Throughout the semester, as I have created each piece of work in my portfolio, I have gained a numerous amount of new skills and insights that have changed the way I write. For the first assignment, I learned how to deeply analyze artifacts by paying attention to directors detail. I also learned how to create my own claims and strengthen them with evidence in order to make myself seem more credible. The first assignment also taught me how to make connections between different mediums and understand how they relate or differ to a specific topic/theme. This assignment allowed me to use my analysis of the two artifacts, and create my own research question in order learn more about it.

The second assignment also taught me how to create my own logical claims, and find sources that properly supported my idea. I was able to use the sources and studies to build on my argument and create context to my claims. This assignment also taught me how to analyze my research question and create important subtopics that would eventually help build my argument. This assignment also taught me how to quickly look for and through sources that I would be able to use for my essay. I also learned how to write an annotated bibliography.

The third assignment (which I enjoyed the most) gave me the ability to be creative and think outside of the box. I was able to create my own ideas since there was no limit to how far I could go. It did also allow me to critically think about details and factors that go into creating a pitch. I gained knowledge on how to apply my creativity to fit a certain standard of ideas. I learned a bit about how ideas are formed and executed. The final project taught me how to pitch my ideas and work as a group to inform others about our overall project.

I found that the issues I had with my writing were along the lines of not being able to logically support my claims. However, this was mainly because I was not aware that I needed sources for some of them. Another issue that I had with my writing was not being able to analyze further. For a lot of my writing I could have gone into depth with my analysis. However, this was difficult for me since there really was not much more that I could say about the topics. Another issue I had with my writing was my wording. I found it difficult to put my claims into words that would be understandable.

My process has definitely changed since taking English 2100, I believe it is now much easier for me to write longer papers because I can analyze better. The amount of writing we had to do in English 2100 was nothing compared to the amount of work we had to do in this class. Now I can also make more out of my claims and create context for them by using sources. However, I still find it hard to create a proper introduction and thesis statement. I feel as though my introductions, thesis’, and conclusions are still weak and need to be worked on. To add on, it is still difficult for me to condense all of my thoughts and ideas into one or two sentences. I also still find it hard to create a hook that would interest readers. I also will always hate writing long papers

Something I am most proud of with my work in this course is that I was able to write an entire 12-page paper. I am also proud that I was always able to meet my deadlines and word count. Lastly, I am proud of my improvement as a writer and the fact that I can now deeply analyze details.

Some challenges that I still face as a writer as I head into future courses is being unable to put my thoughts and ideas into clear and logical sentences. Sometimes it is hard for me to word and phrase my sentences in ways that the reader would understand. However, I am getting better, slowly and surely. Another challenge that I face as a writer is being unable to build on my claims, without sources. If I did not have any sources, then I feel like it would have been harder to write paragraphs about my argument; my sentences would have sounded extremely repetitive.

The revision process was not too hard, I found that a lot of the feedback I received made sense and actually helped make my essay better. For assignment one, my revisions mostly consisted of rewording phrases and paragraphs, along with making my essay clear and more logical. Having to reword phrases and paragraphs that were unclear was hard for me because I have trouble with making clear and concise paragraphs. It was especially hard since a lot of my claims were based on the entire episode, yet I was only able to add a couple scenes into my essay. Additionally, I also had to add more context and analysis to my paragraphs because it my claims seemed to be unclear without it. After all these revisions, my essay did sound better and make more sense. However, I did hate doing the labor logs because they took extremely long and were super tedious.

For assignment two my revision tasks mostly consisted of finding sources that would build and support my claims, along with having to rewrite sentences that were unclear. It was not hard to find additional sources, they did help make my essay more credible and understandable. However, it was difficult to organize my other sources in ways that would make them applicable to a specific claim that I was making in a specific paragraph. While working with my group, we had a lot of great ideas for our last assignment. We were all able to come up with ideas that would connect each of our topics. Our overall project came out wonderful and we were all on the same page with where we were heading. The labor process went smoothly, everyone did their part, and we were able to go over our final presentation before presenting. I believe that we all had an equal amount of work to do for the final assignment.