Over the course of ENGL 301 I have learned a significant amount regarding my writing style and learning style. Performing peer reviews was especially helpful for developing this awareness, and comparing my own work to my writing partners’ was eye-opening. After having completed all of these reviews, I believe I have developed a more critical eye for weakness in written expression and clarity. I believe that this is a great skill that I can take with me into the future, be it for writing in a professional work setting or when drafting a paper for a course. These exercises have also confirmed my learning philosophy, which is that through collaboration there is growth. Having a new pair of eyes to offer helpful feedback is an invaluable resource for improvement.

Areas of strength that I developed included my ability to compose thoughtful content and control of tone. Being able to generate writing that helps readers understand something new or with a different perspective is important and applicable in many contexts. Reflection blogs were especially helpful for building this strength, as they forced me to communicate my thought-process and helped me convey my awareness of what I was learning throughout each unit. My control of tone was developed through the process of peer review; whilst before I thought of a peer review as a function for pure criticism, now I understand that it is meant to objectively evaluate another’s work, on positive as well as negative fronts. Being able to convey criticism in a tactful manner is what makes it constructive; learning how to do this by controlling tone, avoiding imperatives, and having empathy is a finesse that I have developed well.

Weaknesses I noticed in my assignments included issues with brevity and word clutter, and problems with conciseness. This issue mostly stems from being unable to decide on a specific point that I wish to make, and it results in the dressing up of my sentences that are filled with unnecessary words. Now that I have an understanding of this weakness, I hope to combat it by being more concise in my articulation of my points.

Moving forward, my ability to analyze text in a critical manner and to write for a target audience will help me in the long run. I will market these skill to Arts Co-op employers, and if successfully hired I hope to apply the skills I have learned from ENGL 301 such as creating email memos, reports, and peer reviews to a professional work setting. Learning to spot weaknesses in my writing will also be helpful in my future coursework, especially in a major like English. I am grateful that I took this course, and the writing skills that I have developed here are sure to benefit me for the rest of my academic and professional endeavours.