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One of the greatest accomplishments In life, however, are overcoming your fears and strengthening your weaknesses. This course, week In and week out, has helped me with both of those goals. After reading over my writing from throughout the semester and comparing It to the course tasks, it is clear that I have learned a lot. My style of writing has greatly improved and finally, after years of disdain, my views of English and writing have changed. While I have achieved many goals throughout the weeks in this course, one main change that s immediately noticeable is my increased development in reading comprehension.
After only completing the very first module, I had a better understand of what I read and how to properly read it! “Annotating [made] me more aware of what I [was] reading. It cause[d] my thoughts to question the author and to engage their words. It also cause[d] me to go back over the passage to better understand what I read. ” The idea of annotating and pinpointing the subject and thesis and meaning of a passage seems so basic; none-the-less, I had never done it prior to the course and afterwards, t completely opened up a new world of understanding.
I have since used the process of annotating in most of my writing and revision tasks. I have been better able to analyze my topics and evaluate my own writing. I have been able to focus more on locating/creating a thesis and bring greater attention to the purpose, development, style, grammar, punctuation, and spelling of my essays. Five areas that I have improved within my reading comprehension include: 1 . Gaining a greater understanding of the subject matter, 2. Refraining from skimming through the pages, 3. Engaging questions towards the writer, 4. Answering questions myself, and 5.
Taking notes as I am referencing through the pages of text that I read. Another Important topic that I learned during ONION was the use and Importance of citations and proper quotations. Prior to the course, where the Information came from In an article or the little numbered footnotes at the bottom of a chapter were completely Ignored or overlooked. Now, however, not only do I pay attention, but I even find myself doing further research Into the sources to find out If they are credible or to n social platforms such as Faceable, I find myself properly quoting authors and citing sources (though much less detailed).
Many other lessons learned during ONION have been very useful in my everyday life including the principles of critique writing. The non-biased thought process that is required to perform this task appropriately has left me more open-minded to the ideas of others and has actually helped me to become a better listener and more informed reader. It is imperative that a reviewer refrain from prejudging the material they are critiquing. They should also refrain from basing it upon hearsay or gossip from previous people and should drop all expectations in order to view the material fairly.
It is so easy to ‘Judge a book by its cover. ‘ By adapting critical writing and thinking into my lifestyle, I am better able to make better decisions, especially when it comes to the well-being of troubled soldiers. I also laugh every time I pass a piece of visual media, such as a Go ARMY poster on a wall throughout our military facilities. It causes me to reflect back on the module of Rhetorical Analysis of Visual Texts. All visual media is more appreciated nice that module, especially newspaper advertisements and television commercials.
I mentioned in one of my essays that, “visuals play a great role in my daily life. ” That statement is even truer today than when I wrote it. I now notice the relationship of the message in reference to its intended market. The direct influence that brands and advertising agencies and the media have on the perception of society and beauty and wealth of different market groups is astounding. Some modules covered during various weeks were difficult for me though, like Informative Synthesis.
I wrote n my final essay for module 5 that I was kind of confused about the structure of writing an informative synthesis; it was and still remains unclear to me. I found the key elements in the chapter to be very vague; they could have been better explained. While I was able to grasp the overall concept of the lesson, I feel that it’s a subject that I definitely need to spend a lot more time learning. If I had a chance to redo this class, I would have done so during my best-case work scenario, without any extra details or assignments at work.
I would have also collaborated more with my peers ND my instructor. I’m sure more in-depth class participation would have alleviated any questions or concerns that I had with the course material. I probably would have also been given a different perspective on some of my essays and would have been provided some better insight on my writing. I’m certain this additional help would have improved my writing tremendously. While I feel that I had a good overall grasp on the subjects of class, there is always room for improvement.
In some of my essays, my paragraphs could of been more concise or better organized. I mentioned in a view of my informative synthesis essay that, “After reading several of the examples from our text and other example papers from students within the class, I feel that [my paragraphs and their organization] are only “K. ” I believe that my writing will drastically improve once I get a better grasp on these subjects. ” I never had a writing philosophy and at this point I don’t feel as if I have developed one. I do believe, however, that in writing you need to know whom your target audience is.
It’s important to make your points clear and to fully support to your arguments, even if o are Just relaying or sharing information. This will allow you to use the proper strategies to display your ethos, pathos, and logos that will, in turn, help with the credentials of your quoted sources and research and prevents plagiarism. None of the aforementioned information would have been a first of second thought prior to this course; my knowledge of writing and my personal style has indeed changed. This class has thought me lots of new techniques; it has improved my writing style; and it has also changed my views towards writing and reading.