Hi, my name is Andy Wang, and this is the introduction to my portfolio and my self-assessment essay. I’ve never been a fan of reading or writing, and I only do so if it’s for school. This also means that I’m not confident in my writing. Over the course of four months, I’ve written four essays for this class. And as we come closer to the end of the fall semester, I needed to reflect on my past work. This essay is to show my progress in writing and what I’ve done to get to this point. In this essay, I will answer the question: To what extent have I achieved the course learning objectives this semester?

Use conventions appropriate to your audience, genre, and purpose. Recognize the role of language. In the first phase of this course, we learned about the importance of language and the role of syntax and context. Language isn’t only about proper grammar or sticking to the “rules.” It’s about the individual, the setting, and the purpose. I believe that as long as the author’s idea is able to be conveyed, then the method in which it was done doesn’t matter. In this phase, we read about Amy Tan and her struggles with her immigrant mother’s English and how others treat her because of it. We also learned about black English, the language spoken but not written. Black English itself had “rules” or specific characteristics that made it what it is. Both of these pieces discuss English that is not used professionally or is not accepted by the academic community.Language is determined by the speaker, and how it is used is also based on the person using it. Words aren’t inherently offensive or aggressive, but the tone and context you use them in can make them so. During this phase, I learned how much language meant to me. I had trouble writing my narrative because I’ve never really thought about how much words mean. I found meaning in the lyrics of songs, and that’s only one form of literature. I had also realized that knowing what word and tone to use in a certain situation is important. Altogether, language was made for communication, and I believe mastering it will help in any of my future events.

Compose as a process. The steps taken while writing an essay are important. First, have an idea or direction. Not having a clear idea or direction makes writing difficult; writing down ideas helps overcome the barrier most writers have. Starting an essay has always been the hardest part of writing. Structure: Overall, the essay has to be a cohesive piece of work, and having an outline of what you are going to do helps with that. Finally, edit the essay after finishing it; read it over and take out or add ideas. Having someone else read your essay also aids in the discovery of errors.Personally, I edit while I write, so I submit my draft as my final paper. My process of composing is to brainstorm ideas, write the introduction, write topic sentences for my body paragraphs, and cap it off with a conclusion that summarizes the entire essay. But after receiving criticism and advice from the professor, I revised my essay, and looking back at my old essays always makes me feel like I could’ve done better.

Read and analyze texts critically. The importance of reading carefully and being able to pick up on the author’s purpose or intention cannot be overstated. Understanding the authors also means understanding your own work. One of the most important skills you can learn is to draw inspiration from the works you read and apply it in your own context.Of course, you also need to take what you’ve learned and make it your own. To be able to analyze texts critically means to be able to break down an idea from the text in a way that anyone can understand it. The use of this skill is to be able to support your own claims or arguments by using other people’s work. This works especially well if you used a credible source.Finding the author’s purpose or intention helps break down ideas that aren’t clearly stated. Hidden messages or double entendres could be involved.This skill helps you understand why an author made the choice. Write with an awareness of how intersectional identities, social conventions, and rhetorical situations shape writing. In order to convince my audience, I needed evidence to support my claim. And before I began to show my reasoning, I briefed my audience on the importance of sleep and what mental health is. Then I connected the two while supporting the argument I made in my thesis. During the creation of this research essay, I learned a lot about the process of writing essays. Writing essays step by step and making sure you use credible sources Finding sources and using them to support your claim Be able to connect the sources in order to write a cohesive essay. Summing everything you said in the introduction and conclusion, The essay has to come full circle. This brings me to the course learning outcome, Identify and engage with credible sources and multiple perspectives in your writing. In this essay, I need to find sources in order to support my claim. I also had to properly introduce and explain the sources. I needed to connect my sources in order to answer my thesis.

In conclusion, writing is still difficult for me. I don’t think I’ll ever stop finding new ways to improve my writing. Although I still don’t enjoy the art of writing, I have learned the importance of words and how writing can help me convey my ideas. Sitting down and writing whatever comes to mind is therapeutic. The course goals helped me grow as a writer. For the longest time, I’ve had difficulty starting an essay. But after recognizing that the role of language isn’t only about grammar and sticking to what others do, Comosing also became easier when I started to create outlines in the form of topic sentences and an introduction that encompassed my message. Finding sources and being able to break them down in order to understand what the author meant or to use them to support my own claims is also a skill I improved on this semester. Lastly, putting my own identity or experiences into my essays was an important discovery for me. By doing so, I was able to become more attached to my work, which made it of higher quality than my past work.