Tohidul Islam
Professor von Uhl
English 21007
May 13, 2019
Self-Assessment
Throughout this semester I have engaged in reading, writing, and analyzing a variety of genres which include formal letters, rhetorical analyses, technical descriptions, and research proposals. This employment of the various genres has helped me to learn new skills that improve my writing and make me a stronger writer. Each genre of writing had its own audience, stance, exigence, purpose, and context, requiring me to approach each paper in a fashion that best suited the genre at hand. By doing so, I was able to achieve the course learning outcomes of engaging in genre analysis and multimodal composing, utilizing linguistic differences as resources, engaging in the collaborative and social aspects of the writing processes, formulating a stance throughout my writing, and strengthening my source use practices with the help of library resources and online databases.
The formal letter of introduction served to inform readers of who I was and what my academic goals were. Throughout this paper I had to provide the audience, which was Professor von Uhl, with information about my major and career goals, as well as explain why I believed the field of engineering was important. Throughout the formal letter I incorporated my stance on the idea of engineering being a crucial field in the modern world, allowing me to achieve the course learning outcome of formulating and articulating a stance through and in my writing.
The exigence, or purpose, of the memo was to bring to light the issues on campus that are often times left unnoticed. In the memo I had to write to the president of City College about a problem on campus that urgently required attention. In presenting a problem, which was the way that the shuttle bus system operates, I took a stance on why the chosen problem is something that requires fixing. In my writing I offered multiple ways in which the current City College shuttle bus system negatively affects its students, reinforcing my stance on the shuttle bus system being an urgent problem. This repetitive incorporation of my stance on the issue of the shuttle bus system helped me to better achieve the course learning outcome of formulating and articulating a stance. The offering of ways to improve upon the issue at the end of my paper helps me to achieve the course learning outcome of negotiating my own writing goals and audience expectations.
The rhetorical analysis of the lab reports required me to research three reports using the online databases available through the City College Library’s website. This allowed me to achieve the course learning outcome of using various library resources, online databases, and the internet to locate sources. The rhetorical analysis’ purpose was to provide the audience, which was most likely professors and students like me, with a detailed comparison between the context of each report and how the linguistic and structural differences between the papers affect the overall quality of each, helping me to achieve the course learning outcome of engaging in genre analysis. The first peer-editing session for the rhetorical analysis gave me insight on the aspects of my paper that needed to be worked on such as the thesis statement; the peer-editing also allowed me to read and draw from the linguistic differences between the papers of my peers, letting me achieve the course learning outcome of acknowledging my and others’ range of linguistic differences as resources. From this I was able to create my second draft that had slightly improved structure and language. The second peer-editing session helped me to better incorporate my three lab reports into my own paper with more direct quotes and evaluations, leading me to achieve the course learning outcome of strengthening my source use practices. The act of peer-editing and creating multiple drafts has helped me to achieve the course learning outcomes of engaging in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes and enhancing strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing, and self-assessment.
The technical description’s exigence was to to persuade the audience, people who do not know a lot about technology, on the importance of a specific technological device by illustrating and explaining its various components. In my description I took a stance on the importance of the Dell desktop and enforced it throughout my paper by listing all the components of a desktop and explaining the purpose and processes of each. To do this I had to perform extensive research using the internet to find reliable sources that I could analyze and then quote or paraphrase in my paper. This helped me to strengthen my course learning outcome of using the internet to locate sources appropriate to my writing projects, and the course learning outcome of strengthening my source use practices. The need for illustrations in this paper also helped me practice citing digital images. The first peer-review session for the technical description allowed me to see how my peers were explaining the importance of their device with logical structuring and unsophisticated linguistics, providing me with ideas on ways to improve my own writing such as rearranging paragraphs to follow a more logical structure. My second draft incorporated these new ideas, improving the flow throughout my paper. The second peer-editing session, due to revisions by multiple people, helped me identify technical terms and vague descriptions in my paper that would impede understanding of the description by the general audience with no background in technology, helping to create a final draft that is largely free of undefined jargon. The act of peer-editing, drafting, and revising allowed me to further my understanding of the course learning outcomes of drawing on resources to develop rhetorical sensibility, engaging in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes, and enhancing strategies for reading drafting, revising, editing, and self-assessment.
The proposal required me to work in a group setting which allowed me to engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes. To write the proposal we had to come up with an innovation that would act as a solution to an existing problem in the world. Our group designed an automated sea vacuum that would detect and collect plastic. The exigence, or need, for our proposed invention was the vast amount of plastic waste on the ocean surface which endangers both animals and humans. The purpose of our invention was to reduce the amount of plastic waste in the world in order to protect all animals, providing our stance on the issue of pollution and satisfying the learning outcome of formulating and articulating a stance through our writing. To come up with our invention we had to research available technology that would help serve our purpose. This research process allowed us to meet the learning outcomes of using the internet to locate sources appropriate to our writing project and strengthening our source use practices. The peer-editing processes for the proposal allowed us to realize the structural and linguistic differences between other groups and our program, helping us edit and revise our work to create a more comprehensible paper.
The writing assignments throughout this semester have helped me to achieve all the course learning outcomes. The letter of introduction and memo helped with formulating and articulating a stance through and in my writing while the rhetorical analysis, technical description, and proposal all allowed me to practice using library and online sources to strengthen my source use practices, as well as allowing me to engage in genre analysis and negotiate my own writing goals and audience expectations. The multiple peer-editing processes for each of these genres allowed me to engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes and enhance strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing, and self-assessment. By editing the work of others, I was also able to acknowledge the range of linguistic differences between me and my peers and utilize the differences in my papers. The work that I have done during this semester has helped me to become a better writer across various forms of literature.
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