Abstract
The intent of this project is to better understand how first year writing students use emotions to articulate their understanding of their writing process and their rhetorical situation within the domains of academic and personal writing. I collected anonymous survey data online from 25 students enrolled in first year writing classes at a California State School. In my research, I found that students defined “academic” and “personal” writing through purpose and audience; academic writing being written for teachers with the purpose of getting a good grade and personal writing being written for self-enjoyment with the writer as the audience. Students often had negative emotional reactions, such as stress and worry, to academic writing because of the pressure to meet audience expectations and their perceived inability to meet those expectations. They had much more positive responses to personal writing, such as pride and enjoyment, because they felt they were able to freely express themselves and did not have to meet audience expectations. Using these conclusions as a foundation, I argued that students’ conceptualizations of these domains of writing impacted their affective engagement and the value they found in their writing.