lays out the thesis and argument that will be made throughout the paper. The following paragraph is an excerpt from a piece of writing that I did for an upper-level Political Science class that had a heavy focus on academic argumentation and the strict stylistic guidelines that I previously described:

 

Scholars have analyzed the important document that structures our society and government today, and are concerned that perhaps our beloved Constitution protected the enslavement of people since its creation up until the Civil War. I find, without a doubt, that the practice of slavery was protected by the Constitution as evidenced by explicit, textual support within the clauses of the document, as well as several compromises and acts that were passed during the Civil War era. I argue that the Constitution is a pro-slavery document and that while the framers acknowledged that slavery might not have been morally right, they constructed a document that made slavery legal and allowed for slaves to be held as property to their owners.

 

 

This style has been so engrained in my writing processes that I have found it to be incredibly difficult to re-train my brain in a way that allows for the incorporation of beautifully written and creative prose. I used to see it in a very black and white way – I am either writing a scholarly essay, or I am writing a creative essay. There could be no influence or combination of one into the other. This belief leads me to question the whole way that writing is being taught, especially in higher education. Why is it that there cannot be creative and personal pieces of writing that also shed light on issues such as slavery in the Constitution? Why can there not be storytelling in a research paper? Why have we been taught or programed into thinking that creative writing is secondary to academic argumentation or scholarly articles? I strongly believe that the way writing is taught in formal education is failing us, and only recently have I been able to break away from the constrictions of, as I like to very generally call, academic writing, and branch out into new comprehensive styles that have allowed for me to contribute far more interesting theories and information than I was ever prepared to explore or write. It concerns me that I would have never had these opportunities or experiences without the Minor in Writing Program, and I sympathize for other students and scholars that will forever believe that there is only black and white writing styles, rather than an incredibly interesting combination that sparks greater interest and reveals far more about any given topic.

 

 

The following paragraph is an example of this writing style that I have improved in greatly, which combines a looser style of academic argumentation with creative storytelling. I have found that it sparks a greater interest within a wider audience because of its attempted balance between strictly naval-gazing and purely impersonal writing.

 

Until the 1970’s psychologists saw these attachments to inanimate objects as a reflection of a child’s failing mother. In several studies, researchers found kids who had their beloved toy with them at the doctor’s office experienced less distress, as measured by blood pressure and heart rate. Maybe security blankets really do live up to their name. The phenomenon of deep emotional attachment to objects, and the idea that they are more than just their physical properties, is what psychologists call essentialism. Imagine the feeling that a Michael Jackson fanatic would get from being able to put on his famous glove, or the repulsion we might feel about wearing a shirt worn by a serial killer, or how my mom feels wearing her grandmother’s wedding ring. Simply put, objects are emotional, and because we allow for the physical object to embody these emotions, just touching or holding the object triggers physical reactions in us.

 

While I have only given a sliver of my “Cubby” essay here in the paragraph above, I hope that readers are still able to see how I was attempting to combine a factual, psychological piece of information and research with a more personal and applicable way of looking at it. I have found that I am the best version of my writer self when I am passionate about the topic – isn’t that true with most things that we do in our lives? Passion breeds progress.

 

 

As I made my way through the ending classes of the Minor in Writing program, I noticed a more specific trend in my writing, besides the obvious transition from analytical writing to creative writing that I demonstrated in the above paragraphs. When I was given more stylistic and creative freedom, I tended to choose topics that were relevant to my own life – ones that I could talk about on a personal level, but still apply them on a more universal level, so that a general audience could connect to the experiences. Some of these experiences included my best friend coming out, my attachment to my stuffed animal, and the role of feminism in entertainment. My own interests sparked these topics, not a strictly guided curriculum from my professors and the larger academic institution at hand. When given the ability to be the stylistic developer and creative director of my writing, I noticed that I did better, more intellectual work that I was prouder of and more invested.

