Throughout this semester, I learned a few things. I did improve my writing skills a lot in the past few months. Now I can proofread efficiently, I try to get into a deeper meaning of what I’m trying to write, so the reader can see what I’m trying to project. I also understand how to write with different aspects of media and literature. When there is a picture or a video, first, I would need to get a citation for it, but then I would analyze and break it down to fully grasp the information. Then I would talk about it and make a transition to the next point. Sometimes an image can help paint a picture of the argument or the story that is being told. In some assignments, like the literature analysis, I couldn’t project my opinion on the topic, but in the Rhetorical analysis and in the cover letter, I have improved my opinion, because I have stuck to what I think. I used to not push my ideas much since I felt it was wrong to do so, but now I feel confident to put my ideas and back them up with proof. For example, in the Diddy advertisement, I said that the advertisement was controversial, and I proved it by using his alleged charges. Or like when I was writing my cover letter, I was pushing myself to the position I know I deserve to be in.

The rest of the objectives, I feel, I haven’t made much progress on through the semester. The first one is using my and others’ range of linguistic differences as resources. I already knew people wrote differently, and I already know how to combine work pretty much on a basic level. When it came to peer-reviewed articles and more complex reading, I was struggling a bit to adjust to my classmate’s form of writing, but I got the hang of it after a bit. When I write for a presentation, I know how to get the attention of those I will be speaking in front of.

I already work well with my classmates, and we help each other with things we might not understand. Sometimes we brainstorm together since multiple minds are better than just one mind. Sometimes I don’t talk much since I know what to write, and it’s a short assignment, so there is no need for communication. When it’s time to do group work, usually we have a flow going, and we get along well. If we need to reach out to each other outside of class time, we text each other, and from there, we all improve.

The main thing I felt I didn’t improve much was in the citations and library aspect. For years, I’ve been citing sources and using in-text citations when I’m writing my essay. The only things that came out of this class for these two objectives are that I got to learn APA format, which is the science version of MLA, which I’m used to. The other thing is making my citations and putting them into alphabetical order. The third thing would be looking for peer-reviewed academic journals, but it’s easy, not something difficult.

The last thing I didn’t feel a change in is their attitudes towards linguistic standards. We didn’t do much work with other languages other than English, and most of it was the same region of English (like the same accent). I do respect other languages, but I didn’t encounter other languages in class, only when doing research, but I couldn’t understand the translation. I only went through the English ones.