Throughout this semester in Writing for the Sciences with Professor Anna V, I learned about different forms of writing and how to write about them. Considering this was my first writing class at CCNY, I also learned the importance of group work through creating a Sustainability video and a Children’s book on AI. I had taken classes in the past that required writing but never a class that taught me how to write. During this project, my group and I met multiple times to share our ideas. This experience taught me to develop and engage in the collaborative and social aspects of the writing process, which was invaluable.My biggest takeaway from the class was learning to analyze articles effectively. We were given articles to break down during class time and submit our responses on the Discussion board, which enhanced my ability to critically evaluate and interpret scientific texts. This method made writing seem a lot simpler and prevented me from adding irrelevant facts. I realized that when I overthink a prompt, I tend to get stuck and produce poorly written assignments. Learning to analyze articles in this structured way improved my strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing, and self-assessment.
This was also my first time writing a Rhetorical Analysis Essay. Surprisingly, I didn’t struggle with it as much as I thought I would. The clear instructions in the syllabus and class explanations helped a lot. The peer review sessions were also immensely helpful. Having my paper go through an extra lens of critique before handing it in helped correct any errors I might have skimmed over and created room for improvement by incorporating the feedback. The group project was another significant part of the course. Creating a Sustainability video and a Children’s book on AI was challenging yet rewarding. This project required us to merge different writing styles into one cohesive piece, teaching me to negotiate my own writing goals and audience expectations regarding conventions of genre, medium, and rhetorical situations. Working with multiple people highlighted the importance of planning and organization. I had to compromise on certain ideas and include new ones from my group members, enhancing my ability to collaborate and communicate effectively. Furthermore, this class taught me to acknowledge and draw on linguistic differences as resources to develop rhetorical sensibility. The diverse perspectives within the class enriched our discussions and writing projects, helping me understand the value of different viewpoints and cultural backgrounds. This experience was crucial in developing my ability to formulate and articulate a stance through and in my writing.
The library sessions were extremely helpful. I learned to practice using various library resources, online databases, and the Internet to locate sources appropriate for my writing projects. These sessions strengthened my source use practices, such as evaluating, integrating, quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing, and citing sources. Although choosing from many articles and journals was challenging, it was also very useful in enhancing my research skills. I was also amazed at how easily CCNY had made databases accessible to us and definitely plan on using this for my future classes. However, the assignment I fell short on was the summary and analysis. Because I chose a factual topic that was easy to interpret, analyzing it was difficult, and much of my essay ended up being a restatement of cited evidence. I didn’t fully understand my topic, which was my fault. I should have done more extensive research before choosing it. Visiting Professor Anna V during office hours for help could have improved my essay, as she is a valuable resource I should have utilized.
In conclusion, this was the best class I took this semester because I learned a lot about writing and gained insights from the lectures on life and college experiences. This class taught me to acknowledge and draw on linguistic differences as resources, develop rhetorical sensibility, negotiate my own writing goals and audience expectations, engage in genre analysis and multimodal composing, and articulate a stance in my writing. Overall, it was an enriching experience that prepared me for future writing projects.
