Achraf Tchatikpi                                                                                                         12/2/2016

Prof. Poltrack                                                                                                              Fiqws 2pm

Final Portfolio and self assessment

I began this semester a little anxious and wary about college writing. The FIQWS writing class was intensive; we covered different kind of writings different types of assignments. However, with each assignment came new skills and more experience. Throughout this paper, I will reflect on the struggles I uncounted in my writing and how I have overcome most of them.

Our first writing assignment was the Literacy Narrative. It was my first college paper and I struggle at first writing about experiences that shaped my writing. We did a couple of primitive introduction writings that we shared in class. I had seen how my fellow classmates approach the subject, each in their own particular manner though. It gave me an idea of what my stance should be throughout my paper. I had also read some passages in the NFG, which really helped clarifying further the correct way to go about this. The Literacy Narrative was a very challenging paper for me at first, because it required a lot of self-reflection –something I never really took time to do– but with the NFG, and some class exercises, my paper turned out fine.

Moving forward, the second writing was the Exploratory Essay. The topic was Gentrification and the paper required us to compare two pieces of literary work. But prior to that we did a related exercise in class where the professor passed some pictures and broke us into groups of 3-4. We had to analyze the pictures and put them into context accordingly. Then at the end of the exercise, he revealed the true origin of the picture. This really helped in looking for the ideal quote and picture for the paper.  The TSIS book also came in really handy, especially when it comes to introducing naysayers into my writing. It helped avoiding repetition by using common words, so instead I used some templates from the book. Formulating this essay taught me group analysis, and also the proper format of MLA; since we were required to properly cite our sources.

When it comes to our final paper, which was a Research Paper on gentrification, the learning process was more extensive. The research paper required, obviously a lot of research. We spent a couple classes doing so. I was used to doing research before when I was in High School, but this was different. In High School, I just typed some key words in the Google search bar and it did the trick. However, the FIQWS class introduced me to scholarly journals. They were articles written by scholars and they were accessible through our school library database. Another thing I was introduced to was, Google Scholar, you would think that someone who uses internet as often as I do would naturally come across it, but no; it was indeed a new thing for me. The research paper was a different sort of writing, I was supposed to take a stance and persuade my reader that my stance was the most objective one. Doing so I had to efficiently use ethos (credibility or trust), pathos ( using emotions) and logos ( logic/proof in writing) to have a more persuasive writing, while be careful not to make it seems like I am trying to shove my opinion down the reader’s throat

We did many lessons on grammar, obvious things that often results in common mistakes on students’ papers. We also watch videos like Brutus Speech, an excerpt from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The video elucidates the use of pathos for example, where Brutus, well acquainted with the anger of Romans, approach them in a patriotic manner and justify his act as a true believer in Rome and not just in Caesar. This taught me how you need to think about your audience when communicating with them. Knowing what motivates them, what they care about, what they want to hear can really positively make your message well received. As oppose to just write with carelessness towards your audience. We also accentuate accentuated our technological skills with the use of blackboard where our assignments are always required to be posted. The collaboration with fellow students on reflecting each other works is also a skill that we really practiced during this semester. The repeated practice on self-reflection on each paper we submitted also opened a whole new dimension to our writing where we, ourselves comprehend clearly our strengths and weaknesses.

Overall, I think this was a really successful class that I had learned a great deal from. It improved our ability to research and to write in a non-biased manner. It gave us the awareness of how important it is to think about your audience, your stance, genre and tone in writing. I have also learned in this class the importance of deadlines, although I am aware I still have to work on that area. This class allowed me to explore and analyze my own work. It also challenged us to push ourselves and in the process, I think I got better and am comfortable with my own writing.