Hello, this site is created to overlook my progress throughout this passed semester. I’ve written an Op-Ed, a critical analysis, and completed a visual essay of my Op-Ed along with an audience strategy.

SELF-ASSESSMENT:

This semester has been very enjoyable and has been very helpful in improving my ability to write. I felt so free during this class in the sense of being able to write about whatever I wanted and however I wanted to do it. When it comes to achieving the course objectives I feel as though I haven’t really touched on the first two. I haven’t gone into or even really thought of linguistics and the differences about language at all, so I won’t speak on that. Though I do feel like I’ve touched on everything else in some kind of way. My ability to gather useful evidence and organize an argument properly has improved a lot. I find myself able to find evidence and be able to map out what I will say and when I will say it fairly easily. For example, in my critical analysis essay I did it quite late but I was able to provide my evidence in the best way possible to get my point across. I did this by starting off with the past incident of 1921 to show the issue I was writing about has been going on since the very beginning of cinema. I basically had a timeline in a way, the first paragraph about 1921, the second being kids shows in the 2000’s, and finally the third which was about the case of Harvey Weinstein which is the biggest sexual assault/rape case in Hollywood ever and it is quite recent. I also think the ability to quickly form an argument and being able to map it out comes with writing about something you genuinely care about. I don’t think anyone should be forced to write about things that have no meaning to them or something that they do not have interest in. If they do, the work will feel soulless and not authentic. I believe that it will come out very forced. 

I’ve also gotten better at the ability to self assess my work. I think being your own critic is very important because it helps you know what you did and did not like about your work and allows growth. Yes, feedback from others helps a ton but I think it’s best when it comes from you. My writing goals were for me to be able to provide an argument with clear evidence and not stray away from my topic. From my work this semester I can gladly say I struck my audience correctly and stuck to the topic successfully. Especially during my visual essay, it was very straight forward but provided exactly what needed to be said and symbolized to my audience and since it was the same thing as my OP-ED I was able to stick to my stance and display it effectively. I set my expectations for an A- minumum at the beginning of the semester. After seeing my grades I know I will achieve higher which is great. 

For my OP-ED I interviewed my girlfriend which was a huge moment in the semester for me. It gave me insight from a woman’s perspective about the topic I’ve based all of my work on this semester being, misogyny, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. This gave me collaborative experience which I have never had on a paper before. I can honestly say my paper would not be the same if she was not a part of it. There’s no better way to get your point across than to get the evidence directly from someone who has dealt with the issue and is speaking about it without a filter. Throughout my writing I’ve used different genres such as videos, articles, an interview, and a drawing to convey my ideas and my stance on the issue I covered. All of these things individually shaped my argument and built it up in the most efficient way possible. Though when it comes to my sources for evidence I did not look to the library, I didn’t feel like it would really have anything for me. I did look at google scholar though and I was able to find scholarly sources for my paper which strengthened it immensely. Learning about how to look to the library for evidence was a great skill to acquire but at least for my argument it did not feel necessary. 

For my sources I used a variety of paraphrasing and quoting, along with citing my sources and deeply analyzing them to my best ability. I think I hit the nail on the head when it comes to evidence and before this class I had a little trouble with that. I remember in highschool I would fish for evidence for what felt like ages and barely get through 3 paragraphs in two hours. I think I’ve become a faster writer, a better analyzer, and also better at explaining my evidence clearly and how it ties to my claim/thesis statement. For example, in my critical analysis I used the article about Rose McGowen being raped by Weinstien and I used a quote where she explained what that entire incident has done to her. The long term effects that have been causing her to have night sweats and jump out of her sleep. These things were backed up by my inspiration source where I used a quote that explained what having an encounter like that can do to you and your mind. The PTSD that can develop as well as the immense anxiety and more. That all came full circle and connected to my argument that these abusers and rapists have caused women trauma and ruined lives after violating them. 

  Now, what is writing? At the end of the semester and after various writing assignments I strongly believe that writing is having the power to change lives, change minds, and create ideas. I say this because often when we read we are moved by what we have read in some kind of way. We may finally understand something that we never understood before, we may learn how to better ourselves by reading about a character we can relate to and learn what we need to change about ourselves to be better. We can generate new ideas, writing can generate a spark in you that you never knew you had and it can do the same to a reader and make them reevaluate something or find the motivation to finally pursue their idea. There’s limitless possibilities when you pick up a pen or sit at a desk in front of a blank google doc and that’s really fascinating because when you pour your heart out onto a writing project you may not hit everyone, you may receive forms of hate and get people angry for your thoughts. Though at the same time you can also affect someone positively in such an amazing way and you won’t even know it. That’s the magic of writing.