Danielle Arellano

Dr. Brendan Shapiro

Writing 39C Fall 16

26 September 2016

Self- Assessment

            Although I haven’t necessarily found writing my strong suit, or find it to be one of my favorite things to do, I would say that I have always been a fairly good writer. All throughout middle and high school I took honors and AP English classes where I did well. Now that I am in college, I’ve learned that some of the old methods that I learned for writing are not good enough for a college level writing course.

Before college, I followed a simple formula that all my teachers had taught me ever since I began taking Honors English. Their simple formula to follow was CQT, which stands for context, quote, and tie in. Although this method is easy to follow and makes sure that you get all the information you need into your paragraphs, it’s only good for siting evidence and it makes the writing seem very boring and repetitive. I also did some research for papers in my high school classes, but I know that that research is very elementary compared to the research that I will have to do in this class and beyond as I progress in my college career. Before this class, I took Writing 39B, bypassing 39A and learned a lot of new things about my own writing.

After taking my first writing class at UCI last winter quarter, I became more aware of my own writing choices and why I make those choices by learning about rhetoric. Before the class, I had no idea what rhetoric meant or that it has to do with the choices I make as a writer. In Writing 39B, I learned to look at my work more closely and understand why I chose to write things a certain way. I also made it a point to go to office hours to get feedback on all our big assignments. Normally, I wouldn’t go to get extra help, but I’ve learned that for writing, and for any class in general, it is super helpful to get feedback and extra help if it’s needed.

For this quarter’s class, I intend to continue to go to office hours and get feedback as well as improve my writing. I want to focus on the tone of my writing because even in more creative assignments, I feel that I give off a more serious or informational tone where I want it to be more light-hearted. I would also like to focus on my editing and writing conventions because I feel that I have the bad habit of writing run-on sentences that can be broken up. To fix this, I plan on revising my papers more and having different people read my papers to get different feedback and perspectives. Compared to my writing before taking 39B, I feel that my writing has improved and that I am a better informed writer. I hope that this quarter I learn even more and that I continue to improve my writing.