Writing is a subject that I tend to find comparable to studying a rock in terms of joy and excitement. In other words it is not my subject of choice and I would much rather deal with numbers and equations or analyze the structure of our economy or something along those lines. However, over the course of writing 101 this quarter, I feel I have accomplished a lot as a writer. I have improved upon many of my essential skills as a writer and discovered what areas of writing I consider my strengths. Also, through completing the various assigned papers I have come to realize the areas of writing in which I am weaker and need to improve upon. The following portfolio contains two of the papers that I have written this quarter. These papers are basically exhibitions of my strengths and weaknesses as a writer I mentioned above. In addition, the editing and revisions I have made to these papers, some of which are contained in this letter, provide examples of how my writing skills have improved.
Seeing as how writing is not my favorite subject, there are some obvious areas within the necessary skills of writing that I feel I have plenty of room to improve in. One that I particularly notice is that I need to improve on my transitions from paragraph to paragraph. For example, in my essay "From Darkness to Light, A Story of Heroism", I end my first body paragraph which suggests that a hero is someone who will do anything for their fellow man with this sentence: “If saving a fellow comrade from certain death by bullet and absorbing the blow yourself does not make someone a hero, then I don’t know what does.” The following paragraph brings up my next point that a hero must be able to make quick, smart decisions on the spot, and begins with the sentence: “A hero must also be able to make quick and smart decisions when they are thrown into extraordinary situations.” My transition is not only weak, but practically non-existent. I have since added a transitional sentence in between these two, which reads: “The quality of sacrifice found within a hero might be matched only by their need for sound, on the spot judgment.” The addition of this sentence provides a link between the two paragraphs rather than abruptly switching from one point to the next. Another small, yet relevant attribute of writing I find myself stumbling over from time to time is when to use a comma, and when to use a semi-colon. This is an issue I have noticed common amongst my peers as well. More often than not, I find myself just going with a comma, probably because that is what is more familiar to me. For example, in my essay “Online Social Networking: Foundation for a New Set of Issues “, I had originally written a sentence as follows: “The boss might fire his employee for the acts he engaged in while off duty, these acts would have never been considered had the boss and employee not been friends on an online social networking site.” After rereading this sentence, I realized that use of a semi-colon in place of the comma was actually the correct way to write it. I made this change and found myself making many similar changes throughout my papers. Although there is endless room for improvement in my skills as a writer, I feel that I have already strongly developed some of these essential skills.
Throughout my years of writing, I have noticed that there are certain areas in which I consistently exhibit proficiency. Varying sentence structure and length is something I feel that I do very well in my papers. A paper that drones on and on with sentences that are all the same length and structure becomes very dull and boring and results in a paper that is torture on the brain of the reader. As a writer, it is one hundred percent essential to mix long, short, and in between length sentences within paragraphs. Along with this, varying the structure/type of sentence is also essential in creating a more readable paper. This involves using a combination of compound sentences, short powerful statements, rhetorical questions, vivid descriptions, etc. My strength in this area of writing is apparent throughout my second essay. The fifth paragraph, for example, contains sentences from a multiple of varieties. I use a sentence that describes bombs exploding and gunshots ringing through the air which is preceded by a very short and straight forward, six word sentence, yet followed by a longer, compound sentences. Shortly following I pose a question to the reader and use the next couple sentences to explain my answer to that question. It is that sort of sentence variation that creates an interesting paper to read, and one that does not become monotonous to the reader. Another key element vital to creating an attention grabbing paper is having voice. I feel my writing voice, particularly throughout this quarter in writing 101, has come a long way. I started out just writing the words that I felt would address the assigned topic for our classes’ papers, yet they seemed to lack my personality and did not really sound like me. However, I have recently put extra effort into adding in my voice in my papers and I feel the effort has paid off. This is especially apparent in my most recent paper. For this paper I chose a topic that is relevant to me and my peers. Writing about a familiar subject on which I have plenty of thoughts and opinions on such as social networking sites really allowed me to speak freely; expressing my ideas how they would sound if I were to be conversing with someone in real life. I would almost venture to say that I enjoyed reading articles related to the effects of social networking sites and responding to them with my own personal input; and that is saying something.
Despite the fact that writing is far from my subject of choice, I have put a lot of effort into improving myself as a writer this quarter. Not only have I tried to develop the areas in writing that needed it most, but I have put time into further increasing the areas in which I already had solid skills as well. Within this portfolio are the fruits of my labor: two assigned papers and my final exam. I only hope to entertain the reader and possibly teach them something new or cause them to view the subject matter from a different point of view.
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