Chanelly Martinez

Writing for Humanities and Arts

Self Assessment 

12/07/2023

When joining this class, I didn’t know what to expect. My major is Biology, so this class was out of expertise so to say. For science writing classes, the proof as well as the statistics are there, so I didn’t have to look beyond that. However, with this class, it required me to look beyond what was there and think thoroughly about what I was writing. This also applied to all the writing pieces we had in this class. Throughout this self assessment, I will be going into my overall improvement and things I can continue to work on.

Beginning with the first essay we ever wrote, opinion editorial, I was asked to write my opinion on a topic. Opinion essays tend to be easier because it has to do with your opinion, but it is essential to provide good evidence as well as backing up your opinion. I was tested constantly in this essay because I wanted to achieve all that was asked of me while still remaining truthful in sharing my opinion. I have always struggled with expanding on what I think. For example, I am too general rather than being specific. Being too general would make the audience question me and my credibility because I am not well versed on the topic. This time around, I wanted to avoid that and really improve. 

The visual essay is the next assignment that we were given. I struggles tremendously with this assignment because I am not a visual person. Since I am a Biology major, I surround myself more around statistics and credible authors etc. Visual components are hard for me to accomplish because I can show what I think through my writing. Although, this assignment was difficult, it went hand in hand with my opinion editorial. I just had to add some visual components. I looked for a youtube video that taught me how to look beyond words and once I started putting my newspaper together, everything flowed beautifully. 

My next essay was the hardest one, yet the most enriching. This essay allowed me to choose a topic that I was familiar with and it also had to do with my minors. I based the CARE essay on a phenomenon in psychology. This gave me an upperhand in a way because I am a psychology major, so I had prior information on the topic. Despite having all of these benefits, I had difficulty on the rhetorical analysis part. I didn’t know what approach I wanted to take. Whether it was logos, pathos, or ethos and my intended audience. These were all crucial things to keep in mind because once I had this figured out, the flow of the essay would be better. After having a one-on-one with my professor, and reading comments she would leave, I knew what approach to take and how I would accomplish that. Having numerous drafts definitely helped because it allowed me to see the improvement, while also seeing all the little things that were missing. In the end, I managed to put everything together and I was very proud of my essay.

After every assignment, usually essays, we need to write reflections and these are so important because it makes you read your work all over again and it forces you to analyze everything once more. It allows you to decompress and express how the essay you were writing made you feel. It definitely was time consuming because after writing a long essay, you had to reexamine yourself, but this is crucial in order to improve.

Through all the improvements in my writing, there are still things that I know I can continue to improve on. I believe that I can continue to improve on is writing rhetorical essays. I struggle with finding out which audience should be my target audience and if I do choose one, how can I write to cater that specific audience. In addition, clarifying my purpose is extremely crucial and sometimes I do not provide a concrete thesis and I know that is something that I can improve on in my upcoming classes.

My portfolio will show all of my improvements throughout the semester by showing my final pieces of work and while also posting everything that I have done with my peers in class. My portfolio should be easy to navigate. I have named each title to be what I am presenting on that specific page. For example, if the title is CARE essay, then the CARE essay will be on there. This will provide organization and make it easier for anyone seeing the website.

To sum it all up, this class was an enriching course and I have learned a lot throughout the course. From mistakes to fixing those mistakes, I am a different writer than when I first began.