My Progression As A Writer…

In this class, I have gained several skills through obtaining the learning objectives defined for this class. I feel as though I have been able to better express myself in terms of how well I am able to communicate emotion to my readers, and also how well I am able to illustrate an untold narrative. Not only have I developed as a writer, but I have also developed as a thinker. So far, I have been able to do the following: recognize the empowerment of language, analyze writing, revise with peers, address my audience through different uses of media, research with useful sources and databases, argue my stance, and cite systematically. These skills are very valuable to me because I am able to use them in my professional career and networking; writing and language are powerful tools that the world uses to maintain human compassion. 

The first major essay written for this course would be the Phase 1 WLLN Essay. In this essay, I was able to describe my own personal background with language and literacy. I discussed the struggles I faced as an immigrant child with an ethnic homelife, which I would often be ashamed of. This paper let me practice connecting with my audience through the means of storytelling. One of the most powerful quotes from this assignment that I’ve written is “My name is Hitha. I am from India, and I am a proud immigrant”. I chose to end my paper this way because I believe it connects with my readers in the strongest way possible; it concludes the essay with a statement of who I am. This phase allowed me to open my mind towards different usage of linguistics and communication; I learned more about other ways of living and speaking English. 

During Phase 2 of this course, I was able to see how the empowerment of language can affect the lives of several people. We analyzed Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue, and in that piece, we saw the struggles that language barriers can implicate. In my Phase 2 rhetorical analysis essay, I analyzed writing, rhetorical devices, and genres. I was also able to become better at peer review sessions, which in turn aided my writing skills. I also compared and contrasted Tan to another author’s work, Dr. Jennifer M. Cunningham, and by doing so, I built argumentative skills and became more confident in my proposals of evidence. I ended my Phase 2 essay with the quote “Each human is valued with the same perspective and respect as any other being; language should never be a barrier, rather, it should be a unifier.” This quote showcases my understanding of the empowerment of language to my readers and the knowledge I have obtained through the analysis of the given texts. 

Phase 3 was my most valuable phase in this course. The research paper topic was chosen by me; linguisicm and sociolinguistics. This is a topic I am very passionate about and I feel grateful that I was able to write a research paper on it; I have spent the most time and effort on this paper than any other paper I have written in this course. I developed my research skills by looking at several sources and databases including 30-page research studies, books written by scholars, and government statistics. Because of such sources, I also learned how to cite systematically in MLA format; my works cited page was structured and organized alphabetically. The most interesting part about this paper was that it had to be written in a letter format, so I was able to directly address my audience in my way of choosing. This essay had the most passion and purpose poured into it; I stated “Perhaps [this letter] can entail some change in societal thinking, no matter how minute it may be.” I argue my stance with the utmost confidence (mainly built through the previous two phases) and made sure I was clearly conveying my point to my readers. 

In all three of my cover letters, I have continuously stated why purpose is so important in my writing because, without purpose, words mean nothing. I have noticed such a dramatic change in progress in each of these cover letters. In my Phase 3 cover letter, I stated “I found that I am easily able to write more in quantity and, more importantly, match it with quality”. This quote is so important because, throughout my academic career, I was never able to do such a thing. Writing in large amounts of quality always seemed impossible to me, until I took this class. I am able to write more and write better. This is a skill I will always be grateful for in this class. Another discovery I have made in this class is the value of cover letters. I never viewed cover letters as a crucial part of an essay, but after writing three of them, I now see why it is necessary for most essays. I am able to write better cover letters to introduce my readers to the essay they are about to read and give them some navigation into my essay topic. Such skills are vital to my writing career.

In conclusion, this course has taught me so much and has made me a better writer, thinker, and person. Coming from an immigrant background, language and the acceptance of various sociolinguistics was always a foreign concept to me. But, in this class, I learned more about how it is acceptable to embrace different types of language and accept people for who they are and where they come from. Due to the outcome of this course, I am able to recognize the empowerment of language, analyze writing, revise with peers, address my audience through different uses of media, research with useful sources and databases, argue my stance, and cite systematically. These skills will surely stick with me for the rest of my life and I am very thankful that I was able to take a class that has changed me so much. 

Thank you, Professor.