Adv Writing U4d1

Christian James
April 21, 2017

A Semester in Review
Coming into the semester, I was daunted by the prospect of having to write in
a college level writing class. Sure, I took AP English Literature in high school, but the
course still felt like a high school class, not college. I have written a few papers
while at Northeastern (for a sociology course and an art history course), but neither
the previous courses nor the professors had the high expectations that are
prevalent in an English class environment. As a result, I was prepared to hate
advanced writing right out of the gate, and thought I would struggle immensely. As
it turns out, I actually rather enjoyed the writing Ive done this semester, and I feel
like my abilities have grown. I still try to push off starting any papers, but once I get
started, I really strive to put my best foot forward. Through meeting the course
learning goals, I definitely feel more prepared to begin writing within my field.
A big part of my learning process this semester was learning how to
effectively communicate information. I noticed a huge improvement in this when I
wrote my Unit 2 paper, the literature analysis on rhinoceros conservation. In my
initial draft, I organized the paper by source, basically summarizing and analyzing
each article and then drawing a general conclusion at the end. After undergoing a
revision process and taking advice from Professor Richard, I reorganized the paper
by type of policy. In doing so, I was able to use multiple sources in conjunction with
one another and create a paper that flowed well. I also completely overhauled the
conclusion, and decided to be a little bolder and actually come up with some ideas
for the future (proposing an international wildlife crime control committee). As a
result, I also learned how to be more confident with my writing and in my own ideas.
The Unit 2 assignment also provided me with a much needed refresher on
how to effectively find sources. When I began the assignment, I intended to write on
the topic of species conservation. Lo and behold, conservation is an extremely
broad topic, and wouldnt be a good subject for a basic literature analysis. I decided
to narrow my search down to particular animals, but even then, I was only getting
two or three worthwhile articles per search. I took to searching through recent news
articles, hoping to find anything new about conservation, but most topics began and
ended with that one article. At this point, I decided to broaden my search by region
and started searching for conservation topics in Africa. When I found multiple
articles on rhinos, I knew I finally had a good subject. In the end, I learned to find
the sweet spot between too broad and too narrow search topics. Of course, a
literature analysis requires sources, which in turn requires proper citations, so the
assignment was another refresher in appropriately citing sources.
Another huge part of my learning process was getting used to the concept of
peer review. Throughout high school and early college, I didnt really have anyone
look over my writings. Rough drafts would be examined by teachers, theyd give
them back, and Id fix what they wanted. That got me the grades I needed, but I
didnt grow a whole lot as a writer. This semester, we had peer review sessions for
every unit, and they helped so much more than I expected. Not only could I get my
paper edited and gather some outside insight on the work, I was able to gain
valuable experience just by reviewing someone elses paper. I was exposed to other
writing styles, and was able to get better ideas about how to format my own paper.
Going back to Unit 2 again, the person that I reviewed papers with formatted her
paper in a similar manner to how my final draft turned out. Without that peer review
session, I would have still been lost as to how to organize my information. As it turns
out, peer review is extremely helpful, and Im glad that our class had those
sessions.
The little notes that Professor Richard left for us on each draft we emailed her
also significantly helped with the revision process. One particular example that
stands out to me is my introduction to Unit 3. In my initial draft, my introduction
was as follows:
In the 2015 article, a writer from Natural News makes a case for eating more butter, citing its
nutritional value and other numerous benefits. Henry also expresses his view against margarine,
calling it the darling in the saturated fat attacks. While the paper has a multitude of issues, the
primary problem is that it misrepresents the facts about butter by cherry picking its information/data,
and even blatantly falsifying some information. The truth is that butter is not healthy for you, despite
having some nutritional benefit, and margarine is usually better for you. By simply searching for
reputable and unbiased sources, the article can be debunked. Here, the article is analyzed and its
numerous problems are outlined.
In her response, Professor Richard noted that this introduction was rather
abrupt and seemed to begin mid thought. I agreed, but didnt want to lose any of
the information I had written, so I added in the following paragraph right before, to
serve as the first half of an introduction:
In todays computerized society, information can be shared on a dime and anyone can put forth their
opinion. With that freedom, however, comes the sharing of incorrect and sometimes potentially
dangerous information, such as various health food trends. While there is no denying that some
unconventional foods can be good for your body, some of these trends advocate for less than stellar
nutritional choices. Natural News is a web news source that puts forth a number of articles related to
health food, but the information therein can do more harm than good. As an example, the article Why
you need to eat more butter proclaims that butter is completely healthy, yet the science shows that
no, you really shouldnt eat more butter.
I definitely believe that the two paragraphs together make a vastly superior
introduction over just the initial drafts intro, so I would say this is a strong case for
a revision process.
While I learned a lot this semester, the writing class would be ineffective if I
didnt grow as a writer. As time went on, I started to feel greater pride in each of my
papers. I wasnt very happy with my Unit 1 paper, but it was also a new type of
assignment that I had never done before (analyzing how a paper was written). On
the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised by how my Unit 2 paper turned out, and
very happy with my Unit 3 paper. I feel that this is a reflection of both my
improvement throughout the semester and my growing confidence in my ability to
write. Rather than thinking I hope I did well on my essay, I started to think I feel
good about this essay, and any problems with it will be taken into account when I
write my next paper. I now know that I am capable of writing a decent paper; all it
takes is a little hard work.
That being said, I ought to address my writing weaknesses. Hands down, my
biggest problem is procrastination. Through a combination of working all the time
and telling myself Ill have plenty of time tomorrow, I almost always end up doing
an assignment the day before its due. Luckily, having the revision process
throughout this semester forced me to not do the final draft right before the
deadline. I also feel better about my papers knowing that I can go back in a few
days and polish it up. I also tend to have difficulties gathering all my thoughts
together and putting them on paper in a coherent manner, so some of my essays
tend to feel like they are rambling on, or are repetitive. I feel that outlining my
essays would help with this, but Im not a fan of the super structured papers we
were forced to outline and write in high school, so Im a little turned off by the
concept. I have found that it does help to set a paper aside and come back to it with
fresh eyes later, so making and reviewing rough drafts seems like the best bet. In
the future, I think I will need to rely on multiple drafts and peer review to ensure my
papers are A-Okay.
As for my strengths, Im honestly not entirely certain. Ive never had to reflect
on my writings and figure out my own strengths; instead, my professors usually tell
me what my weaknesses are and how to improve on them. Looking back at Unit 1, I
think I excel at extracting information from sources and retelling it on a more
basic level. Whether thats a testament to my skills as an interpreter or to my
simplistic writing level/vocabulary is not for me to say. With that said, I think that
my simplistic writing may actually be a strength of mine. Sure, my works may not
come off as professional as some other students, but my papers this semester are
understandable. Additionally, I think this paper is more relatable to a reader as a
result of its personal feel. For the future, I hope to continue developing a
professional voice, but I want to maintain my ability to explain these scientific
studies to a broader audience so that everyone can have access to the wonderful
world of science and its findings.
At the end of the day, Im not a perfect writer, nor am I a perfect college
student. Yet, Ive improved as a writer and I feel better prepared for writing in the
future. Having met the Writing Program Learning Goals, different aspects of my
writing have been enhanced. I wouldnt wish to take another writing class in college,
but if I did have one, I would look forward to the opportunity to continue improving.

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Christian James

April 21, 2017

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