Before the introduction of this course, writing has always been one of those subjects where I haven’t reached my fullest potential and always challenged me the most. The idea of writing essays never appealed to me as much as other subjects did, however, most of that changed once starting this course. Most of the assignments and activities from this course allowed me to gain insight on specific writing strategies as well as the opinions of others and applying them into my writing. Each assignment played a distinct role towards my development as a writer which will be further explained in this essay. With this course coming to a close, I look forward to the next English class with the skills I have developed and look forward to improving more as a writer. 

To start off boldly, I felt that the research essay assignment challenged me the most out of all the essays. Not only did it help me improve my writing skills, but it also benefited me with research strategies, credibility of texts/sources, and how to properly cite my sources. These were the fundamental basics of a research essay that played a huge role for me. I knew that once I had mastered these strategies, it would be no challenge to create a research essay from scratch in any future instance. My argument of the essay was based on why books should not be banned from libraries, schools, and other government institutions, considering that it was a form of censoring the people. I believe that in my essay I introduced the topic very well considering that it has been a challenge in the past for me to create a well-constructed introduction paragraph. One course learning outcome that I obtained from this assignment was “locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias”. Working on my research essay required a handful of sources and credibility was the key factor of those sources. During class sessions, my classmates and I learned about the basics of citing sources and further enhanced our abilities. One example would include the “Quote, Summary, Paraphrase Venn Diagram” which explained that all forms of evidence, whether it be paraphrased in your own words or exact details from a source, need to be cited in their proper manner. Although I believe I learned the distinct forms of citing sources and applying those sources in my writing, there is one course learning outcome I wished to have understood more was “Practicing systematic application of citation conventions”. A little bit more practice of formally citing and I would have understood it in a more advanced fashion. Citing sources was a challenge for me in the beginning due to some texts missing certain info about their credibility such as dates, authors, etc. 

Previously before the research essay, the WLLN essay came along as the first major assignment of this class. The assignment was a bit more personal and focused on the topic of my past experiences with literature and language. This is when my rhetorical strategy usage commenced this semester as I applied a mixture of all pathos, ethos, and logos. Therefore, one course learning outcome I gained from phase 1 was “Exploring and analyzing, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations.” A quote from my essay that demonstrates my use of pathos goes “The fake smile on my mother’s face said it all. After the conference ended, she simply could not understand. How was I not able to translate for her if I speak both languages? She was heavily disappointed and didn’t bother looking at me on our way home. I explained to her that I didn’t know how to translate what I was told simply because I honestly didn’t know how.”  Another course learning outcome I gained was “Examine how attitudes towards linguistic standards empower and oppress language users.” due to the backgrounds each and every one of us shared in our essays and speeches to the classroom, 

The final essay of the class being the rhetorical analysis essay was about creating a rhetorical text and describing specific details about the text such as the audience, genre and background info. The course learning outcome that was gained on my end was “Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations.”. This assignment was more of a form of free expression with my opinion being that the accents of people shouldn’t be misjudged or discriminated considering English might be difficult for some to fully understand as well as other leading factors.  

In conclusion, these course learning outcomes have helped develop my writing skills and have yet to learn more. The challenges I have faced along the way were tough but also a great learning experience overall helping me develop skills I didn’t know I was capable of, especially on the digital side.