Writing. Writing. Writing

Of all of our somewhat tedious assignments in this class including blogging, responding, group work, discussion boards, essay writing, pear draft reviews, critically thinking assignments and more, I have been tired and stressed out to the point of no return, but I can truly say that my writing has greatly improved. I know that I have benefited most from the essays assigned to us in the EL Critically Thinking Book. Although I must admit that sometimes they are a drag, reading the essays have made me a better writer and a more critical thinker. The essays in the book are so diverse and they have opened my mind to new interesting subjects. By reading all the essays, I was exposed to a variety of authors and their different styles, voice, and form. I have also expanded my knowledge of a lot of subjects and I have more ideas on what to write about. Furthermore blogging has helped improve my writing tremendously. Having an actual written assignment due every week has been great. Not only do I get to express my ideas, but I also get to practice my writing, and we all know that practice makes perfect. I believe a person can never get enough practice no matter how talented he or she may be, so being forced to constantly write has come along with some great improvements. Blogging has also been helpful for me because for the most part I have had the choice to write about subjects that I am truly interested in. That way I did not get the dreaded writers block and I rarely ran out of ideas. The reader’s discussion forum has been yet another tool that has helped me become a better writer in terms of critically thinking. For me, the hardest part of the Readers Forum is not answering the previous question, but thinking of a question to ask. Asking questions in that forum makes me think hard and critically. I truly believe that practicing this type of critical questioning helped improve my writing and critical thinking. Peer draft review is the ultimate tool that has helped to improve my writing. For one, having my writing analyzed and critiqued by my peers is tremendously helpful. Seeing others opinions about my writings and having things that I overlooked fixed is great. But also reviewing my classmates writing has been very helpful to me. By looking over their papers I can also see where I may have gone wrong in my papers and I also get to see how others express themselves. All in all, even though the assignments we have in this class have come in loads, I have considerably helped me improve my writing skills.