In this course, I have done multiple writing assignments in 4 units. These helped me improve my writing skills in phases, and I tried to show my progress in each unit through these reflection posts.
As unit one was the first step of the course, I could learn the basic steps I should consider in writing and my problems in writings from the works below.
Figure. My Writing Progress
First Draft of Definition
For the last two weeks, ENGL 301 course concentrated on writing three kinds of definitions, reviewing, and revising the writings. Writing the first draft was the first process of it. While writing the first draft, I could learn the basic methods of explanations. Three ways of writing definitions and subtypes of the definitions were introduced in the textbook, and by adapting them to my own reading, it was possible to understand and remember how to use the explanation methods. Also, by considering which definition will be best for the non-technical readers, I tried to write in clearer ways. The consideration made me think and care about the structure of the writing more. By doing so, I could improve my writing skills to write in a neater way. Furthermore, as the assignment required some visuals and references, I learned how to use visuals and outer sources for better writing. In conclusion, the three definitions assignment was excessively helpful for good professional writing skills, using more professional methods, visuals, and outer sources, and writing in a more organized way.
Peer Review
The peer review was a good opportunity to read the teammate’s writing and learn from it. I reviewed one of my teammate’s writing(Eric Zhang). Reading his definition made me learn from the points he did well and some small mistakes that I could also have done. For example, his sentence was very concise and clear, which is a very good strength that my writing does not have. However, it was not the only advantage of peer review. While reviewing the definition, it was possible to look back on my own writing. Whenever finding some points during the review, I thought about whether my definition was the right way about the points, and went back to my writing. It was also very helpful for improving the first draft. Moreover, as it will not be my last review of others’ writing, writing the peer review note was a great help. I considered more polite words, the way of feedback, and the way to be more useful for his revision. Overall, the peer review assignment was so helpful for my writing in both ways, improving my writing on definitions, and writing the review note.
Editing Definition
To be honest, I usually had not revised my writings. It was really hard for me to reread my writings and find out the problems. However, thanks to the peer review assignment, both my peer review on my teammate’s writing and vice versa, I could find the points to check while revising the draft and realized revising is a very useful process not only for better writing but also for improving writing skills. While revising the first draft of the definition, it was possible to figure out some of my writing problems. For example, I found out that some of my sentences are not well organized enough for clear and detailed explanations for non-technical readers. Reading my own writing and rewriting it more clearly made me think of what is a good professional writing and what should be done for it. Also, I could check out some weak grammar points and got to know which points should be cared for. The assignment was extremely helpful for enhancing my writing skills, especially in the perspective of finding my weaknesses.
Overall, the process was greatly helpful in improving my writing skills. In the process, I could learn the basic criteria of good writing and effective explanation, how to review, and how to apply the reviewed points to the writing. Following the process made me learn more about writing useful professional documents. Also, in the process, I could figure out the weak points to be improved and how to do it. I believe the overall unit one assignments were highly helpful for my writing skills.