Suhaila Islam
FIQWS HA9
Professor Von Uhl
15/12/2021
Suhaila’s Self Assessment
Growing up, I was never a strong writer. My high school English teachers always tried to fix that, but I just did not understand what my writing lacked. The frustration I felt resulted in my dislike for writing entirely. I felt as though there was no point to even try, and that I would never become a solid writer. However, this semester changed my outlook on English and writing. My FIQWS class became a favorite amongst the others this semester which is surprising to me. My portfolio portrays my struggles, accomplishments, and growth as a writer this semester. I’m proud to say that my portfolio also reflects that I have achieved the course learning outcomes and developed proper rhetorical sensibility.
The biggest struggle in my writing was effectively structuring my papers and correctly citing outside sources. I came to this class without the knowledge of MLA standards and citations in every writing piece. It was confusing to grasp, but with every essay I wrote, I slowly got more confident with citations. My professor provided us citation information from websites such as Owl Purdue and Scribbr which have helped me tremendously throughout the semester. Through the numerous mistakes I made in my “Exploratory Essay” drafts, I learned how to properly structure my paragraphs and use syntax to allow readers to fully understand my argument. The peer reviews that were held in class for all of my major essays this semester gave insight into the problems in my writing that I was blind to. It was helpful to get an outside perspective to make changes on how my essays could become rhetorically sensible while adhering to the assignment guidelines.
With all the help I received this semester in my FIQWS class, I enhanced personal strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing, and annotating. While brainstorming for my “Critical Research Analysis” paper my professor asked us for a “Pre-writing map” to help us get started with the essay. Working on this map resulted in my understanding of the rhetorical situation, and the type of arguments I wanted to discuss in my paper. I broke my map up into three main parts that included the “author’s commentary on society vs individual,” “Freud,” and “the author’s commentary made in the story Sonny’s Blues.” The Rhetorical Precise that we were required to draft was also very helpful for me when it came to structuring my introduction and thesis cohesively. This process of drafting made me realize what I wanted my readers to understand from the quotes as well as Freudian concepts in the paper. Annotating the worksheets given during our “Monday Writing Workshops” gave me pointers on how to properly analyze and synthesize the literature and our writing as opposed to just summarizing and telling. My annotations specifically from Dirk’s “Navigating Genres” motivated me to start annotating every worksheet provided because of how much useful information I retained after thoroughly going through the texts.
Seeing as my final essay of the semester required two scholarly peer-reviewed articles, I used the resources provided at the CCNY library database to look through different articles. It was a new experience searching for scholarly peer-reviewed outside sources on an online database. Since this class was online the entire semester I also used multiple PDFs that held all the literary texts and Freudian texts. I took advantage of the college writing center where tutors worked with me to further develop my writing and this growth is present throughout my portfolio. The writing center served as a place for collaboration. Had it not been for this class I would have stayed unaware that such a valuable resource is available to me. I plan to use the writing center in the future seeing as I view to be a collaborative and social aspect of writing.
Analyzing and developing the rhetorical situation in my writing, as well as in literary texts, was very difficult for me at the start of this semester especially since I had never heard of that term until I started this course. I went from not even knowing what rhetoric is to recognizing the relationship between the writer, audience, purpose, context, genre, text, and exigence in every single one of my assignments. If you look at the first few assignments in my portfolio, you will see that I showcased no understanding of the rhetorical situation in my writing. However, if you look at my final essay, the “CRA,” you will recognize that I establish the relationship between the author, his main character, the external world, and the societal effects it has on the lives of the characters. I grasped what the rhetorical situation asks for because of all the writing assignments that were required throughout the semester.
Among the many writing assignments that were given to us this semester, many of them differed drastically in terms of genre. I had never done a multi-modal writing piece before, and the quote design assigned to me in the content section changed that. Not only did I enjoy putting the quote design together, but it also gave me a different perceptive when it comes to genre analysis. I now have the skills to effectively analyze a quote, and illustrate with both text and imagery which will help me in the long run. I also feel as though genre analysis gave me comprehension-based skills. The most important skill that I have gained after this course is forming an argument and sticking with it throughout my thesis statement and essay. It’s harder than it sounds because your argument can get lost when you have different outside sources. However, I chose sources that would elevate and support my argument as opposed to drowning it out.
Overall this semester has taught me so much, more than I have learned through the entirety of high school. I’m proud of my portfolio and my writing. My writing is in no way perfect, or even close, but it has improved from the start of this semester and that is visible through my portfolio. I gained so much including an understanding of where I went wrong in each essay I have written. I learned how to develop my rhetorical situation in a way that would persuade my readers to read more of my work. Most importantly, I feel as though I achieved the course learning outcomes this semester.
