Analysis

 

       In the second CIP we wrote this quarter, our goal was to first list out ten different genres, and then choose three to go into more detail with. These genres were picked after our first reading of Paul Heilker’s “On Genres as Ways of Being” essay. By listing out ten different genres, it was hoped that we would eventually get a more concrete understanding on how genres can be ways of being and also see the different types of genres that we ourselves exist in. It was difficult for me to even imagine ten genres that I use, since at the time I barely understood what Heilker meant when he was talking about genres. By the end of the assignment I understood how much these CIPs could help me understand the subject that we were writing about in class. I finally felt that I was not completely lost when it came to the idea of genres.

 

       On the second part, where we chose three of our listed genres to write more on. This part is where we initially touched on what a critical inquiry question was, though at the time I did not know it. It was here that we started to ask questions that we did not know the answer to. It was because of this assignment that I came up with the subject for my first essay. This CIP shows where I begin to grasp the overall topic of the class as well as where I start to ask critical questions. This is the best example of when I begin to really grow as a writer in this class. Before this assignment I never had to ask myself questions, in an academic sense, that I did not already know the answer. This is my first, if tiny, foray into the genre of critical inquiry question writing.