Heim, This semester has shown me the importance of happiness and communication through the written, oral, visual, and electronic aspects. I feel Like I have progressed in my writing, but I still have a lot to work on with organizing and delivering the writing. Improving on these topics in class has helped me feel more comfortable when writing and showing those writings. In the oral aspect I have a lot of work to do. In both of my oral presentations I felt very nervous and quiet, this can always be improved with more practice.
Writing process analysis Working on this paper was a little different from working on the last paper that I handed in. I definitely feel like I took my time fixing and improving my paper this time around. I read paragraph by paragraph going over each paragraph with a detailed eye over and over. I took each comment that was written to me seriously. This helped me improve my writing and allowed for my central claim to be clear to the reader.
I have learned a lot about how to improve my writing and make it more engaging over this past semester. When writing the first paper I learned a lot about how I write and how to improve my writing. At the beginning of this paper I learned how to plan a paper, by writing down ideas and notes down on a separate sheet of paper. This really helps to narrow down the ideas that I was passionate about. While writing this paper I learned how to self-correct mistakes that I would make a lot throughout my paper.
Being a part of this course has helped me improve my writing in different areas such as my grammar, editing, and planning. Being that, when I got back my teacher 's essay edited the first thing I noticed was all my grammar and my paragraph structure were all off. As a result, after I turn my essays in I always review my paragraphs and sometimes I even ask my friends to read over my essays to see if I need to improve either my paragraph structure, thesis or conclusion. Another, way I tried to improve my grammar, editing skills, and planning is
Writing is like a way for me to get all those possibilities, scenarios, ideas, and what if questions down on paper because it’s a way for me to express myself permanently. Before I took this writing course, I felt writing was not necessary for my education. In my writing 200 class, I have learned how to fix run on sentences, comma splices, fragments, and improve my grammar. I have improved my writing significantly, but I still have some work to do. I have been working on my writing and know I am ready to succeed at the next level because in 200 I learned how to proper use of transitions, and correct placement of commas.
During this semester, the peer review sessions have been most helpful, and especially helpful when paired with students who are more knowledgeable than I. Moreover, when going into these peer review sessions, most of the time I had a very rough draft of the assigned essay, but after the session, I knew exactly which steps I needed to take to improve my work. Additionally, when polishing my papers I would turn to the tutor before making the peer review suggested changes, but in retrospect, I now realize that I should make the suggested amendments first and then turn it into a tutor for
The structure of coursework improved my writing skills. In one experience, my peer editing session explained that my childhood story showed a simple and clear writing style, but it wasn’t concise. This feedback forced me to evaluate my story and see in what ways it could be concise along with other writing tools that I incorporated. I realized from the experience that this was the first time I focused purely on improving my writing skills rather than understanding the course content. The course enabled me to confront my weaknesses in writing that I couldn’t in other academic classes.
The first thing that came to mind was definitely you’re class, where I grew to be a confident writer. In my class we read about the importance of “shitty first drafts” which I think helped take the pressure off writing an amazing paper from the get go. I learned how to write for the genre and tried to hone in on my audience for the paper. Once I had my first draft finished there was a peer review in class, which is helpful because not only do you get feedback from them, but you also get to read their papers, which can give you ideas on what you could do better. After that, I took their feedback, revised, and then turned it into my professor to get more feedback.
Over the semester, I have gained a better understanding of different writing tasks, specifically analysis. I have also continued to pursue my goal of being a more professional writer. I hope to carry the skills I have obtained and what I have learned with me throughout my writing career in biology. When I began the course, I was not familiar with analysis writing.
I tried to take thorough notes and ask questions when I struggled. I have learned to analyze everything I read in a beneficial way that helps me grasp the story and see it’s full meaning. I mentally ask myself questions while reading and try to find every perspective. Furthermore, I learned multiple crucial life lessons that will benefit me as I mature. For example, “Less is more”(Jane Sullivan).
My strength as a writer seems to be the flow of my paper, finding good citations to support my argument, and writing in a clear manner. I still need to work on floating quotes, word choice, and synthesizing along with clarifying who said certain quotes. I am also working on scheduling more than enough time to write and perfect my essays because as much as I think I have allowed myself enough time I feel like the time is never enough.
As a writer one of my two strengths are coming up with a story. Whenever I write I tend to have an idea on how I want my story to start and finish. I imagine what I want to write by putting my story in point form, gathering the necessary research before I move to completing the story. I feel organization and planning is important and effective to have a good essay. Every time I write I am constantly proofreading my work.