As a first-year college student, taking this FIQWS course challenged my writing immensely. I was very accustomed to submitting in essays without effectively proofreading or revising them. With Prof. Rodwell’s feedback, I was able to pinpoint many of the weaknesses I was never able to recognize before. Throughout this semester, I have written three essays, all with different genres. The first essay was the identity narrative, the second was the descriptive essay, and third was the critical analysis. All three essays allowed me to recognize both my strengths and weaknesses in my writing. Some weaknesses I recognized in my writing within this course include writing run-on sentences, changing verb tense in different paragraphs, and clearly emphasizing the main point of my essay. Some strengths I recognized within this course include adding necessary transition words, including relevant information, and essay organization.

Before taking this class, I was accustomed to handing in the first draft of an essay. As a result, I ended up struggling with the drafting process while taking this FIQWS course. Writing down my all ideas coherently presented itself as a challenge while drafting. Through this course, I improved in my drafting by completing multiple drafts of each essay. Writing these drafts allowed me to improve my writing by revising and editing my work for any grammatical mistakes.

In this course, I was also able to learn revising and editing strategies to improve my essays. In my identity narrative essay, I learned how to add necessary details in order for my audience to imagine my significant event in their heads. For example, in my essay, I had to add more details so that my audience would be able to picture the event in their heads. In my descriptive essay, I learned to remain consistent with my verb tense within a paragraph. For instance, I would write a paragraph (about a drawer) in the present tense but then explain the items within the drawers in the past.  In my critical analysis essay, I would write sentences starting with “this”, without actually stating the noun that I was referring to. Prof. Rodwell pointed out a few sentences in which I did this, stating that the sentence is vague and needs to include a noun so that the reader can know what I am talking about. I also learned to place the punctuation before the quotation marks (not after the quotation marks) when writing a quote. In addition, I learned how to use transition words between different ideas so that my essay flows and makes sense.

Furthermore, by taking this FIQWS course I was able to engage in the collaborative aspects of the writing process. My peer review group helped improve my writing immensely by providing constructive criticism and suggestions for my essay. For instance, my peer review group would cross out certain information that was irrelevant or would suggest that I elaborate on certain points. Also, through my peer review group and Prof. Rodwell’s feedback, I was able to reword sentences, maintain verb tense, and have a clear organization of paragraphs in my critical analysis.

In my critical analysis essay, I had to write an argumentative essay on my Work & Family research topic, classroom management in NYC public elementary school classes. I had to locate credible research journals or articles that would support or disprove my research. I learned to locate reliable sources through CCNY’s library database (library.ccny.cuny.edu). I also learned how to cite sources in ASA style. In my critical analysis essay, I cited sources in ASA style because the course is a sociology class. Also, in my critical analysis, I used journals based on sociological research. Learning how to cite in ASA format, allowed me to broaden my knowledge on other citation styles. 

This course revolved heavily around the course learning outcomes and the rhetorical situation in our essays. The rhetorical situation allowed me to stay on task. In other words, considering the rhetorical situation throughout my essays allowed me to focus on the topic of the essay. For example, for the descriptive essay, I had to consider the audience and provide enough detail about my room in order for them to fully understand the significance of my room.

Before considering my audience:

I wasn’t too specific about how items in my room looked. I just assumed my readers would know what I was referring too (something I commonly did in my essays). During peer review, my review mate gave me some suggestions on what I should add.

After considering my audience:

Through my peer review member’s edits, I was able to add more details on how my room looked. Thereby allowing my audience to visualize my room in their heads.

 

My experience in FIQWS Work & Family 10015 forced me to critically think about what I was writing about. Writing each assignment gave me more practice and experience in writing essays. I also learned how to write in different styles. The identity narrative essay helped me learn how to write in the first person, about a significant event that has defined my identity and shaped the person I am today. The descriptive essay taught me how to describe an important person, place, or thing using sensory details. Finally, the critical analysis essay taught me how to analyze a topic using credible sources to support my argument as evidence. In conclusion, this course helped me build confidence in my writing abilities when writing an essay, which will definitely help me when I need to write essays and papers in future courses in my college career. In this presentation, I will discuss my writing process during each essay.