Before taking this course, I would have considered myself a very repetitive writer when it comes to academic writing. Nearly all of my essays that were assigned to me in school were argumentative papers. Those type of essays usually follow a specific structure. After writing a certain amount, they start to feel like the same paper but with different information. As a result, writing began to seem boring and as if it was a chore. The repetitiveness did make them easier to write because I was used to it but my motivation to finish was low.
I would say that one of my strengths is being able to work quickly after I think of a topic and a clear thesis. One that happens, I usually have a clear road to what I want to write about and what I want to achieve in the paper. For example, once I’ve chosen to write about my trip to Vietnam for the narrative essay, I’ve found that finishing the paper was fairly easy. One of my biggest weaknesses is the amount of time it takes to start the essay. Sometimes choosing a good topic and thesis is difficult. Other times, it’s because I have very low motivation so I procrastinate.
My process of writing and revising may not be favorable to many, but it works for me. When I write an academic essay, I prefer writing for quantity first and quality second. For example, on the concept assignment, I wrote a bare structure which may have some parts missing. I do this so that I can quickly finish writing what I have in mind. Taking the peer edits into consideration, I then add all of the missing details and correct others, if needed.
What was worked for me in this course is being able to choose a good topic and thesis, as stated before. The choice determines the amount of sources and information available to you for use in an essay. There’s been times where I searched a topic and found that there not nearly enough to write an entire paper on so I had to choose another. In my opinion, there is nothing
significant I would change. The due dates are reasonable as long as time spent in class is productive. The fact that this class is solely based on writing essays is what I enjoyed and disliked the most. It allows for a relaxed feeling in class as you could work at your own pace as long as the paper is done on the due date. However, the writing is very tedious.
Since I’ve been writing essays that seemed repetitive, I didn’t know that even the smallest details could change the mood and tone of the paper. A small detail could make the reader think more deeply. I also didn’t know that writing an essay was composed of a complicated process, shown in the book.
Before taking this class, writing felt like a terrible chore that needs to be done. Now, I think of it as a tool to convey simple and complex ideas. As a result, I feel like I am slowly improving as writer. Writing complicated essays with a goal of deep thinking as opposed to bland, repetitive ones help a lot. I am more equipped to approach more writing assignments because I know what a good paper should be and because of practice through writing in this course.
