After nine weeks of ES1102 lessons, I think I have become ‘smarter’.
I have developed a habit to ask myself more questions during my essay writing,
some of them are “What am I trying to convey here? If I can’t understand, I
can’t expect my reader to understand too.”
Through Dr Cook’s review and my peer reviews, I begin to know my weaknesses
in academic writing. In fact, I am always eager to view the visual & audio
feedback by Dr Cook. It is really beneficial as I could replay what I do not
understand and cogitate on them until I understand. This has somewhat stretched my
cognitive ability to a new level. In reality, comments from tutors are only mentioned
once without the replay button. I felt that the visual & audio feedback
really demand huge effort from Dr Cook; to express my appreciation; Thank you
Dr Cook!
I felt have made great strides in the areas of content and organisation
of academic writing. In view of the essay content, I understand the importance of
thesis statement and topic sentence. Personally, in a ‘problem & solution’
essay writing, there has to be a succinct objective for the essay as well as its
respective paragraph. Without it, the reader will feel disorientated and in
this case, the writer would have failed to bring the message across. In addition, I
am more capable in paraphrasing other works and citing original sources.
Citation is especially vital for students as it serves as evidence that back up
the student’s work – thus the credibility of the paper is ensured.
In the view of the essay organisation, I have grasped the structuring format
for essay writing. Today, I am more confident to convey the big picture and the
details of my story. A properly structured essay has an amazing power to capture
the attention of the reader.
Until today, I still have a lot to improve on my grammatical
competencies. It may be due to my poor foundation in English language, as I did
not hone them back in my secondary school days. If there is a will, there will
be way. Optimism and hard work is the key for growth.
With better understanding of the dynamics in academic writing, I am
enabled to present an organised paper powered by critical thinking and proper
research. To improve further and move beyond, I intend to read more scholarly
article, good books and continuous revision on the grammar powerpoint.
