Final Draft

 Jaden Garcia 

                Self-Assessment Essay

Here we are, the end of the semester already. I can say that I’m glad that it’s almost over. I’ve almost always struggled with English since the start of this semester but it’s gotten a bit better for me. It’s been a tough topic for me usually for whatever I’m writing about. In school, I struggled to write papers throughout the years. Of course not all the time, at the beginning of this semester it started a bit weak for me. Reading through certain stories that we were assigned to read. Writing about it was my weaker part because I had to get a better understanding of what was presented in front of me. I can say that my writing was very vague and basic. Boring to read so I thought that it wasn’t worth anyone’s time. I knew that I had to make changes so it would be readable. I thought of all my writing as work for a grade but that wasn’t the case. There’s always a reader behind what you write so you have to give them a show.

In the 1st phase of English 110, we touched on many stories behind different readers. Their traits and what inspired them to become writers for the English language. Wanting to create stories for an audience. See what’s relatable. Some examples of Authors that we’ve read were Amy Tan, June Jordan, Safwat Saleem, etc. They all seemed to have something in common and what that was, was that they were all solid with their words but they all were looked down upon or looked at differently because of their lesser literacy skills. This would hit home a bit as I would relate to this. This would also show me the 1st-course learning outcome, “Examine how attitudes towards linguistic standards empower and oppress language users.” as I was reading these stories.

A few weeks later we would get our first major assignment. A written language and literacy narrative. Our goal for this writing was to think back to a time when we had to look back at a time related to Language and Literacy. I knew now I would have to push myself for a first assignment. What would I put into my writing? We had a few prompts that we could choose from.

1. What moments stand out to you when it comes to how you use language and literacy?

2.  Can you recall any family, cultural, or social events related to reading or writing that you found enlightening, encouraging, awkward, challenging, or unjust?

3. A key language or literacy moment when positive or negative emotions soared, where you struggled or triumphed? 

4.  An object or artifact that serves as a memory of a place, activity, or person connected to your language and literacy development?

I chose the 2nd prompt for this and got to work. This was the easiest and most relatable because I instantly thought of a time in my life when I felt like the odd one out when it came to a secondary language. Long story short, Most of my family members speak Spanish but I don’t speak it at all so when things like family gatherings come about, I just look around and sit there. Of course, I’m not the only one who doesn’t speak Spanish so I feel less alone. I also included another memory related to this but this would be just for my first draft. In this first draft, I spoke vaguely in my writing. No big words or anything like that but I knew that I had to make changes. I felt my story would go all over the place.

Fast forward to the end of the semester, we would go over presentations and peer work.  In these presentations, I was able to listen to my classmate’s backstories. There were many that I found fascinating like one of them was trying to find themselves and where they would belong with a group of students. I realized that everyone has different experiences as to what makes them better writers these days, what inspired them for this, and how they would create change. Now working with a group of students was helpful and eye-opening because they would take time to give constructive feedback in ways you could improve as well as how you could. Where you should improve and add, etc. Peer work shows me ways I could give better feedback

In the 2nd phase of our course, we explored the topic of rhetorical analysis and different strategies used in pieces of writing. We would explore a few examples from other work and after we do that we would apply it to a partner’s writing. In this phase, we would get an assignment broken up into 2 parts. The first part was Observing Rhetorical Strategies in a peer’s Written Language and literacy narrative back from Phase 1. Things like PATHOS, LOGOS, and ETHOS. This relates to the 2nd-course outcome, “Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations.” Also relates to the 4th-course outcome, “Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations.” as it shows me just how I was able to analyze this piece of work and be able to know the rhetorical situations that play a part in it.

The 2nd part that comes into this assignment is a “Peer Profile.” In this portion of the assignment, we create and tell a story about the writer by introducing them and Analyzing their Rhetorical Strategies which connects back to the first part. Something that stuck out to me throughout this Profile was being able to interview the writer. This was my favorite part as we would get into the reader’s thoughts behind what it is they were trying to touch on and what made them write something so SPECIFIC.

This phase helped me gain the skill of analysis behind the writer. When you’re doing this you need to connect it to bigger things and sort of put yourself in the writer’s shoes. Writing is all about thinking and planting your thoughts on paper. It gives you a way to express yourself and show who you are. Throughout this phase, I was shown writing is a work of art. Behind every story is a writer and every writer has a story to tell for the world.

Phase 3 is one of my favorites. In this phase, I had to write a research essay and what I did was write about Propaganda in the world. I know I could’ve chosen anything else but I wanted to do this because I had some knowledge about it. We were required to gain sources before we did any writing and so we did. We started strong, at least 7-8 good quality sources from the CCNY library database. After we did that we would have to write a bit about it. At least a couple of paragraphs and write synthesis on our topic but now it would narrow down to 2-3 sources maximum so I’d put this with the 5th Course learning outcome. Gathering our sources as well as citing just to reach an audience with the information presented to us.

In my essay, I made sure to write specifically about the topic and of course, I tried not to go off topic just so any readers know where they are at. I tailored my writing suitable for the audience. I won’t lie and say this was easy cause it wasn’t. At times I had struggled a bit with managing to write more about the topic. I felt like my sources at the time weren’t enough to be able to generate 5 pages of straight information so I felt like that would be most impactful on my writing and the grade that I gained for this assignment. Forgot to mention that as we would use sources, we had to of course cite our information and create a work cited for the end. The professor would give us many handouts and resource documents for citing but I had some experience back in high school when it came to this type of stuff.

And now we are here. Phase 4 is the end of it all. I haven’t gotten all of the Course learning outcomes but I was able to accomplish some of them. I may not be the best writer either but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any improvements throughout all of my phases. I see myself only improving from here on out to be a much better writer cause I know I can do it. As the 3rd learning course outcome says, “Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing.” I can better myself and come up with ways to improve not just in writing but in many other areas related to Language.