Achraf Tchatikpi

ENG21002

Prof. Plochocki

12/23/2018

Self-Assessment Essay

This semester has been a long and arduous one. Writing for social science was a new experience, and like all new things, the journey was not simple but I have learned a great deal. ENG21002 covered very different writing styles. It required human interaction, observation; it was somehow distinctive from the conventional writing I have grew accustomed to. Entering the semester, I was rather open to new experiences and open to all the knowledge this course can offer.

The first day of class, we were to write during the period our experience as a writer. It seemed like a simple task at first but after I grabbed a pen and a paper, it became harder than I thought. That is because I never usually assess myself as a writer. Then I quickly learned that evaluating myself from time to time could help me single out my weaknesses so I can ameliorate my skills. This exercise helped with our first assignment, the Letter of Introduction. I have actually refreshed my memory on what my strengths and weaknesses are as a writer; and quite frankly I have discovered a few more weaknesses such as, procrastination, and proof reading skills while accomplishing this first task.

A few weeks after, we did the Interview/Profile writing. This assignment required me to interview a classmate. This is something I have found odd at first, but it quickly turned into an interesting  experience. I was amazed by the information I gathered and all my presumptions about my classmates were not very accurate. This was the first time I was writing a profile, so the writing style was quiet new to me. The professor’s lectures helped a lot into easing me in. it wasn’t really the lack of information that was the issue, but it was how to keep the writing concise and profile-like. I also did a few searches online to see some formats. The end result was pretty decent compared to my original ever-ending struggles on completing the assignment

The Observation Report was my favorite assignment really. It requires the skills we learned doing the interview and profile of our classmate. It just needed to be apply on a bigger scale. The assignment demanded us to observe a class and write a report about it. We were also instructed on different methods of socialization. We were to apply one to our observation. Writing the report, was very intriguing. Observing the class and taking notes made me realize common classroom behaviors as wells anomalies that I wouldn’t really notice if I did not do this assignment. Learning about theories of socialization, also helped in  distinguishing different methods of interactions and gave a sense of why they function as they do.

The last two assignments and the most dreadful ones are The Research Proposal and The Ethnography. They were very challenging and required all the skills we have acquired through the semester. My ethnography was on the CCNY Chess Club, the interviews and the interactions were fascinating. I have learned a whole bunch interviewing the members. Writing was a bit challenging since now I need to organize the vast information I have gathered in a concise and on topic. It also needed an annotated bibliography of all my sources, which I have done for the very first time. The gruesome part was the Research Proposal. Demanding material or financial support to an accredited organization tested my professional writing skills. After resubmitted a revised draft, the end result was more promising than earlier.

This course offered more than I expected. I have written many essays , each teaching an important skill. From self-evaluation, observation, interviewing to writing reports, I have explored new parameters of writing. Each assignment presented unique problems that I managed to surmount in order to accomplish my mission. Altogether I have acquired skills that I will undoubtedly use in the future, My writing skills definitely improved compared to when I first entered this course.