Annie's Academic Writing Self-Assessment

Academic writing to me, usually is a bit overwhelming in the beginning. Usually though, once I get going with a good idea, once I work out a good thesis I can go from there. If there is something that I struggle with in Academic writing you will find it in the editing process. Maybe not uncommonly I hate scrutinizing my work, over and over again. The last paper I wrote (somewhere around 3 years ago) for my English 251 class was a good paper as far as cohesion and analysis goes, but I know if I would have spent more time tweaking it and rewriting I would have been more satisfied with the paper as a whole. That being said, a strength I have is structure. I try to focus on making my academic writings reflect my thesis statement. I stay on track with the points I'm trying to make and focus on cohesion between ideas.

Ariel's Academic Writing Self-Assessment

With academic writing, I'm always a bit reluctant to start. If I don't have a passion for what I'm writing, or if I just can't grasp the concept I'm supposed to write about, then I have to convince myself to write it. Academic writing (like literary theory or analysis) is something I usually don't feel willing to write about because of this. It's the fact that I don't really get a choice to write, that it's difficult for me to understand, and the lack of freedom makes a part of me defiant until I can force myself to just write it and move on. One exclusion would be when I had to argue in Engl 293 why The Bath and A Small Good Thing by Raymond Carver should be included in an anthology. It was easy to explain and argue because I chose a topic I loved. I'm usually pretty good at plotting out what to write, drafting the essay's structure, and tying together all the ideas at the end. I know how to write. I just struggle writing about something I'm not passionate about or that I don't really understand.

Estephanie's Academic Writing Self-Assessment

As time has past, I feel like I have grown as a writer. I have definitely improved in many aspects, but am still flawed in others. For example, I feel like, throughout the years I have gotten better with my organization while writing papers. In a paper that I wrote in 2018 for my Contemporary Issues class, I wrote a personal paper about DACA and Immigration. In this paper, my goal was to have the people in my class know more about DACA and how immigrants feel with the way that the president has been handling the situation. The way that I had my paper organized, the class was moved and the teacher complimented me with the way that I had written it. The things that I feel like I can improve on are staying on topic. Sometimes, while writing a paper, I sometimes focus too much on one certain topic instead of writing about the bigger picture.

Estephanie's Shelfies

Sophie's Academic Writing Self-Assessment

I definitely enjoy academic writing more than creative writing, so it is useful for me to analyze my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to academic writing. I think my biggest weakness would be in coming up with ideas: once I have an idea to write about, I enjoy the writing process of communicating the idea. But, actually choosing what to write about is usually an arduous and time-consuming process. My biggest strength in academic writing would probably be my ability to support a claim well. I think I am good at staying focused in my writing and really finding the right evidence to support whatever it is I am arguing. I think an example of these weaknesses and strengths would be in my final English 251 paper: it took me hours to decide what to write about, but once I figured it out, I think I did a good job of supporting my thesis with textual evidence.

Caroline's Academic Writing Self-Assessment

Last semester I was able to write and present my Senior Thesis for my art history major.  It was a very long process with lots of writes and rewrites.  I used my paper from a previous class and reworked a lot of it.  I had lots of angles and lots of research included to make it a strong paper.  I am - and was in my thesis - able to find lots of information and quotes that supported my theories.  I enjoy writing papers and telling my opinions and thoughts, which are supported by facts.  Especially in art history, where i presented a new angle on a very popular artist.  I tend to struggle with following an outline and focusing all my thoughts into a coherent paper.  I don't enjoy doing peer editing, I have my own way of editing and working with people on my papers, so peer editing is extra work for me. 

Matt's Academic Writing Self-Assessment

In my Literature Review on the creative process I encountered a few strengths and weaknesses in my writing; one of both will be discussed here. Throughout my paper I had good synthesis of all the sources I gathered. I was able to use many journals and research to properly communicate the history of the creative process and present the latest theories in an organized manner. I noticed how this ability to synthesize my sources came slightly easier to me than it did my classmates, which made me realize that it was one of my literary strengths.

However, I also encountered a major weakness in my writing. I have difficulty reaching my paper's required lengths. This Lit Review was supposed to be ten pages long, however I felt the paper was finished by page eight. That leaves me with two pages of new information I had to include that fit along with my paper without seeming like new last minute additions (which they were). I had a hard time with this, but with some work and help, I was able to get to the required page length. This experience led me to realize that writing a lot is my weakness.