Dear Professors,
Throughout the days I have gotten the privilege to be apart of in FIQWS I have learned many useful lessons. The lessons I have learned have shaped me into the writer I am today. This class has enhanced my writing abilities and has most certainly forced me to step out of my comfort zone. Writing an Expository Essay forced me to step out of my comfort zone. The standards for the expository essay were quite strict and specific. For instance, for FIQWS with Professor Ewan, all sources had to be correctly introduced and conclusive language/phrases were prohibited, which is why it made step out of my comfort zone. Citing is essential when it comes to writing an academic paper where MLA format is a requirement. Having to use citations correctly was a struggle being that if they were not used correctly, my writing can easily be considered plagiarized. I do have to admit that I understand when to cite and why it is important. Since this is my first time learning about citing properly, I still struggle to do so. Citing allows the writer of a paper to properly credit the source they are getting their information from.
As shown in my Literacy Narrative, Expository Essay, Argument Essay, something that I have always struggled with is citing the sources I use. The reason why I struggle citing is because I usually paraphrase what I read. However, now that I have practiced citing in my writing, I can say that I have most certainly been able understand why citations are useful and why they are necessary. For example, citing prevents plagiarism, credits the original author, separates my claims and actual evidence, etc.
In my papers there were some grammatical errors, at times I would have a lot of comma splices and fragmented sentences. I would only notice I had made these errors when reading the paper aloud to myself or a peer.A strategy that I have benefited from is doing peer reviews. Most of the time my peers provide useful suggestions, and ways my writing can get better. For example, Since I have trouble citing, when I would proofread, I was not able to determine where my mistakes were. When reading the first assignment assigned, my peer pointed my mistakes out and I was able to fix those mistakes.
Something else I stuggled with was coming up with a thesis that was not arguable. Being that I am a person who loves to argue, and support my ideas and beliefs, that characteristic was constantly refected in writing. I noticed this while writing reflections about my paper, because I was asked critical thinking questions about what I wrote.
However, something I believe I have exceeded is writing an argument. Eventhough writing a counterclaim can be a difficult task for me, I have always been able to view beyond my horizons. My creative ability and open mindedness has allowed me to view situations from different perspectives. Therefore, viewing beyond my horizons has allowed me to understand the rhetoric and reasoning behind any possible counterclaim.
In this course I have learned about countless aspects of writing that will benefit me for any other writing courses I may take in the future. For example. Writing an argumentative essay is not as easy as it sounds. Argumentative essays can have many fallacies. Some fallacies in an argument can be, appeal to authority, appeal to emotion, hasty generalization, stacking the deck , etc. Fallacies in an argument can cause your argument to weaken.
Overall this course has tasked me with different assignments and expectations. Any FIQWS course is a rigorous course capable of challenging any student that takes it. However, I was able to adapt and learn to work up to the courses expectations.Transitioning from trying to exceed the requirements in a Highschool writing class to having to reach the requirements in a college writing course was daunting. However, it was beneficial, allowing me to recieve an insight of what the expectations are in a college level writing course. I most certainly enjoyed taking this course. Taking this course enhanced my writing skills and i would recommend this course to anyone who is looking to challenge their creative ability and improve their writing.
