My Ultimate Aim as a Writing Student
My ultimate aim as a writing student is to develop my writing skills. This will mostly concentrate on avoiding grammatical mistakes, learning how to write a thesis statement correctly, and improving my punctuation. When I've tried to express myself by writing, I've had some difficulties. This class, on the other hand, will be extremely beneficial to me on my path to becoming a successful writer. It will also be able to relieve my anxiety and increase my confidence while I consider writing. Also, I'd like to learn how to properly reference my documents, especially in APA format. Because I'm a freshman, it's been a little intimidating. I had not been exposed to writing formats before. This writing class will critically shape my writing skills.
Grammar as my Biggest Challenge
Grammar has been my biggest challenge out of all the mentioned subjects. English is my second language, and this has proved challenging to construct grammatically correct sentences. I aim to avoid grammatical errors by proofreading my work. This will enable me to avoid run-on sentences and be able to correct my misspelled words. I am also looking forward to understanding when to use first-person pronouns. The college writing course will thus promote my writing ability. Aside from improving my grammar, it will also enable me to gain courage every time I want to do my academic writing. My essay had different grammatical errors, but the writing class proved vital as I was able to correctly identify what changes I needed to make in the essay.
Improving My Punctuation
Improving my punctuations is another subject I want to put more emphasis on. Proper punctuations have been a problem as I tend to construct long sentences that become cumbersome. The writing class will improve my understanding of the appropriate use of punctuations. I will, therefore, be able to build short and clear sentences that will bring out the points. This will also improve clarity and convey the intended meaning. Use of transition words such as similarly and consequently has also been challenging. I ended up using "let's" instead of other transition words. I am learning in my writing course the importance of using transition words and how it sharpens my writing skills whenever I use a variety of these words. Transition words bring out the connection of words and avoiding repetition, in turn, prevents monotony.
Understanding the Thesis Statement
At the beginning of the writing class, I did not understand what a thesis statement meant. It was difficult to comprehend what it entails and what should be included in it. However, after my first essay, I was able to understand what a thesis statement is. I was also able to note that my thesis statement needed a few adjustments, and this was a significant progress for me. The thesis statement had three broad sentences, and I noticed that being specific would have helped in putting across the right meaning. On the other hand, my concluding remarks needed improvement as I used present tenses instead of past tense. I have not mastered the proper referencing format, and I keep checking on Owl Purdue referencing styles. I noticed that I had not correctly numbered my essay as it is required in the APA format style. Headlines had also not been accurately placed. From the exercises done in the writing class, I was able to point out the mistakes I had made, and I rectified them.
Analyzing and Comparing Articles
The essay I had previously written served as a foreword for academic writing. The primary focus was to determine my level of writing skills and learn how to express myself adequately. The essay challenged me to analyze the authors' work critically. I used two articles for comparison and contrast. The first article that I used was "Effects of Soft Drink Consumption on Nutrition and Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" (Vartanian, Schwartz, & Brownell, 2007). The reason for settling on this meta-analysis was because it had different studies that had been reviewed and analyzed. It provided a clear understanding of the effects caused by soft drinks on an individual's health. It further was detailed correctly when it discussed the relationship between soft drink consumption and the impact on nutrition and health outcomes. The different studies in the meta-analysis ensured that a common factor within the reviews had been established, and it was well explained.
The second article that I used was "Diet sodas may be tied to stroke, dementia risk" (Howard, 2017). It is a peer-reviewed and recent study that proved that diet soda was closely linked to stroke and dementia. The study was specific compared to the meta-analysis and thus laid a foundation for comparing and contrasting. Both articles briefly discussed the effects diet soda, but what caught my attention were the different approaches used.
Presenting My Arguments
I was able to use three parallel points in writing the essays. These are the method, outcome, and discussion that were used when addressing my essay. These were the chief points that I wanted to focus on majorly. Comparing and contrasting the three points was crucial in my essay as it proved that other peer-reviewed articles had found the same results as me. Aside from being able to access different articles on the same topic, I settled on these two articles. The reason being, I was not able to find other articles that expressed the thesis statement as the guidance of the entire study. This significantly impacted my choice of the articles to use in my essay. Furthermore, I looked for the articles that will enable me to understand more in-depth about the thesis statement as it was still a challenge for me.
The two articles provided a profound foundation for my arguments. Before this essay, I was not able to categorically and adequately present my arguments through writing. Nonetheless, I was able to express the differences and similarities in the style of the articles and how they were used. I intended to bring out the comparisons in a manner that was clear and easy for understanding to my readers. This was the main reason why I emphasized the method used, the discussion, and the outcome. Expressing my views through this enabled me to understand even further the different natures that outlined the main points of the studies.
My Confidence as a Writer
My ability to construct grammatically correct sentences, understanding what a thesis statement means and entails, proper use of punctuation, and understanding how to correctly reference my essay did boost my confidence as a writer. I was able to make appropriate changes in my essay. Therefore, I will use my essay as part of my writing portfolio. The main reason is the idea that I wanted to put across and the argument that diet soda was linked to the outcomes of health and nutrition. Moreover, it provided a platform for clear understanding of my flaws and made it easier for revisions to be made until I was able to come up with what satisfied me. I am proud of the fact that I was able to analyze and discuss the main points from the studies as well as present my arguments.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I can assert that this writing class has sharpened my writing skills for the better. This course aided my understanding of grammar, punctuation, referencing, and understanding the importance of a thesis statement. I am now able to express my thoughts and arguments effectively through writing confidently. I am currently confident that my future essays will be well grammatically structured and will have minimal revisions. I had an intense fear of writing as the thought of academic writing would make me hide my notes where I could not find them. This was entirely because my grammar was poor since English is my second language. Additionally, I am confident that with more practice, I will be able to master referencing format without confirming from the Owl Purdue when doing both in-text citations as well as the bibliography. This is because I was willing to learn from my shortcomings and I utilized the new writing strategies that I learned from the class.
References
Howard, J. (2017). Diet sodas may be tied to stroke, dementia risk. CNN .
Vartanian, L., Schwartz, M., & Brownell, K. (2007). Effects of Soft Drink Consumption on Nutrition and Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PubMed .
