Self-evaluation: Strengths and weaknesses exhibited in my writings.
It is my pleasure to announce that taking this English 102 was a good experience for me. I faced many difficulties in writing English since I first learned English in Australia and then I came to the United State and had to face the differences in the English used in the United States’. My writing was unreadable (my teacher in Minnesota in 2009 used to say), but as you read now, you will find more sense in my writing. I totally appreciate your help to improve my writing in this class. I completed two works for English 102 at Wright State University: “The Usage of Business” and “Effects of Sexual Media in Youth”. In the process of writing these two works, I faced several challenges which have led to the weaknesses seen in my writing. My strengths are proof to how different writing strategies have helped me. Through this class I have improved my ability to think and write critically which has prepared me for writing in my field of study; Finance.
As the marks I received in “The Usage of Business” showed, my most noticeable weakness is providing examples to support my statements. I had some difficulties in structuring the citation, especially in text citation. For example, in citing the picture I wrote (source, ovsyannykov, 2012) which should be written without source. The other weakness was writing a Name of the company without bringing the description of it.
One of my strengths in “The Usage of Business: Sexuality in Advertisement” was analyzing the concepts of the pictures and messages behind them. (Example). Another one of my strengths is the ability to explicatively introduce the topic of a paper. The structure that I have learned to use is to start by writing a general sentence then following with a more specified sentence into the topic and finally finishing off with a thesis statement. In my paper, “Effects of Sexual Media in Youth”, is started with the general topic which is stated in the title then continued to write more specifically until reaching the thesis which is explained that the mass media is increasingly becoming more and more explicit. I am able to utilize a writing process that is best for me. The process is used is to free write and later go back and reorganize.
As a student, I do not hesitate to ask for help where I need a hand and I always do a lot of research: from the library, online, friends and the writing centers available. When I am in a group work I endeavor to give my opinions whether informed or not and I never shy away from defending something I believe in. Group work can be very tedious when all the members are not working for the common good or some are not as committed as others but this has never been an excuse for me to perform less in group work. I evaluate my sources by reviewing the requirements of the research and finding the one that fits my research by supporting my sentence as an example. Thinking critically is part of the research I have done plus it is part of evaluating the sources. Taking this course improved me to write in my major: finance by getting the right structure to write in my papers.
Although English is not very new to me the English I used to speak back in Australia and what I find myself learning here are quite different. Initially, I was apprehensive when someone would want to introduce themselves to me and start a conversation but eventually I learned that it is good to let them know that I am a foreigner and my English is not that good. It is funny I used to limit myself because of fear but now I have learned to handle such situations. Those who I tell that English is not my first language are very helpful, they speak in a way that I could understand and explain to me those words which I do not understand. When people know your dream and ambitions most will help you attain them; the people here are very friendly and not once has someone singled me out for speaking differently or being different.
I admit that my writing is not very good yet because certain weaknesses can be noticed here and there in my paper. I once in a while put the wrong adjective or I forget to use conjunctions. I realize that I have a very sharp mind and I am a fast learner. One thing is certain – I am committed to becoming a good writer in the future since practice, as I have come to witness makes perfect. My writings are proving that I am a much-enabled researcher and a good researcher makes a good writer. I enjoy researching new topics and learning new things every time I do so. My researching skills are a plus or a strength I have that most writers would give anything to possess. Research needs patience and consistency and since I discovered this I have improved both in my writing and researching skills.
Honestly, I can not say that there is any secret in conducting an informative research like the one I did. The only important thing is to make sure that I involve myself in the research and ensure that it produces foolproof materials. As an organized person, writing becomes easier because although some say that writing is not hard after all you start from the top page going down it will not be as easily done as said. Writing requires meticulous organization and neatness such that you will know what comes next after the Abstract and introduction. It should be in such ways that even the person reading the work will be inspired to keep reading. While working on the previous paper I learned that the introduction to an article is very crucial; this is because it is the first thing a person will read and it should be able to capture them and intrigue them to keep reading.
I know that knowledge is endless and I plan to keep on reading and researching everywhere I can to improve my writing skills. I do not intend to have the same mistake corrected twice unless it is an honest spelling mistake. I believe that this way I will have higher chances of improving in a very short period of time. As indicated above that I have a weakness in illustration with examples, I intend to correct that because most writers make a mistake of assuming that their audience has gone through the same process of research writing and forget that they need these examples for a better understanding. This is something I am willing to devote my time to and improve on.