Writing Skills Has Been Rather

¶ … writing skills has been rather dramatic and noteworthy throughout the time spent in English103 here at Drexel University. The First Year Writing Program (FWP) has demonstrated the importance and flexibility of the written word. More importantly, my command over this scholastic skill has contributed to my overall learning processes and functions and have resulted in a steady increase in knowledge and understanding.

The purpose of this essay is to reflectively analyze my personal writing portfolio that I have acquired during this instructional period. This analysis will highlight the #5 objective within course outcomes; students will improve their critical thinking skills. This essay will incorporate the development of this skill by inserting written artifacts written over the course to highlight this improvement and give empirical evidence stating the same message. This essay will evaluate and comment on the series of self- written works submitted in order to describe the progress and development of my personal ability to communicate with the written word.

Meta-Analysis

Going back on reviewing my own writing requires a certain amount of humility. During this reflection, I noticed the changes that occurred within my own writing but also within my own thinking processes.

Writing and words are a means of communication that usually fall short of meaningful understanding or knowledge. The science of communication goes well beyond the use of words and their inherent meanings. I see writing much more as an expression of art after being subjected to focusing on my writings on various different subjects. As a result, a lot of the confusion of word meanings began to disappear and I could see them for what they are.

This illumination allowed my mind processes to clear and my critical thinking abilities to come to the forefront. In my essay written in 101, confusion seems to dominate the discussion, as I clearly lack focus and precision in my delivery. The lack of ability clearly shines through in the following passage: "he had very good relations with the colonials and he was in favor of a United States of Europe too, along with the United States of America, " (the Effects William Penn Building Has on Its Surroundings, 1). I am not really sure what I meant by these words, but I do realize they do not make much coherent sense.

Progress is began to surface however in 102. Practice writing drills and a new appetite for reading began to positively influence my writing skills. During this phase of my education I began to realize that both writing and critical thinking are skills. Like any skill, they need to be practiced or rehearsed in order to master them. I believe that inside every person lies an accomplished writer, however developing that writer may take much effort and practice.

A clear hypothesis in my 102 paper shows how these skills had improved. The statement reads: " Erroneously, our systems mete harsher punishments to drug use as compared to the alcohol abuse, not knowing that the damage that both leave on the society are potentially dangerous, " (Alcohol and Drug Policies at Drexel, 1). In this composition, I can vividly remembering having more of an emotional connection to the subject. For me, when emotions are properly used, I believe my writing can become more artful as well as more clear.

During 103, my skills really began to improve and I felt more and more comfortable writing. Practice was paying off and my confidence with new and challenging subject matter began to grow as well. This was evidently displayed in my series of writings about the poet Charles Simic. Simic, known as an elaborate and often obtuse poet, provided some serious challenges to my ability to read a piece of writing and apply my critical thinking skills to this selection.

In order to successfully accomplish this task, I began to notice how two forms of logical thinking effected my cognitive abilities. Before dissecting or digesting any of Simic's work, I made sure that I knew the meanings, or at least the dictionary's version, of the words contained in his poetry. This habit soon began to spread to all parts of my life. I no longer would use words that I did not know the meaning of, and would always make a note to find the definition of a word that I had never heard before.

My mind was now ready to discern between objective and subjective reasoning with proper grammatical constructs firmly established in my thinking processes. Understanding that both inductive and deductive reasoning led to logical and clear thinking. By melding these two centers of my mind, I could focus on the complex and emotionally charged writings of Simic.

Looking at my introductory paragraph in Simic and Solitude makes me beam proudly of my hard work. Although it may be quite long and verbose, I seem to blend both an artistic, or subjective, stroke with an objective description of the historical facts of the narrative. This is best demonstrated when I present the crux of the paper's argument in the opening: " it is difficult for Simic to speak about his childhood during wartime Belgrade using prose, as he barely refers to his youth when reflecting on why he became a poet for the New York Review of Books. That is precisely why Simic became a poet: because the best way for him to express himself was not through any other medium, " ( Simic and Solitude, 2). This is backed up by the second essay on the subject and its introductory paragraph: " the poetry of Charles Simic is phantasmagoric and real at the same time. The poet creates poignant paradoxes related to personal experiences of alienation, isolation, and identity. Simic's images often seem arbitrary, but it is their overall effect that matters more than their individual impact.