Looking back on what I’ve learned thus far in English 165 I wouldn’t be able to fit it into this blog. I’ve loved reading books like the They Say, I Say as well as excerpts from Academic Writing. Honestly I have a love hate relationship with my writing. Some days I think im doing great cranking out at least 3 pages of writing, other days I can barely write a sentence. My writing though I would say has improved a lot, learning lots about research and how to find good credible sources. As well as learning how to right in a new format with APA when i was preciously used to MLA format. I see my strengths in writing being mainly having a distinctive voice in tone. When I look at my writing compared to others I can really see myself and distinctly recognize my writing. I’m good at taking my thoughts and putting it on the page even though sometimes it turns into a ramble. My weakness is definitely citing my sources, all though I have definitely gotten better over the first half of the semester it’s still a work in process. Overcoming this weakness of mine is going to be a long process I can already tell. I rarely have the patience to take the time and learn the formatting. But I believe switching over to the new formatting of APA I will eventually get used to citing my sources that way. I would say my knowledge of Structure Language, References in the four disciplines are very limited. I only know a few different things about the scientific view because most sources related to nursing fall within that. I definitely need to grow my knowledge before the final because I know that it mostly revolves around that and using your writing throughout the semester to back up your information.

Throughout the semester I have had the opportunity to get to know myself through writing, especially in blog posts. So far, my favorite reading has been chapter 3 in Understanding Rhetoric. This chapter is about writing identity. I enjoyed reading chapter 3 because I learned how writers can change their identity based on the audience. I don’t have a specific reading I do not like but, most of the chapters in “They Say, I Say,” are a little more boring compared to “Understanding Rhetoric”. Overall, the readings from this semester are all very useful when it comes to improving writing skills. Although I thought some of the readings were boring, I have used lots of the information from each chapter within in my writing. I feel like over the span of this semester my writing has improved. I have learned how to use APA format along with in-text citations. I do still feel as though my writing could use some improvement. I tend to repeat the same idea just with different words, which isn’t engaging for the reader. I also have an issue of going into too much detail with certain topics and I end up rambling. On the other hand, I feel as though I am good at getting my point across and backing up my statements with research. I have also improved on citations. In order to overcome my weaknesses in writing I plan on continuing to practice and asking for help from my professors and even the writing center. As of right now, I know a quite a bit about structure, language, and references. I know with each of the four disciplines have different structures. With the humanities discipline writers use MLA or CMS when writing. Using language in a humanities paper would be more academic but still engaging. Lastly, references in a humanity-based writing is going to include citations in the format of MLA style.

Since this semester has begun, I have learned both new things and more about other topics. The books we have been reading and the quizzes that follow are both helping me get a better understanding of the chapters. My favorite book we have been reading besides Freshmen Year has to be the Understanding Rhetoric. I tend to like graphic books more and have enjoyed them for years. My favorite chapter of Understanding Rhetoric has to be chapter one. The reason I like the chapter so much is due to the fact that it uses philosophical figure such as Aristotle and Plato to explain what each thought rhetoric was, since they disagreed on the subject. It uses past and current societies to explain what ethos, pathos and logos are. My least favorite book we have been reading definitely has to be They say, I say. There’s no specific chapter or part that comes to mind that I dislike. The way I feel about my writing is neutral. I don’t think I’m a good or bad writer. This is because I am good at genres like nonfiction and fantasy and am terrible at more scientific and formal settings when I write. I find it hard to write about a topic if I’m uninterested in it which tends to happen a lot. I plan to work on my writing in genres I am less comfortable in so I can learn how to write formally. This will help me in future settings as formal writing is used in schools and careers. I have mostly written in all my assignments about the social sciences and humanities since all my desired career paths are in those two fields. I know the SLR grid involves what citations are used in each discipline. I know that understanding the SLR grid can help me become a better writer since I will know what discipline requires what and how I can relay information correctly.

I was never terrible at writing, but I cannot say I was the best at it either. I did not understand why this class was mandatory for freshman until I had spent some time in it. I can say I have seen a few changes in my writing, but they are positive changes, my writing is now more up to the right standards. It is not as perfect as it could be, but it is definitely better than before. I have learned how to properly do citations, how my topic sentence should look like, to stay on topic, include what is important, and that I need a good hook in order to captivate the reader’s attention. Although citations were my least favorite thing to learn. Something important to keep in mind when writing is that every class will be different, especially if they are from different areas, for example: Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and Applied Sciences. Not only have I learned how to improve my own writing, but I have learned how to help someone else improve theirs too! I learned that I cannot do it for them, but I can help lead them in the right direction with my feedback. When you are giving feedback, it is crucial that you do not try to force your writing style onto them, do not give bias feedback, and give as many details as possible so that they know exactly what it is that they need to work on or go back and review. Once I get a hang of what to write about, I think I can write up something decently good, my issue is having enough creativity to create a hook strong enough to reel the reader in. I will admit, it is not as hard as it seems to be it is just that I unfortunately procrastinate to the last few days before it is due. Therefore, I feel more pressure to get it done and probably do not do as good of a job as I could have if I had done it earlier. If I do happen to struggle with remembering how to do something I can always go back to my books Understanding Rhetoric, Academic Writing and They Say, I Say. Thankfully, they are not hard to read and understand. The semester is not over yet, so I hope to improve my writing a bit more as it progresses!

After reading the assigned books in this class, I have found myself looking at things through a new lens in which I did not originally think of. The Understanding Rhetoric book provides insight into how to cite, how to write, and how to amplify your writing in a fun way. Chapter 3 of UR gave insight into how to characterize yourself into your writing without putting on a fake persona. I found this chapter to be extremely useful and more informational than the others as it describes how we are our ourselves and nothing can change that (pg. 124). I have a hard time adding personality to my writing, I always find it easier to simply sound professional because that is just how I write. While this is okay, it is also necessary to incorporate some aspects that differentiate you from yourself and others. Books such as They Say/I Say have not necessarily helped me in my writing. The chapters in the book have not applied to my writing in such a way that I need to read them again.

I find my strengths to be that of prolonging my points to reach the word counts. It is very easy for me to write about things for a long period of time because I find it simple to rephrase things and add words to my sentences. I do have hardships when it comes to being repetitive. I repeat a lot of the same things when writing, however, I make up for it with my rephrasing. I feel like my overall writing is decent. I try and be very profound with my words and I want to sound as professional as possible which can sometimes lead to me babbling on about things with no necessary meaning behind what I write. When this happens, I allow myself to reread and restructure what I have written in order to make sure it all makes sense. Overall, I plan to talk less in a professional way and more in a way that is applicable to the overall topics I am writing about. Doing so will amplify my writing and make it so that everything is understandable and that it all connects.