Throughout this year my understanding of writing and the factors that contribute to being a good writer has grown. For example, in all three of our papers, the idea of editing and revising is crucial. Giving and receiving feedback is beneficial because any criticism towards my paper provides me with new solutions to make the argument or statement effective. As seen in my Critical Analysis Essay draft titled “We’re nothing without it” the comments left behind by my classmates helped me improve the smoothness and effectiveness of my essay which, is seen in the final draft of the Critical Analysis essay. Furthermore, the self-assessments after each essay were very beneficial because they allowed me to clear my mind and examine what my strengths and weaknesses were for each paper. For example, the self-assessments allowed me to see my growth as a writer, and determine if my weaknesses are improving. In addition, the peer-review and self-assessments allowed me to collaborate and socially develop aspects of the writing process. For example, during the writing process of my “Critical Analysis Essay,” we crafted a storyboard that would guide us with finding the purpose of both the author’s writing and why we want to write about this in our paper. Then, we would use our storyboards to start our first draft which was then both peer-reviewed and shared with my classmates. This helped us follow the writing process because we developed a cycle that would help us develop multiple styles of our essays. Overall by following the writing process and going through multiple peer reviews and self-assessments, my writing goals were met and exceeded. For example, in my “Summary and Response Self-Assessment,” I knew who the intended audience members were, however, in my actual essay, I lacked fully establishing the intended audience and their knowledge towards the topic. However, after peer reviewing other classmates’ essays, and reading the feedback left on my essays, by our final paper, I established the audience, genre, my purpose, and the overall context of my essay much easier compared to the first paper written for this class. For example, for my “Critical Response Essay,” the audience members for this class are both my professors and my classmates. While the purpose of the essay was the show the critique the author, James Balwin, had on society by using his short story, “Sonny’s Blues.” By being able to determine these factors, formulating and being able to articulate my stance in my essays become easier. By knowing who my audience is, and my purpose developing a stance throughout my paper has evolved for the better. For example, in my “Exploratory Essay,” my stance was inconsistent and was often confusing for my audience. However, after reading my classmates’ peer-review and feedback from both of my professors, my stance was improved, and became more assertive in my “Critical Analysis Response Essay.” Overall, formulating my stance in my essays has improved due to my better understanding of the writing process.

Incorporating quotes and finding reliable sources has been an area I’ve always been inconsistent at, furthermore, as seen in the prompt of the “Critical Analysis Essay,” we had to incorporate quotes from outside sources in our essay, something I wasn’t very knowledgeable with doing. However, due to our library sessions, I learned how to find reliable sources and what databases and tools I can use to help me locate professional and reliable sources. For example, I learned that the CCNY library database is easy to access which, made it easier to find outside sources as seen in my “Critical Analysis Essay.” Throughout this class integrating quotes was something I found easy. However, a new concept, known as a “hit and run” quote was introduced. As seen in my “Summary and Response Essay,” there were moments in my drafts where I had a “hit and run” quote, where I would not give an analysis of the quote but instead, have the quote in my paragraph with no further explanation/analysis. However, my ability to evaluate and integrate quotes has improved. As seen in my “Critical Analysis Essay,” I felt comfortable providing context before the quote, and analysis after the quote that shows both the significance and the connection with my thesis.  

In essence, my writing abilities have grown and have allowed me to experiment with new methods of writing that have allowed me to learn new writing techniques and provided me with tools to find sources and how to execute the sources in my essay to support my claim. Furthermore, my ability to give and receive feedback has improved and has become an essential factor in the making of my essays. 

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