The Art of Writing

Writing is like art- it helps us to express ourselves. However, writing differs from art in that it has to follow specific parameters, such as structure, syntax, grammar, and so on. At the beginning of the quarter, I had preconceived ideas as to what "good" writing was, and how I should go about it. While working on my first assignment, I discovered that to be reasonably successful at this I had to leave behind my perceptions of writing as it is accepted in my country and to start from scratch. Throughout this portfolio, I demonstrate my development and growth as a writer. In the creation of this portfolio, I have accomplished several of the global objectives for this class. These included writing a clear thesis statement, showing awareness of my audience, and revealing the effect of successful, critical proofreading and editing techniques. As I aimed to meet these outcomes throughout the quarter, my writing has slowly, but surely developed into organized, critical, and academically correct text.

The one skill that I have vastly improved upon in this class is organization. I have always struggled to put my thoughts to paper in a manner that is coherent and as per the assignments. The skill of creating an outline, which I have developed in this class, helps me considerably. Indeed, an outline helps me to properly organize my essays, and it enables me to focus my mind on the main points that I want to write about .As I write each paper, I keep reminding myself that other people are going to read it. Therefore, I am aware that I have to provide my audience with a good introduction. Writing for an audience with a specific purpose depending on the type of essay has helped me improve my writing a lot. I quickly came to understa...

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...was a challenge, I have always been encouraged and motivated to constantly improve my writing from feedback by the instructor. My current strengths are coming up with good store of grammar knowledge and also a wider vocabulary, but my weaknesses are still punctuation and sometimes spelling. I feel that I need to work harder on these skills.

Thus, looking back at all the work I have done over ESL 273, I feel that I have significantly grown and matured in writing. I believe that the essays I’ve chosen for my portfolio show my strong writing skills that include the ability to synthesize ideas and concepts, to convey these ideas with clarity and creativity, and to develop substantial writing skills. Therefore, I feel that having completed this course, I am now equipped with sufficient knowledge and skills to take my writing to a higher level.