During this semester, I have seen improvement in my writing, specifically with my word choice. Last semester, I found myself struggling to write and deliver my message through a more formal tone; I felt that my tone was a little too informal for educational essays such as analysis papers and research papers. One of my major goals this semester was to change from an informal tone to one that is more analytical and formal. Additionally, I also wanted to use more complex words and avoid frequently using the same adjectives and verbs. Compared to my writing last semester, my writing has developed tremendously. Although this specific reflection does not demonstrate my new skills (because I feel that a final reflection is more informal), I can confidently say that I think I was able to achieve my goal. As pleased as I feel to have been able to reach my goal this semester, I still want to continue working on my writing and improving.
The piece that I am the most proud of writing this semester is the second project: the researched based argument. Although this piece is a piece I struggled completing, it is my favorite. Compared to the research portion of the project, I actually struggled the most with the timing; I constantly kept procrastinating writing the paper. The research portion of the project was time consuming, but I really enjoyed watching many interviews and trying to find information about my Women in Red. However, doing the actual writing of the paper was difficult for me because I often felt very unmotivated. After looking at the instructions for the paper and what all the bulletpoints/topics we needed to discuss in our essay, I felt very overwhelmed. For me, the hardest part of writing any essay is writing the introductory paragraph. This is when I decided to use a piece of advice I was given last semester: instead of writing the introduction first, write the body paragraphs first. This tip worked really well for me and I was able to finish a few paragraphs of the essay relatively quickly. I was also working inside a cafe at the time and the good environment put me into a really productive zone. Not only was I able to focus well, but I did not experience writer’s block which commonly happens to me after writing half a paragraph. Furthermore, I was able to write with a clear voice and had good diction too. Unfortunately, I was unable to get into the zone when I was writing the introduction, the conclusion, and one of the body paragraphs. Overall, I was very satisfied with the majority of my writing in that essay which is why that is the piece that I am the most fond of.
The piece I struggled with writing the most was the written reflection for the third project. I wouldn’t consider myself to have met and overcome that challenge. Although I did eventually finish writing that piece and submitting it, it was a piece that I was not proud of or even liked. Even now as I read through that piece, there are many changes I want to make to it. I do not have any specific ideas regarding what I would change it to, but I would like it to be changed. I definitely think I should not have written the entire piece in one “sitting” so that is something I will not try to do again next time; I realized that I need breaking it down into multiple “sittings” because my attention span does not last that long. All in all, I am very thankful for an amazing semester and all the advice to improve my writing.