Part 1:

During my second year of college, I realized that I had learned so many things about myself. My writing, for instance, has really improved. During the beginning of my semester, I struggled in explaining my ideas on paper.  I learned how to proofread, focus on grammar, and understand that at times I was being unclear, lacking evidence, and lacking in explanation in my work. However, writing constantly and checking over my work has honestly helped my writing become stronger. 

     In improving my writing skills, my reading skills also improved. I noticed that I had developed better pronunciation, and comprehension skills when reading articles that were assigned. At the beginning of the semester, I noticed that very similar to my writing skills, my reading skills weren’t that great. I was having difficulty with pronouncing certain words that I considered to be difficult. However, overall, I have always prioritized my academics. My education is something I cherish because those who aren’t in my shoes wish that they were getting the education that I am getting.

     A way that I can use what I learned this semester in my other writing assignments is by better explaining my ideas and providing more evidence to support my ideas. I also know how to write an annotated bibliography and cite my sources better throughout my papers. Because of this I now feel that I am a much better writer and an avid reader! 

Part 2: 

       The first writing piece I want to share is my unit 1 writing assignment. In our Unit 1 assignment,  we had to understand the concept of discourse community and engage with an idea of discourse communities by sharing our purpose, content, and tone to our audience. The reason I want to share this is because I want to start with sharing that this was not my best writing assignment. Looking back at my unit 1 assignment, I noticed that it showed all the writing struggles I was dealing with at the time. I did not proofread, was unclear, lacked proper explanations and evidence, and even my tone and word choices were off. The professor’s comment said “you need a lot more personal or outside sources, and you need to have a more specific audience. Plus, you need a more specific possible solution–you’ve got a good idea, but what does that mean for you as far as action?”  I ended up getting an F. After seeing that I started to work harder and focused on the things I struggle with in my writing.

      It wasn’t until the Unit 2 assignment that I realized how much I started to grow as a writer. My content was more readable and informative, I had better research and overall sources, my paper became easier to read and I even learned how to use MLA format correctly. The professor stated:” Great research and excellent reflection on each piece you used as a source! I really enjoyed reading all your thoughts on your sources–this is the hardest part of an annotated bibliography, and you did it very well! My suggestion is to clarify your organization just a little more. I could tell when I was in each section but put in subheadings to clarify it even more!” This paper demonstrated my growth because in comparison to the unit 1 assignment, my writing had improved and so did my explanations and research.