This ePortfolio includes an “About Me” section as well as Written, Oral, Visual, Electronic, and Final Reflection pages located at the top of the screen.
As my time in this class comes to an end, I feel that there are several aspects of my writing that I have improved on over the course of the semester. Though I am hoping to always improve my writing ability, these three aspects of my writing are probably the most important ones that have gotten better in this semester. These three skills are my editing process, how I come up with initial ideas, and my ability to not have any bias in my writing.
The initial idea is probably one of the most important things for an essay, and in this class I did not actually have a a good initial idea until the 4th assignment. This is probably because for this assignment we actually got to choose our own path on what to write about. I knew I wanted to write about something that was interesting to me personally, but I also wanted something I thought the audience would enjoy too. So I racked my brain trying to think of something that was interesting, and that I knew at least a little about to begin with. Eventually I came up with a Greg Jennings Old Spice commercial from 2012. The 5th assignment after this was much easier now that I knew how to look for ideas, and I actually had my idea the day the 5th assignment was given.
Bias is never good in a research essay, especially if you are writing about a controversial topic. While my topic for assignment 5 was not exactly controversial, it still resonated with me because of how I was raised. As I started assignment 5 I knew everything about the the Bible flood story, and almost nothing about the other two stories that I found, and obviously since I was raised as a Baptist I do believe one story over the others. This was difficult to write about because of my personal beliefs, but eventually I overcame the urge to favor one story over the others. Once I got over that initial challenge it was easy to report the summaries of the stories and note difference and similarities.
Over the course of this semester, I have been writing my essay only a few days before they are actually due, which puts a big strain on my proofreading and editing process. Since I do not have much time to revise my essays before turning them in, I had to optimize my editing process so that I was efficiently making my essays better. I am now able to understand mistakes I may have made, and correct most of them before turning in my essay.
To conclude, this semester has shown a growth as a writer for me, as my skills as an editor have become more efficient, my ideas now come more readily, and my bias is no longer present in my writing.