The Psychology of Language

Confusing yet Constructive

               Coming into this class, I was honestly expecting another boring experience like College Writing. There would be more reading about reading and writing and less connection to our actual discipline despite the course name. However, going into the first assignment - the thin-slicing assignment - my views began to change. The way the topic of thin-slicing was at first framed seemed quite tedious but in the end, turned out to be very interesting. This first assignment allowed me to have faith in the course and allow it to take me on the journey it would provide.

               In high school, I was never a fan of the subject of English. I was a math and science student through and through and never developed an interest in English. We used to read famous novels by famous authors and the interpret the text with respect to the author or the time he or she lived. I never saw the point of this because to be honest, I always thought, where is this going to be of use in my life? And additionally, did the author ever intend to even create a novel that would be analyzed in such various contexts or, did the author just want to create a good story? I never received that answer so I went through high school English as just another motion.

               When I had to take College Writing at Northeastern, I thought, "Oh no, here we go again." I was correct. It was pretty much the same thing which didn't make too much sense. Then moving to Advanced Writing now had me thinking the same way, which I can't really be blamed for as prior experiences had put me in that position. However, after meeting the professor and starting the assignments I began to think, "Finally, a writing course with purpose." The thin-slicing assignment allowed me to create large analyses based on small amounts of information with a relatively great amount of precision. Then on contrary topics, close reading and context memos allowed me to do the same with even less information. Close reading, I found particularly interesting as this is when I first saw that each word, phrase, and sentence has more than just the intended meaning. Each word, phrase, and sentence has a psychological purpose as well. An epiphany of sorts; this began to answer my questions about English in high school and why we had to do what we did.

               The third assignment really brought the whole course together for me. Creating a conference abstract allowed me to focus on an area of writing which I have not always been able to incorporate into my writing throughout my time in the educational system. This area of writing was word choice and precision. With a limitation of 500 words and so much information to provide, the project seemed intimidating at first. However, after sitting with my partner and going through and correcting each and every sentence, I ended up noticing that this project, although very short, was my best writing sample. Within the time constraints given and the criteria needed, my partner and I did an excellent job. After receiving a rewarding grade on this, writing has finally made sense to me and become quite enjoyable.

               I titled this post, The Psychology of Language. I did that as writing truly is as much a physical practice as it is a psychological one. Everything can be put together to form a generalization but the details are what allow for one to formulate those generalizations. Those details are the psychological level of writing and what has allowed me to endure and enjoy Advanced Writing. I never before thought writing would be this beneficial to me but this course has allowed me to see its advantages. I still have a long way to go to be a great writer, but I think I have come far enough to be deemed as at least, "good." Thanks AWD.