Self-Assessment Essay

Aaron Ramirez

Prof. Shearer

Eng Comp 10100

Due Nov 29, 2022

Over the course of this semester, phase by phase I was able to redeem myself in terms of writing skills. This was possible only thanks to the varied lessons and practice I had in each phase to make me a better writer overall.

In phase 1 I was really at a loss in terms of writing and reading skills. Despite being a proficient writer during my senior year, I felt as though I’ve lost all of that over the summer. Just last year I took an AP English course where I did nothing but read and analyze writing. There was a lot of reading, including fantastic works such as Othello and The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. As well as extensive analysis of literary techniques and the writer’s potential purpose. Not only did I remember how amazing the books were that year, but also how hard I tried to spice up my writing with the most sophisticated claims and or incredibly descriptive writing. During phase 1 of this course, I attempted to incorporate as many of those skills as I could remember into my writing to illustrate a cohesive yet simple piece.

Incorporating talk about how my linguistic background affected my time in this narrative proved difficult to explain. In this way I did fail to really, I did fail to meet the quota. However I did come to understand the importance of language and how linguistic standards oppress language users as seen in my response to Mother Tongue when I realized that “language doesn’t translate to intelligence”. Readings like Mother Tongue also gave me a lot of material to “explore and analyze rhetorical situations like I did for the english comp syllabus when I pointed out the authoritative claims used in my professors writing”, helping to further my understanding of how to use and analyze rhetorical situations in different ways.

During this phase I realized that you can’t just copy and paste every skill you’ve learned in the past. That every breath must match the step I take. The Spoken piece was not easy, but the effort helped me visualize the different forms writing can take. The written form was much simpler, conforming my writing to the prompt was easy and the story came naturally.

To clarify, I’ve learned that depending on the rhetorical situation, writing can take many different forms. It’s difficult not to take your own writing seriously, so I’ve developed a new appreciation for language. Finally, I’ve learned how to chart a reading for better comprehension and how to face the challenges of becoming a better speaker.

At first glance the second phase seemed more difficult than the last. However, I was warmed up and in a better place in terms of my writing. America is the only country I know, yet I know very little about. Capitalism for instance was something I saw adults talk about often, but never really understood what all the fuss was about. In this paper I responded to a paper written in response to all this fuss concerning Capitalism. Topics like the free market, crony capitalism and “by the people, for the people” are things I never knew about before, however will come to an opinion on by the end. Very worthwhile read might I add.

By the end of this article, I was first very perplexed at the idea that capitalism was something I didn’t understand only by definition. I’ve seen examples of capitalism my entire life, my MOTHER owns a business! Nonetheless I couldn’t help but agree with the shortcomings of capitalism that the author drew up. Capitalism puts power in the people’s hands, whoever has the most power of the “people ” will obviously want to keep it. Even worse they’ll attempt to usurp even more economical power. Hence the idea “for the people, by the people” actually looks like “for one minority, by the people”. In that regard at least capitalism undeniably falls short and will never succeed the way it was intended to. I can only conclude that capitalism as a system is only serviceable, and not by any means as free as many would claim.

During phase 2 I learned how to create a complex idea/opinion out of another. This required me to be able to understand nuanced claims and as well as rhetorical devices authors used to further their agenda in their writing. There was also some practice in threading quotes and ideas to arrive at my own while building ethos. Generally writing my own OpEd out of another was a fruitful experience as I learned how to use words and digital technology in order to persuade my audience.

Phase 3 on the other hand presented the most challenging assignment in a research paper by far. In this research essay I spoke about Capitalism, Capitalism is a very seemingly easy concept to grasp, only in definition. In writing this research paper I realized that capitalism could take on many forms, has had some transformations over the years, and can be perceived differently depending on who you ask. Due to its almost overwhelming complexity, I refrain from going that deep into what capitalism is, but knowing it exists made me realize something. Researching this topic made me realize that this may be the case for all umbrella topics. Makes me glad to know I don’t have to write a research essay to an academic audience. If I did, I’d have to do more research than writing and educate myself to the point of being able to put together a nuanced argument. Rather I will write my essay as if my audience were someone who knew almost nothing about the economy and more specifically capitalism. This luxury made it so that the research required to finish is much less intense. All in all, this was the most difficult phase to write because it was the most tedious and required the most attention. Especially since it must be organized in a consistent style from the introduction to the bibliography.

This was a welcome challenge however considering this was only the second research paper that I had ever written. In this phase I was able to get some practice in threading quotes as well as researching in general. Before this phase I couldn’t imagine having trouble finding information regarding an umbrella topic and it was a struggle for me to bring together a knowledgeable and cohesive essay. Especially since I was still arguing a stance, so I need citations that properly argue my stance and fit with my writing. Incorporating the evidence was just as difficult, sometimes I could thread them, others I could summarize, generally however I could not just plug it in. To hit 5 pages, I of course had to make sure I explained every piece of evidence like the way I did when I integrated this citation (To begin with, capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of businesses and products they may sell. In a capitalist-run economy, “capital assets—such as factories, mines, and railroads—can be privately owned and controlled”) into my sentence.

Where I’m I still lacking? Nowhere ,I learned to analyze rhetorical situations in phase one and practiced it and phase 2. I’ve developed strategies for revising and editing my essay in phase 1 when I had to revise my piece so that it can be presented. Digital technology was incorporated into my speaking piece as well in the form of slides. Finally mastering the ability to locate, incorporate, and cite in MLA format was necessary for full marks in my phase 3 research paper. One way I did this was when I consistently used in text citations following MLA format in my Phase 3 assignment like this “(Jahan, Mahmud).” Whilst I could improve on my timing in completing these essays to produce maybe higher quality pieces, I’ve no doubt been able to include most of the techniques taught in this course.

Bibliography

“language doesn’t translate to intelligence”. Direct quote from my Mother’s Tongue Discussion post; Course Learning Objective #1: Examine how attitudes towards linguistic standards empower and oppress language users.
“explore and analyze rhetorical situations like I did for the english comp syllabus when I pointed out the authoritative claims used in my professors writing”.The part “authoritative claims” was taken directly from Rhetorical Strategies and Analysis Forum; Course Learning Objective #2: Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations.
(To begin with, capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of businesses and products they may sell. In a capitalist-run economy, “capital assets—such as factories, mines, and railroads—can be privately owned and controlled”). Quoted from my phase 3 research paper assignment; Course Learning Objective #7: Compose texts that integrate a stance with appropriate sources, using strategies such as summary, analysis, synthesis, and argumentation.
“(Jahan, Mahmud).”Quoted from my phase 3 research paper assignment; Course Learning Objective #8: Practice systematic application of citation conventions.