My journey in Composition as a part of this Narrative Medicine class has been one that has pushed the boundaries of perspective towards writing. With the Outsider Narrative, Metaphor Essay, and I-Search Paper, I have noticed much growth in the way I choose to respond to each prompt. Amongst all of the writing, research, and questions answered, my experience being in this Composition class has truly caused me to see writing as an area of much more expression as opposed to simply organizing sources and creating a response. As I believe I have managed to achieve the course learning objectives to a somewhat large extent, I have learned to shift my approach toward my writing to one that expresses my own personal thoughts. 

Looking at the Course Learning Objectives, I feel that I have achieved some of the goals to a great extent, and some of the goals to a lesser extent. For instance, the Metaphor essay allowed me to compose text that integrated my stance with outside sources and develop reading, writing, and editing strategies. Throughout the process of writing the Metaphor paper, my biggest struggle was finding a way to tie together a working argument with outside sources that fit my topic. I had decided to focus on the current pandemic as a main topic in my essay. I wanted to find a source that would bring in elements of the COVID-19 pandemic with the war metaphor that I had chosen to write about. As I went through the process of reconciling the two by looking at the terms being used for doctors, I felt I was developing a sense of how to both connect my stance with my sources and achieve the writing goal I had in order to meet the expectation of bringing two working metaphors into my essay. Thus, the Metaphor paper helped me to develop skills in my writing that also satisfy the Course Learning Objectives.

In addition, the Outsider Narrative and I-Search paper helped me to achieve some of the other Course Learning Objectives, although some other objectives were not met as sufficiently. For instance, the Outsider Narrative forced me to think outside the box and meet the expectations regarding rhetorical situation. To focus on telling my own story initially felt difficult. Having to shift the speaker and point of view towards myself seemed somewhat uncomfortable. However, the writing experience allowed me to learn how to express my own story within my writing, and allow the audience to gain something from my own experiences. Also, the I-Search paper played a significant role in allowing me to achieve a large number of the Course Learning objectives. In writing the I-Search paper, it forced me not only to locate different research sources, practice using citations, and integrate my stance and language with outside sources, but it taught me to incorporate my own personal connection into my writing, similar to the Outsider Narrative. Initially, I focused more on providing information and responding to a question in my writing. Throughout this Composition course, I began learning to bring my own opinions, experiences, and personal connections into my responses. However, there were also some areas in the Course Learning Objectives that I did not achieve as much in. For instance, I did not do much in the area of developing web-based portfolios. Although a portfolio is being worked on, up to this point, there has not been much time or focus in the direction of the portfolio. In addition, although there was some level of peer-editing and revision, I have not felt that I have developed much in the area of developing my work.

In summary, taking Composition class for Narrative Medicine this semester truly benefited my writing in a variety of areas. Through my experience writing the Outsider Narrative and I-Search paper, I developed a perspective and set of skills that not only influenced my approach towards my writing, but helped to achieve a large amount of the Course Learning Objectives. Writing the Metaphor paper was an experience that both challenged me and helped me achieve other listed objectives. After journeying throughout this entire process, I can confidently say that this Composition course has helped me to not only improve my writing, but shift the way I view writing altogether.