This post includes a self-reflection of my time in this course. I discuss the various skills learned, how I gained them, and how they affect me. 

This 2023 fall semester, I enrolled in the FIQWS Metropolis: Architecture and The Modern City writing class. This course focused on rhetorical devices, writing structures, critical thinking, conveying messages, and the learning and polishing of many other writing techniques. Initially, I viewed this course as uninteresting since I considered it repetitive to my high school writing classes. However, its impact on me has been unlike any other writing class I have taken. Providing me with different approaches to employing new techniques allowed me to develop as a writer and a fellow reader. Engaging in peer reviews, annotations of readings, thorough lessons on writing structure, and reflections enabled me to gain new crucial writing skills. Although my writing still has room for improvement, this course has gone a long way in helping me refine my skills. 

This course contained three writing assignments: Letter to A Friend, Exploratory Essay, and the Chronicle Essay. The Letter to A Friend was an assignment that focused on using rhetorical tools, conveying a personal subject matter, a descriptive tone, and implementing active voice. The Exploratory Essay focused on argumentative viewpoints, the ability to present different perspectives, and critical thinking toward a proposed solution. The primary assignment that led to the most improvement in my writing was the Chronicle Essay. This assignment focused on using a neutral tone, finding good reasons for opposing viewpoints, and balancing such reasons in each argument.

Every assignment in this course was completed following the Course Learning Outcomes of the class. To be used as a guideline, these outcomes measured how much progress one’s writing had undergone throughout the semester.

Image of all the Course Learning Objectives 

Through each revision of my assignments, I improved on more learning outcomes. These revisions were done by following the comments of fellow students from the peer reviews done in class that provided a second opinion of the work. Conducting peer reviews allowed me to address three different Course Learning Outcomes: adapting my writing to help the audience better understand my content, improving my revision skills, and interacting with other students. From the feedback, I realized the content clarity issue my Letter to a Friend Draft had. In the draft, I would switch between passive and active voice, making it difficult to understand the setting that my writing followed.

Letter to A Friend Peer Review comment on passive voice usage

The feedback from my classmates made me aware of this issue and allowed me to fix my writing to ensure the content I presented was clear. I should have been able to point out the problem in my work by myself. Gaining insight into this writing issue I had missed made me realize the need to improve my revision skills. As a result, for the other works I completed, I made sure to re-read and revise at least three times before submitting. Overall, these peer reviews allowed for class engagement in which students gave one-on-one advice that ultimately helped mutually improve each student’s writing.

Revised version of Letter to a Friend using active voice instead

The Learning Course Objectives regarding reflecting on the different writing of the assignments and formulating a stance in my writing were complied with throughout all assignments completed. Each assignment in this class had a distinct purpose and unique text structure. In the Letter to a Friend assignment, I used an informative tone when writing about the Empire State Building structure and phrased my writing structure as a first-person account visit to the site. With the Exploratory Essay, I used a persuasive tone and an argumentative text structure. I included opposing opinions about the Native American Reservations with the reasoning behind such arguments. The chronicle essay combined all of the text styles used in the previous assignments. In this essay, I implemented an informative and persuasive tone and included opposing opinions on the preservation of the One Times Square structure. All three assignments were partially similar as they all contained elements of both persuasion and argument. In the Letter, I persuaded a friend to visit the site I recommended by describing how unique and decorative the structure was. I also argued how this site should be the first structure toured when coming to New York as its features are unlike any other building in the city. For both the Exploratory and Chronicle essays, I first argued two different opinions on the topic addressed and ended by persuading the reader to choose the side they agreed on, urging them to take action regarding the issue at hand. The practice of writing in such different styles allowed me to become comfortable with various writing structures, ensuring that I do not limit myself to a single approach. Ultimately, this has allowed me to become a more adaptable writer who is open to new structural changes when writing.

Throughout the class, we examined different readings and samples of previous assignments. This exercise allowed me to focus on the most crucial course learning outcome of evaluating varied technical writing formats. By examining the different writing of former students, I learned to differentiate between the least and most effective styles. I would then employ a similar style, that followed the structure of the one I considered most effective, in my writing.

Annotation on the former student example style and structure

We also analyzed reading examples of published works that were similar to our assignment. With these examples, I would note any of the author’s writing elements that could enhance my own writing. I analyzed how the author of such work presented their thesis or arguments seamlessly, how they concisely phrased their evidence, and how they integrated photos in a manner that aligned with their writing.

Annotation on the structure of the published work example

Annotating these examples and identifying the writing techniques and structures used in the work provided a visual guide for how I should construct my writing. This exercise done in class allowed me to develop my writing style into one that is more concise and clear.

When writing these assignments, I gathered evidence to support my thesis or the different arguments I presented. Finding such evidence followed the Course Learning Outcomes of practicing using online library resources and evaluating which sources were best to use. For the Letter to a Friend assignment, I conducted research on the Empire State Building. I found out what materials the building was made up of, the different patterns and textures of the structure, the date of construction, the architects of the structure, and many other historical elements of the site. This information was crucial in providing a vivid description of the site in my letter to convince my friend to visit the site. For the exploratory essay, I had to research Native American Reservations and the justification behind the two opposing perspectives regarding the preservation of the land. Information such as laws, Native American culture, economics on the reservations, and various other aspects was needed for the structure of my essay. I also had to use dictionary sources to define key terms and ideas of both arguments.

Research planning for my Exploratory Essay on Native American Reservations

The chronicle essay was the assignment where the most research was required. Due to the essay following a timeline structure, I needed to research information on the beginning construction of the site up to its current condition. Images also were essential as they provided visual depictions of the building’s development over time. However, the primary focus of this assignment’s research centered on the architectural analysis and significant events related to the structure. I had to find out what features and elements One Times Square contained and research the structure’s effect on pivotal moments in American History. When conducting all of this research, I used the CCNY library database to facilitate finding journals, scholarly articles, primary sources, and much more. To access only reliable sources, I set my search to peer-reviewed journals. 

Image of library search with limitations set

This prevented any untrustworthy sources from appearing when I conducted research. Only sources that contained an author, date, citations, and peer-reviewed writing were considered reliable. By enabling restrictions in my search, sources written by non-experts who had limited sources or even no evidence in their writing were avoided. Such limitations ensured that all my assignments used credible evidence, not faulty ones. By learning how to adjust the databases to my preference, I gained the skill of conducting viable research.

Throughout this entire course, the exercises, readings, and assignments collectively helped me improve my writing. Skills including proficient revisions, increased adaptability, developing a new effective writing style, and becoming a better researcher all turned me into a better writer. Despite this development, I still have room for improvement. Although my writing structure is good, its organization could improve by providing better transitions between different paragraphs to ensure the connection between them is notable. My writing could also be more concise since many drafts of my assignment were found to have repetitive or unimportant information.

Feedback given by professor stating to remove unnecessary history to be concise

Now that the semester has ended, the teachings I have gained from this class should be applied to other courses or future endeavors in my desired career. Pursuing a pre-med track with the intent of one day becoming a Cardiothoracic surgeon, I know that I will conduct an immense amount of research. The new skill of learning how to navigate a database will be extremely helpful when conducting such research as it will allow me to not only find credible sources but also be more time-efficient. For any future writing courses I may take, I can apply the skills from this course to continue improving my writing and even potentially address the issues I didn’t fix during this course. Although I can not say what the future will hold for me, I am certain that this course has made me become a better writer.