Mymona Tasnim

The City College of New York

Professor Brenna Crowe 

FIQWS 10111

December 12th, 2022

Final Self Assessment Paper

One of the courses that I enjoyed the most throughout the whole semester was FIQWS 10111. One of the main reasons is that our professor was extremely helpful and understanding. Whenever I needed any help, she was always there for me. Sometimes I also missed the due dates because of my work life but she always understood my problems. 

The very first major assignment of the course was to write our own language story. The whole phase was really fun and enjoyable. I could travel in the past and think about my struggles. Even if I read my language story a million times, it will never be enough. After a few years when I will read this writing of mine, I will be able to time travel. I will be able to cherish those moments. The presentations I make always make me emotional. Those pictures really make me happy and bring back a lot of memories.

I actually learnt a lot of things throughout this course. I really loved reading the article by Amy Tan. Without any doubt, I could relate to him. I even chose her article for a rhetorical analysis essay. In that analysis essay I said, “In spite of being such a successful writer, Tan writes “Mother Tongue” in a really informal tone. She starts her essay saying, “I am not a scholar of English or literature. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country or others. I am a writer. Through these sentences, Tan reassured the audience that she really loves writing which actually makes her credible to write such an essay. These sentences really created a connection between the readers. The readers became more interested to know what she was trying to convey. If she had started her essay with her accomplishments, the viewers would never understand her life struggles. On the contrary, she started her essay saying that she is not a scholar of English which eases the audience.” Seeing these actually makes me happy because I can clearly see how my writings have improved over time.

Phase three of the course was really intimidating for me. There were a lot of topics which were completely new to me. I had to think of how to write a research paper. However, both our professors made our life so much easier. The librarian helped me a lot. Due to those two classes in the library, I learnt how to look for sources and how to use those sources to write a good research paper. Due to this phase, I learnt a lot of new things. I know how to analyze the articles better. Analyzing articles is really important to be a good writer.I also learnt a few new words. One of those is meta commentary. I had no idea what it was or how to write it. I did not take this course. Another thing I learnt from this course is how to cite quotes and learnt about APA citation. All these things will help me in future writings as well. Writing a research paper was actually a big opportunity for me. At first I was scared. I had no idea of where to start and how to conduct my whole research process. One of the hardest parts of the paper was finding good sources. These sources are really important to support the claims we are making. Some of the sources I chose at first were not good enough to support my claim. That’s why I had to change the sources. 

One thing I would like to mention is, I really loved writing the little journals. These little activities really helped me to take care of myself. There was one journal about taking a walk. In that journal I wrote, “I went to Roosevelt Island just to take a walk. I don’t know what happened to me but I was really fighting with myself that day. My emotions seemed like a rollercoaster. I felt anxious for no reason. Taking a walk by the Hudson river really calmed my mind. It was a little cold but still the breeze was breathtaking. I never felt so calmed and relaxed before.” This activity really made me happy and gave me peace. There was another journal about time travel where I wrote, “If I had the chance to time travel outside of 2022, I would go back in 2020 and delete some people from my life. The people whom I trusted the most, hurted me the most. I would not want such people in my life. Also, I made a few mistakes in those two years. Thus, by going back to the past I can rectify my mistakes.” I wrote a few other journal entries about listening to people talking about random people, the best compliment I ever received, and about genre. Writing those little entries really improved my writing skills. 

I think that I have achieved almost all the outcomes of the course. One of the  most important outcomes I would say I have achieved is, “Locate research sources (including  academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias.” I had no idea about how to use the archives of the library before I started writing research paper on genetic discrimination. Another important outcome of the course is, “Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing.” There were many assignments where I had the chance to revise and edit my writings. This really helped me be a good writer. 

I would not say that I gave my hundred percent in the course. I could have done much better. I think I could have been more attentive in all the classes. Often, I went to her class late due to different reasons, i.e transportation delays. I used to feel really tired to read those different articles for answering the questions of the discussion boards but those actually helped me a lot. Without any doubt I would say that answering those questions have certainly helped me to improve my reading and writing skills. 

I am forever grateful for taking this course. If I am asked if I want to take the course again, I would say yes. I would like to take this course as many times as I can. Honestly speaking, this is the course that I enjoyed the most during the fall semester. Our professor was really helpful and she always helped me with everything I needed. Taking this course really improved my English skills.