Course and Portfolio Reflection Assign 4 Updated

Danielle Potack

Instructor Kissel

ENG 160.20

November 9, 2021

 

To whom it may concern,

Over the course of this semester in ENG160, I have learned a lot about writing, a lot more than I initially thought that I would. Prior to this course, I felt that I had a good understanding of how to write and what the expectations of me were when it came to writing at the college level. In hindsight, I realize that I still had a lot to learn, and I am grateful for the opportunity I was given to do so.

I’ve always really enjoyed writing of any kind. It’s never mattered to me what genre it is, whether I’m writing for an assignment that is to be turned in, or if I’m just doing it on my own time for fun. But, as much as I’ve always enjoyed writing, I’ve never believed myself to be a very good writer. I have always felt that my writing has only ever been just okay, despite the feedback I’ve gotten suggesting otherwise. Regardless, improving my writing is something that I’ve always really wanted to work towards but that I just didn’t have the tools to do. This is a lot of the reason why I’ve found this course to be so beneficial for me, it has provided a really solid starting point for me to refine my skills.

I feel that my attitude towards writing has started to evolve within the timeframe of this course. I can see an improvement not only in my writing itself, but in my writing process. I feel more capable of writing at the college level than I did when I began this course. I’m developing more confidence in myself as a writer, slowly but surely.

However, what feels almost more important to me than my confidence is the improvement of my writing process. Taking this course has definitely helped me to strengthen it. One of the things that I needed to work the most on was getting used to writing drafts for my work. Something I’ve always struggled with is the transition from outline to finished paper. I never really saw the point in writing a rough draft if I could just expand and edit my outline until I had a final product. This is similar to what I did for our first assignment, Letters Across Time. I knew what I wanted to write about, and I knew that we would be doing peer review, so I kind of just jumped straight to a final copy (“Assignment 1 Draft”).

In the past, I’ve always been very nervous about showing people in-progress work, I never felt it was good enough to share. In high school, I had a habit of showing up to peer review days with something that was already very polished. I did recognize that I had done this, so when our second assignment rolled around, I made more of an effort to realize when I was crossing the line from rough draft to final draft (“Assignment 2 Draft”).  The biggest change I’ve made has been slowing down my process and taking the time to write out a draft. This also subsequently means that peer review is far more helpful. Having someone look over a draft and give their opinions has really aided me in knowing what to revise.

As stated earlier, I have seen improvement in my writing, and I have definitely found that my work for this class has been successful. For assignment 1, after some very honest opinions from a friend, I was able to really cater the language that I was using to the audience that I was attempting to reach. Since I was writing letters to myself, on the surface, this seemed easy. But, when I had a friend look over my writing, they pointed out that the letter to my past self came across quite harsh. They suggested that, if I were actually to have received that letter when I was younger, I probably wouldn’t have taken any of the advice I gave myself to heart because of how it was presented. When I re-worded the letter, I was able to change the tone and present the advice to my younger self in a much more appropriate manner (“Assignment 1 Final”). I did also feel that I was successful in assignment 2, but for different reasons. I felt that I did well when it came to the structure of my review and I was really proud of myself for organizing my opinions of the movie I reviewed in a way that was logical, followed my thought process, and was easy to understand. I also felt that I was able to give compelling evidence as to why I thought the movie was worth watching and why I enjoyed it, while simultaneously being able to critique it as needed (“Assignment 2 Final”).

That said, these works aren’t perfect. For assignment 1, specifically the letter to my past self, I wish that I’d spent a bit more time narrowing down a time period in which I wanted to write to myself. I chose a really complicated time in my life and as such, I shied away from specific details about what was happening. Though I would have known what I was referring to, another reader might find the letter vague and difficult to comprehend (“Assignment 1 Final”). In assignment two, I would go back and revise my exposition of the movie. It feels simultaneously a bit too long and also rushed through. I think that it could be rephrased to flow a lot better (Assignment 2 Final”).

While the actual graded assignments helped me improve my writing a lot, I do want to highlight the in-class free-writes that we did on occasion. I found them very useful, and they really helped get my brain working, especially on the days where I found it difficult to stay engaged. I also have a tendency to think through things faster than I can articulate them, so writing out my thoughts as they occurred made me sit with my ideas for longer, slow down a bit, and fully formulate them.

I feel now that I am pretty good at formatting my writing, and I know that grammar and spelling are not areas that I need to work on. I think that, though I’ve worked with MLA format for the entirety of my education so far, I need to work on familiarizing myself with it in the context of a college setting. I also think that I could use more practice with writing argumentative works, creating theses, and supporting my claims with strong evidence. I feel that I’m at a good starting place, I just need to do more of it.

I think that I am in a really good place to move onto ENG170. I have enjoyed my time in ENG160 and feel that it has thoroughly prepared me to enter into a new, more challenging course. I have a clear understanding of how to go about academic writing and the expectations of me and my writing at the college level. I have made progress in my writing skills, and I think it is very valuable that I’m able to recognize what I still need to work on and practice. I can say with confidence that I am capable of doing the work that will be required of me in ENG170. I look forward to my time in the course next semester.

 

Thank you,

Danielle Potack

 

 

 

Works Cited

Potack, Danielle. “Assignment 1 Draft”. Danielle Potack’s Fall 2021 English 160 Portfolio, Hawksites, hawksites.newpaltz.edu/potackeng160section20/assignment-i-draft/. Accessed 13 Nov. 2021

Potack, Danielle. “Assignment 2 Draft”. Danielle Potack’s Fall 2021 English 160 Portfolio, Hawksites, hawksites.newpaltz.edu/potackeng160section20/assignment-2-draft/. Accessed 13 Nov. 2021

Potack, Danielle. “Assignment 1 Final”. Danielle Potack’s Fall 2021 English 160 Portfolio, Hawksites, hawksites.newpaltz.edu/potackeng160section20/assignment-i-final/. Accessed 13 Nov. 2021

Potack, Danielle. “Assignment 2 Final”. Danielle Potack’s Fall 2021 English 160 Portfolio, Hawksites, hawksites.newpaltz.edu/potackeng160section20/assignment-2-final/. Accessed 13 Nov. 2021