Written in narrative form, a study examined the impact of using writing as a learning tool in an upper-division college course in Seventeenth Century literature. The study investigated: (1) student writing samples of both informal and transactional writing forms; (2) the impact of writing-to-learn on course objectives; (3) the impact of informal writing (annotations, personal reflections) on students' ability to analyze material; and (4) the impact of other informal writing activities. Analysis revealed that the use of writing-to-learn shifted the emphasis from content to critical thinking. Informal writing helped students not only to "unpack" dense metaphoric language to reach clearer analytic insights--it also helped students to engage texts on a more personal level by allowing the literature to intersect with their own experiences. Informal writing also helped to develop students' ability to synthesize larger masses of material. This use of informal writing was significant because it nurtured critical thinking skills and allowed students to find their own voices in their writing, which gave more vitality to their transactional writing. (Five figures are included.) (MM)