Writing Skills Evaluation

"Reflection" Claudia Markovich

Ideas and Content
The content of my essay is often the part of the essay on which I focus the most. It is crucial that the writing makes sense, and I feel that mine normally does. By having a clear and focused topic- in J.C. of Brutus’s motivating factors and in the Alchemist of Santino’s helpful personal traits- and by not straying too far from this topic, it can be ensured that the writing is coherent and understandable. Using evidence and explanations on the purpose of this evidence can further strengthen the coherency and interpretation of the writing. My writing in the Alchemist and in J.C. attempted to connect the evidence- in this case quotations- to the main topic for proof. In most cases it succeeded in strengthening the thesus statement of the paragraph. However, at times better word choice and more definite conclusion based on the evidence could have been beneficial to my writing. I think that the strongest element of content in my writing is detail. My writing sometimes struggles to support many events or details that I find relevant but that do not truly relate to the main topic. Further organization could aid in the riddance of unnecessary detail. However, my capability to go so in-depth to detail illustrates strong knowledge of the topic. In order to improve in knowledge, proper preparation for the write-up would be needed. A lot of class time was allotted for the Alchemist essay, but for the J.C. essay we had to find our own time to prepare. Content and ideas are a crucial element of writing.

Organization
Organization helps the reader of a piece comprehend and evaluate the information presented more effectively. However, it is also important to keep the reader interested. Both can be achieved through the format of hook, context, explanation, thesis for the intro and topic, context, evidence, explanation for the body paragraphs. It is important to have a big hook. I feel that my Alchemist essay had a descent hook, while the J.C. essay couldn’t afford any frills within the time frame given. I simply need more time and more devotion to finding such a hook (in these cases quotation) that can also contribute to mood or a carried metaphor. My thesis statements in both cases were effective but struggled with combining all aspects of the essay into one sentence. The topic sentences were also effective but lacked creativity or individuality. Again, the only way to fix this is premeditation. For each quotation I usually established context, however a problem with the J.C. essay was that the context was not specific enough. My transitions sufficed by allowing some transition of thought, but could they have been improved by using a more flowing concept or idea. Finally, I think my conclusion demonstrates organization because it includes all parts necessary, with descent phrasing. This could be improved with more eloquent, simplistic phrasing. All parts of organization are important to writing because it helps understanding, and my essays demonstrate descent organization but could be improved with more allotted time for planning, as well as practice.

Personal Growth
I don’t think that there was much improvement between my Alchemist essay to the Julius Caesar essay. Improvement came in the form of my elegant phrasing, shorter sentences, and more focused writing. However, since there was a shorter period of time for the second essay, the J.C. essay, my technique of slow development was disrupted. I didn’t have any peer or teacher feedback, advantages that I did have for the Alchemist. However, my attention to detail and my explanations were less effective for my J.C essay than my Alchemist essay, showing a step back progress-wise. Although improvement was evident, certain aspects of my J.C. essay that I had developed less earned me a lower grade in comparison to my Alchemist essay.

SLR Reflection
Reasoning Critically is a crucial skill when it comes to crafting an essay. It is needed for organization before the essay is even written. Ideas should be lain out and organized in some way so that one is writing with a semblance of direction. When choosing evidence, one must reason critically in order to select supportive evidence for the main thesis. The thesis itself illustrates cognitive reflection because all of the evidence must be considered, and a conclusion drawn from such information. While writing an essay, on should use critical reasoning in order to select relevant evidence and deduce conclusions from the available knowledge of the topic.