great works ii – 2850 jta 12:25-2:05: love letters from the world

I developed a lot my critical thinking. I believe I am now much more specific when discussing something in particular. What helped me the most to improve this was the structure of my paragraphs with quotations and the support. I think it was after the mid-term and first essay that I started realizing and really understanding how to be as clear and specific as possible. I still have a long way to go and a lot of space for improvement. Word choice is something I constantly try to work on. I am trying to start using more and different words so I do not sound too repetitive or monotonous when I am trying to explain something. Our group work presentation was very good and creative, I would have liked for us to be more detailed in our explanations and dig a little bit deeper in our reasoning. All in all I feel it was a very productive course for me, it allowed me to improve and most important it showed me areas I still need to keep on working.
Joaquin Azcue

This course motivated me to become a better writer, and an active participator in class. I believe my writing skills improved by taking this course; I also believe my critical thinking skills improved through analyzing texts during class. I believe I still need to work on my time management skills, I often procrastinate when it comes to school work however I’m trying to change that. Although my writing improved this semester, I noticed sometimes my thoughts appear to be scattered whereas I want to be able to keep my thoughts concise and to the point. I enjoyed the group work in this class whereas in
other classes I would have rather worked alone. I also enjoyed the creative aspect of this class, for an example I found writing the final essay a lot of fun because there was a creative portion to the project. Lastly I enjoyed free writing during this semester, and then being able to share my thoughts with the class.
Katarina Stojanovic

This semester I’ve developed some new skills as well as recognized a few areas that need improvement. Overall I think my quality of writing has gone up, I don’t know by how much but I do see a difference in my approach and how to develop on a topic. I know that’s going to be useful in the long run. I felt more confident in being able to speak in front of people. I feel better at how I analyze works of literature. It just may take a few times reading over and over again, such as The Endgame. I had to reread a few parts because I couldn’t get into the book. I have trouble connecting with some of the stories which made it a little bit more of a challenge for me. Overall it was progress from the moment I started this class. I feel more confident in my writing.
Onu Mezbah

Reflecting back on the semester, I’ve noticed strong improvement in many different areas, but specifically my reading and analytical skills. This is primarily due to the many short stories that I’ve read over the semester. In fact I was never really engaged in reading novels in grade school mainly because it didn’t interest me. However it wasn’t only reading that was the cause for my improvement. But being able to share one’s thoughts and discuss one another’s opinion helped as well. However I’ve come to realize that I lack sufficient writing skills. In other words, I find writing with a narrow focus is quite difficult considering the amount of workload some papers require. As for my peers however, they seem to also have the same weakness. Katarina mentioned that her thoughts are sometimes scattered instead of keeping it concise and to the point while Joaquin mentioned attempting to use the right vocabulary to avoid repetitiveness. I believe this can both be accomplished by simply having someone else other than yourself to proofread the paper. I found that with this, not only is a second opinion essential in a successful paper, but it gives the writer the ability to understand his or her readers opinions.
Farhan Zaman

It was very interesting to read my classmates reviews of the year because I had some of the same struggles and at the same time I feel like we all improved together. The class was extremely engaging and this interaction helped us get better. Regarding Kat and her having difficulties to concise thoughts I would tell her to think about the main idea and develop it but without deviating of that main point of interest. Onu, I really think you improved a lot analyzing works, there is a very clear difference in your posts week after week. I believe there is a much more deeper analysis now than the beginning of the semester. I completely agree with Farhan, it was very difficult for me to narrow the focus when writing because some of our topics and themes were very broad. What helped me was to focus in just one small part, something detailed and try to explain that specific part without leaving the subject. All in all, I think we all did a great job, we worked together very good and we all improved a lot.
Joaquin Azcue