Self-Assessment

Self-Assessment
My writing and reading skills have significantly improved since I started the English 101 class. Initially, I had many mistakes ranging from sentence construction, use of transitional words, pronouns, and mainly subject-verb and object-verb relationships. I initially lacked sense and fluency in all my essays. However, with time and after going through the extensive class readings, listening and writing, my grammar has improved, and I can now boast of better prose and clearer themes. I have also advanced in my talking and can now boldly express myself without redundancy. This can be proven from the previous essays in this class.

The rhetorical analysis essay about the perils of ‘Sharenting’ was a test about how best I could analyze a story. What was required was the basic understanding of the major themes, the styles, and characters. I consider my ability to skim through a story and get the general ideas workable of late. After that, I take analytic approach while reading the story in depth considering every detail. This has helped me unravel the major theme of a story and the writer’s recommendation. In this assessment, I was able to identify the use digital media as a threat to children privacy when the parent is not careful on what they post.

The essay on ‘the relationship with literacy’ was a self-reflection and an assessment of my understanding of the word literacy. Through the essay, I was able to reflect my childhood and connect it with the current standards while exploring the stages I had to pass to be where I am today.

This required the use of many transition words something that I had been struggling with for some time. However, with much research and reading, I was able to pull out a grammatical write up. I consider my grammar to be improving with time.

For a long time, it has been a challenge differentiating between pathos and ethos. I always confuse the emotional appeal to the logical appeal. However, with some reading and writing the analytic essays like ‘the perils of ‘Sharenting’ and analysis of Malcolm X usage of the two have helped me have a clear understanding of the two. Being unable to place oneself in the position of the author is the leading cause of the confusion. Once I mastered the art, identifying these styles and aspects of writing has been easier, and I can now easily utilize them.

One thing that was a challenge for me was to do research. For some time, I could peruse far too many reference materials and Internet sources, but it was hard to single out what was necessary for my research. This was not until I embraced the five W’s to guide me in the analysis. Before starting any research, I now first sit back and reflect on what should be in the final material. Working my way backward, I then identify the materials that can be of use through skimming through them and especially the abstracts and summaries. This way I have been able to do better research.

The journey to perfecting my grammar has not been that cheap. It has cost me much of my free time trying to read and write more. I also embark on reading peer reviewed materials so that I do not compromise my grammar. However, much of the guidance has come from my instructors. Where I initially could nod construct grammatical sentences, especially the subject-verb relationship, I now can easily make a consistent flow and correct my mistakes.