While taking the FIQWS 11013 at city college of New York, my writing skills improved rapidly. I learn a lot of things from the class assignment such as develop better writing technique, draft, free write and improved on tax citation. I become good at reading and highlighting important information. I learned how to use CCNY library for online research and find a reliable source from the library database. I learn to analysis article without using my own opinion. Although there are some things that I could not manage to improve such as I have to depend on Microsoft office to fix my grammar and expanding a thought or give a black ground while explaining certain things because I always get to the point. Other than that, I learn many things about architecture while doing the research for my last two essays.
To be a good writer, I had to read and understand the text before I start to write about the article. Sometimes I had to read the article two to three times to understand fully what the point author is making in the text. At the beginning of the FIQWS course we received small article such as “Superman and Me” and “My Mother’s Garden” we had to summarize these articles. At first, it was no big deal because at the beginning of the semester I had more free time to read this article more than one times to summarize the article. I had free time because I did not receive a lot of homework from my other class but after moth later everything changes we receive big article to read for instance “Beloved Enemy” and “Death and Life of Great American Cities” because we did not have enough time that we can spend in these article to analysis. I used to read the article and highlight the important information and sometimes take notes to summarize every paragraph and If I get confused I put a star symbol next to it so I can go back and re-read to fully understand the article scene I did not have time to read the article more than once.
Free write is something that professor Tim Dalton would start at the beginning of the class before he discusses the topic that we suppose to pick for our essay. The idea of the free write is to take our fresh thought and get ideas before we get into details about the topic. This was helpful for me because I always struggle to start to write the introduction. Free write helps me to brainstorm my idea and organize it in simple terms which help later help me get ideas for my thesis and the introduction. During the free write, I did not have to worry about grammatical error or spelling because at the end I was able to get over with my introduction it was a crucial technique for me. This picture shows one of the example of free write that we did in class.
Another technique I learned is drafting though out this course. Before this class, I never did the peer review always submitted my work as soon as I am done with it. The peer editing was the most effective which helped me to improve my last two essays at first, I thought it would be much better if the professor did the editing rather than having classmate doing the editing. I was wrong because as soon I give them my paperwork they start to read and highlight on my paper. The professor Dalton set three people in a group for the draft assignment. We bring two copies of our essay one for editing and one to compare. Each of us takes turn reading essay and give feedback to our peers. I had to write a memo about where I am at, what I needed to improve and what are things that is confusing. My classmate would read the memo and answered it respectfully. They also point out the error that I made in my writing and give me some positive feedback about what I did well and what was most interesting for them. They also give me feedback about the things that I needed to improve and things that was confusing. I take their advice and start to apply that in my essay. Peer editing helps me to be a better writer as well as it helps me to point out grammar my classmate error or the mistake that they make in their paper which I could not do it before.
Assignment that we did in our class help me to understand the I see the world is very different from reality I never thought the reality could be harsh for some people. For instance, people with disabilities lack of opportunities there are not a lot of accessible place for disabilities people in “Beloved enemy” the author talks about his daily struggle that he as a disability had to go though in New York cities. As James Baldwin stated that “Language is a political instrument, means, and proof of power.” The language is one of the best way to change the world and help other people by using it. It helps me to connect with people who is fighting for change by using their word and separate me from those who does not want change and care about their selves. Whenever I support and talk about something I had to be more careful about the perceptive because what is good for me may not be good for others so before I choose something it is better to empathize with other people.
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