1. Which of your pieces was the most challenging to write? Give three reasons and explain.
The most challenging piece of writing I have written is the SAT Essay 3. Having no prior experience with analyzing articles or writing SAT essays, I was unfamiliar with the expectations of this piece. I was confused as to whether to analyze the content of the piece or to analyze the writing of the author. Furthermore, I was doubtful of my knowledge in writing techniques. I have never been familiar with a variety of different writing styles and diction, therefore I felt uncomfortable and lost when analyzing the writing of another author. Finally, this piece was made ten times harder due to the demanding time constraint. Having to first analyze an article then comment on its writing under a time limit added pressure, as I had to process information at light speed. I was unable to manage my time well, and I didn’t have sufficient time to edit my writing and make arrangements. I read the article, and I started writing. I didn’t have time to brainstorm and to organize my thoughts.
2. Which of your pieces was the most enjoyable to write? Give three reasons and explain.
One of the most enjoyable pieces for me to write is the Sarah’s Key book review. Having finished the book, I was ecstatic and excited to share the book with others. The passion I developed for this book motivated me to write a book review on this story. I had an unlimited amount of thoughts and ideas I wanted to share. Furthermore, I enjoyed this piece more than the others because I didn’t have to create a creative and original piece of writing. As a writer, I perceive myself as more technical than creative. I prefer to write about the information I have learned rather than create new information. Lastly, I enjoyed writing this piece because I wanted my writing to inspire other readers to read Sarah’s Key. Based on the historical events from the Holocaust and the Vel d’Hiv, this book inspired me to reflect and pray for those who have suffered throughout World War II. By writing a book review, I wanted to inspire and motivate others to read Sarah’s Key, so that they may develop the emotions I experienced. And to remember and to pray for the victims.
3. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a writer? Explain.
As a writer, my main weaknesses are word choice, concise writing, and writing techniques. For word choice, the vocabulary I use in my writings isn’t extraordinary. Many times I unwittingly use words repetitively on an essay. It is a challenge for me to recognize synonyms for a word. As for concise writing, I realized I am not the best when it comes to expressing my thoughts in a concise manner. For an idea that could be expressed within a few words, I instead write three sentences to explain. I tend to concentrate on the details rather than the main point. Lastly, I need to increase the variety of writing techniques I use. Instead of using just similes or lengthy sentences, I should attempt to communicate my ideas using magic threes, metaphors, or short sentences.
The main strengths I have as a writer are organization and voice. When reading my essays and informative writing, my ideas are usually positioned well and in order. Every paragraph has its own topic, and the main points are usually summarized in the introduction and conclusion. There is a clear introduction, properly ordered body paragraphs, and a final conclusion. Furthermore, when I write essays such as the descriptive essay or during quick writes, there is an established voice for every piece of writing. It may be anger, frustration, or awe. Each piece has a unique atmosphere to it, and readers are able to identify my emotions through my writing.
4. What have you done to develop your strengths and minimize your weaknesses as a writer? How successful do you feel you have been? Explain.
To minimize my weaknesses as a writer, I have tried to develop a desire to read more books and articles for exposure to additional writing techniques and vocabulary used by multiple authors. This would hopefully increase the variety of techniques and word choice I use in my writing. However, I haven’t been too successful in my attempt to develop an interest in reading. As much as I want to improve my writing, I can’t find the motivation to read when not required to. As a result, I am not working towards my goal of exposing myself to new methods of writing and diction.
To continue to develop my strengths in writing, I have been actively seeking for more writing prompts and essay topics to write about. When writing informative and research-based essays, I am practicing the organization aspect of my writing. When writing about topics requiring creativity or personal experience, I am continually developing my skill of adding a voice to my writing. For every non-informative nor formal writing prompt, I try to add emotional diction to my writing. As a result, I am improving my ability to add a unique voice when writing. College writing has been a great platform for me to discover new writing prompts and essay topics, which allows me to develop my strengths as a writer.
5. What kind of future career or field of study are you considering? What kinds of writing might be important in this career or field? Explain, giving specific examples.
As of now, my ideal field of study would be related to medical studies and dentistry. For this field, SAT essays and descriptive essays may be equipped. An SAT formatted essay requires an analysis of articles provided by Collegeboard, which tends to be informative. It helps us develop our skill of breaking down information and writing techniques used in articles. When studying in the medical field, students are always researching informative content and breaking down information on articles related to medical studies. The SAT essay helps students learn to break down informative articles and have an easier grasp of the content within the writing. As for descriptive essays, doctors and nurses are occasionally required to create a journal of their experience or their patient’s experience. A descriptive essay allows for writers to express the emotions or passions of the writer or an individual. For example, a doctor may be required to write a report on the experiences and feedback received from a patient. To accurately depict the subject’s thoughts and perspective, the doctor should write a descriptive essay, allowing the reader to identify the emotions and thoughts of the patient.
6. What advice would you offer the College Writing teachers as they plan this unit for next year? What might be some additional pieces of writing to add and why? How was the timing and pacing? Did you receive enough feedback? Did you receive enough instruction and input so you knew how to do each assignment? You can make specific comments about specific assignments here. What did you like or not like and why? What would make this unit more student-friendly, provide more learning, or make it more interesting? Explain.
For next year, it may be helpful for the College Writing teacher to go through step by step on how to write evaluation essays such as the SAT essay prompts. The SAT essay focuses heavily on the writing techniques of an author, thus it would be helpful for students to review over the writing techniques available or used. I disliked this assignment mainly because I was not confident in my knowledge of writing styles, thus making this assignment more difficult than it is. An interesting piece of writing to add for next year may be a creative song or poem. This way, students may express their thoughts and ideas in a creative and amusing manner. This may be an opportunity for students who dislike and lack skills in writing long essays to clearly express their opinions. For this class, I really liked the way students are somewhat forced to read a novel of book of their choice. Many students including myself would not set time aside to read a fictional or informational novel, thus making reading a requirement motivates students to develop a reading habit.
Mok, Ho Lam Edwin Writing Block 