Reflection of Academic Writing

Personally, academic writing is not my favorite. I’m very passionate about creative writing and would much rather do that instead, so research papers, analyses, anything of the sort are my least favorite. One paper that I recall consider to be one of my strongest was my final paper from Shakespeare I that tackled the topic of identity in Shakespeare’s comedic play Twelfth Night. While writing this paper I actually dove into the spiritual representation of identity, using Peter’s denial of Jesus to interpret Viola’s cross-dressing and how she did not feel safe revealing herself until her twin brother was confirmed to be alive and picked her identity out despite no one else knowing who she truly was. I had a lot of fun writing that paper because of the similarities that I saw between the two texts, and I got to write about something that is important to me and my interpretation of the play as a Christian.

Analyses are difficult to write because it is hard to focus on just one part of a text, especially if it is layered, and I think that is my weak point. When I write my mind jumps to points instead of putting the sentences together one at a time, so that might be why I struggle with them. Usually I try to frame my argument in a rough draft and look up pieces of evidence that I might use and go from there. Analyses can be fun when you are analyzing something you find interest in or something that you are curious about, it gives you an excuse to deep dive into a text and share what you’ve found with others.