12/4/23
ENGL 1100
Prof. Dalton
Self Assessment
For the majority of my academic career I’ve always been very confident in my abilities as a writer. More specifically my use of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, simile, imagery, and many others. I’ve always been confident in my ability to find reliable sources on the internet to cite, knowing most websites (like wikipedia) are not the most reputable. I’ve always been confident in my ability to create a strong thesis and defend it well, but even with all my confidence in my knowledge there was still a lot more of it for me to obtain. This semester in English has arguably strengthened my skills as not only a writer, but a thinker because I was introduced to so many new strategies on how to enhance my perspective when reading, and analyzing the writings of others. In addition I learned how to enhance my own writing with strategies like 10 on 1 thinking that we practiced in freewrites. Even though I was confident in my ability to locate reliable, and relevant sources, since I was introduced to the CCNY library database I haven’t been using the regular sources I gravitated towards because of how useful it is.
In the beginning of the semester we began discussing the connection between literacy and language, which was a personal subject for a lot of people in the class, being that we all come from various different ethnic backgrounds. In this discussion the idea that one’s experiences and identities are driving forces in the context behind their writing arose and really caught my attention. This idea then enabled me to read behind the lines within the use of metaphors or analogies; for example in a homework assignment for class we were asked to make annotations on a poem by Langston Hughes, titled “Theme For English B”, and discuss the deeper meaning behind the quotes we selected.
My favorite example from this assignment is the quote “Well I like to eat, drink, sleep, and be in love…”(Hughes, ‘Theme For English B’) with added context from the rest of the poem, and knowing some background about who Langston Hughes was, you’re able to make the connection that he is trying to portray the fact that we are all human regardless of our skin color, and we all enjoy and naturally do human things.
Now if I were to consider wanting to expand on a general idea such as, Langston Hughes was an amazing poet, I would need some sub-points to support the big one. 10 on 1 thinking is a great tool that I’ve learned to utilize in my writing, and in my drafting and thinking process beforehand. Whilst it may seem simple to curate a strong thesis statement, there is a lot that can be wrong with it without us even realizing. However, avoiding a general thesis statement can be as simple as mapping out 10 examples or pieces of evidence that support the idea you are trying to get across.
This is an example of 10 on 1 thinking that the class had to do as a free write, in the beginning of class as we always do, in this example I used the fall being my favorite season as my thesis, and defended it with a series of reasons why. Rather than making the same basic point about 10 related examples this is a much more effective way to back your claim.
The CCNY Library database is an amazing resource to locate the examples you may end up using in your writing, or as a basis of finding sources for any assignments in any class. After being introduced to this resource I’ve begun using it for virtually all my classes, specifically the auto-citation tool. While I may be confident in my ability to correctly cite a source in MLA format, the tool just makes it so much easier by generating the citation for you.
These are a few examples of the MLA citations that were generated for me on the CCNY Library website, and I utilized almost all of them in my research essay.
Overall this semester was extremely informative, I feel as though the skills I’ve gained have improved my understanding about the subject. Although I’ve always been confident in a lot of my writing skills, my critical thinking and understanding have been enhanced for the better this semester.
