Kamran Malik

Professor Blankenship

English 2150

May 26, 2015

Portfolio Reflection

Over the course of the semester, starting with my rhetorical analysis and ending with my remix, I have seen a considerable amount of progress in the course, and a lot of improvement in the work that I submitted throughout. The syllabus listed five course goals: to critically analyze texts in a variety of genres, to use a variety of media to compose in multiple rhetorical situations, to identify and engage with credible sources and multiple perspectives in your writing, to compose as a process, and to use conventions appropriate to audience, genre, and purpose. These goals have guided me to hone my skills in writing and the use of language. Furthermore, out of these goals, I will discuss which ones I feel that I have improved on the most and which ones continue to need to be worked on so they can be improved further..

My writing has improved considerably since the beginning of the semester. One of the reasons for this is that prior to taking this English class, very few Professors from any department have encouraged me to do any pre-writing which left me writing papers the night before they were due for the final grade. While I always got okay, even what most people would consider to be a good grade, I was never really proud of the final product because it was rushed. In this course, having to write an outline, and then turning that into a rough draft, and then going back and making final changes to make sure it was perfect really made life so much easier for me and it made me take pride in my work. After I turned in the actual final draft I felt content, and not because I had rushed through it and gotten it done in time, but because I had put hard work into it, and I knew that the hard work would be reflected in my grade. For example, for the first paper, I did a rhetorical analysis of the Coca-Cola commercial. In my writer’s letter I wrote, “While I did have an outline, and that did save time, the first draft was still very time consuming and I dedicated a lot of time into putting it together.” I also put in a considerable amount of time into my final draft so that I can polish it up and make the recommended changes. As a result of my hard work, I received a grade of an ‘A’.

The other course goals from the syllabus that I worked at honing, I feel are tied together and are necessary skills for writing a good research paper. For the second assignment, my narrative argument about language access and issues that immigrants face, I learned how to identify and engage with credible sources and also how to use conventions appropriate to audience, genre, and purpose. For the paper, in my writer’s letter I made sure to address who the audience was, as long as what the genre and purpose was. It was important for me to break down my paper this way and to begin by addressing the purpose of my piece was I did in the beginning of my paper. I felt like I really addressed the purpose of my paper through my thesis. Also, having to think about what my purpose was helped shape my thesis.

My view and my approach to writing has changed considerably. One of the ways it has changed was that now I understand how writing is an actual process, and there are steps to producing a good, clear, paper. For example, looking back at work I produced in previous classes, and work produced in this class, I see a significant difference in the level of quality of my work. Furthermore, by being able to see a significant difference, makes me want to work harder so that I can make sure that all my work is one the level I want it to be academically.

There are many takeaways from the class that will be helpful in my future classes and writing. As I already mentioned, planning and time management are they keys to a good paper. Also, having my peers review my work and provide feedback allows me to work on problems in the paper that may have gone unnoticed otherwise. Having my peers look at my work and provide constructive feedback is something I think I will do for my other classes because fresh eyes are always good when you have reread the same paper half a dozen times and don’t find any problems with it.

Another aspect of writing a research paper that I found extraordinarily helpful was creating an annotated bibliography. It was my first time ever writing one and it not only made the process of writing the paper go by a lot quicker, but also getting all my research together before writing the actual paper kept me from having to choose another topic because I could not find enough scholarly peer reviewed articles on the topic. It is something I wish I would have learned sooner because it certainly would have helped me write papers for courses that I have taken in the past, but it is a skill I will definitely take with me to future courses.

Lastly, my view as a writer has certainly changed this semester. I came into the class lacking a lot of confidence in my writing skills. I feel that changed as the semester progressed and I gained new skills that allowed me to really improve the points I was trying to get across in my writing. I have always had difficulty cohesively conveying my thoughts into writing, and this class certainly helped me get how I feel into writing.

Overall, I feel this class really taught me the skills I need to succeed in many of my classes that are writing intensive. Furthermore, it has helped me figure out the main parts of a good paper, and what belongs in a good paper which was necessary.