 

 

Apart from my changing interests and capabilities in writing throughout the program, I was also doing extra-curricular activities that have changed the ways that I write and perceive the world around me. These outside interests have also created incredible opportunities for analysis and exploration in the classes that I have taken for the MiW. Most notable is my passion for feminist theory, women’s studies, and women in entertainment (which I briefly mentioned above). My philanthropic work through my sorority with victims of domestic violence and the Women’s Center of Southeastern Michigan, along with some feminist political theory classes, has allowed me to explore an issue that I once had negative or uninterested feelings toward, and now feel extremely passionate about. This work has influenced my writing for all kinds of genres, but has, most importantly, drawn me to do my final Minor in Writing project on what it means to be a feminist.  More specifically, my evolution and journey through feminism, with a lot of help from the analysis of Beyonce's feminist journey.  The initial idea was sparked by a piece of writing done in my English 325 class, The Art of the Essay:

 

The cultural phenomenon of increasingly more female characters in strong, funny, and positive roles has allowed for inspiration, empowerment, and leadership amongst not only women in entertainment, but for women everywhere. By having these women in comedic roles, as well as powerful roles, it allows for emerging female voices to be an important part of pop culture. Entertainment in general has often been a tool of education and outreach to audiences, and it has had the effect of reinforcing stereotypes, both good and bad. So as the views of a woman’s role in the world have continued to change, and as women are being seen as equal to their male counterparts more frequently, it is important that their presence in the entertainment industry also changes. It is beginning to be a man’s world no longer.

 

 

This paragraph obviously shows where my interests have led given some creative freedom, but it also shows (hopefully, just as obvious) how I have improved as a writer, in general. First and foremost, I wanted to improve as a writer throughout the Minor in Writing program, which I think I have accomplished, for the most part. I then drifted away from the more analytical and strict academic writing to a creative essay writing – not just storytelling, but important analysis of personal experiences that I can apply to a large audience. Once I realized how much more of an effective writer I was when I broke away from the strict guidelines, I was able to better articulate and analyze how academic topics affect my own life and, as my English 325 professor taught us to ask ourselves, “if this is true [for ourselves], then what else could be true [for others]?”

 

The final capstone project embodies all of the progress I have made as a writer, a student, and a self-identified feminist woman.  What does that mean exactly?  It means that because of the journey I have taken through the Minor in Writing courses, along with outside English and Political Science classes, I have a more complex and better understanding of social, political, and personal theories of feminism.  A lot of these ideas have grown from a Political Science Feminist Theory class that I took several semesters ago.  As I explain in my project, I was not always so interested in the idea of feminism.  In fact, I completely rejected the idea that anyone should be a feminist.  I saw these women as anti-men and anti-family, and that did not sit well with me for a very long time - perhaps until just a few months ago.  Below is an excerpt from a piece of writing that I did for this said feminst theory class.  

 

Feminism has, over the past decades, grown from being a way of analyzing the suppression of women to challenging the male-dominated relationships and enacting progressive social change for women in the Western and modernized world. Literature on this subject has classically focused its attention on the desires and struggles of women who are white, heterosexual, middle class, western, and educated. It is important, however, to acknowledge that there are other ranges of women who are also marginalized, subordinate, and oppressed and can benefit from the expansion of feminism. As this feminist theory evolves, questions surrounding whether it should be more inclusive of these ‘other types’ of women, for example, lesbian feminists and sexual deviants that have not normally been incorporated in the political project or social aspects of feminism.

 

 

Looking back on this paper, I think that it makes almost too much sense that my journey has come so full circle with this final capstone project - especially in regard to my feminist journey.  This essay may not be the most articulated or the most well-written (I can guarantee it is not), but the ideas that were planted in this class have grown into beautifully formed theories and personal evolution.  In my final capstone project titled, "The Thing About Beyonce's Feminism...And My Own," I analyze my personal growth as a feminist, Beyonce's journey to and through feminism, the concerns and critiques that surround her every move, and what that means for black, white, and general feminist projects.  I focus on the highly-sexualized content that Beyonce expresses in her videos and lyrics, and I explore the accusations of her being a potential threat to feminism.  Like I begin to touch upon in the paper above, feminists come in all different forms - just like women, and people in general.  I want to show that Beyonce is, in fact, a positive force of feminism and is using her success and immense power to teach women that they do not need to sacrifice anyting in order to fit into a traditional wife and mother role, but she is also teaching them, perhaps most importantly, that there is no cookie-cutter definition of feminism.  The only people that get to decide what feminism looks like are the people who are brave enough to own themselves and not be defined by anyone, including the supporters of the traditional feminist project.