Kayla's Writing Self-Assessment

My writing process has developed greatly throughout the semester. At first, I was not a fan of how much drafting we were required to do as a class. However, my feelings changed when I realized how much easier it was to compose a final paper when I had already completed the majority of the research. The most enjoyable part of researching for my final paper was finding non-scholarly sources that helped me to develop my ideas in a deeper way. I found newspaper articles from the 1960s and Spotify playlists that helped me find my voice in what I was trying to portray. In my initial self-assessment, I wrote that my drafting was weak as I tended to just write a paper and turn it in without any revising or previous drafts. I have greatly improved upon that. One thing I noticed, however, was I felt like I was struggling to tie together all my sources in my final paper - something I had written was a struggle for me at the beginning of the semester. Clearly, I could have used more practice in that arena. The social aspect of writing was also heightened in this class as opposed to other English classes I have taken. Being accountable for another student helped me to manage my time wisely, and the feedback was generally helpful in further development of my ideas. I liked knowing I only had an hour before I had to report back to another student about how much work I had completed. Overall, I know that this class stretched me and especially my writing process. I had a lot going on in my life this semester, as we all did, and especially now with COVID-19. But the way this class was organized helped me to be able to keep up with the required assignments in a reasonable timeline.