Tanha Rani

Professor Julia Brown

Writing for Engineering 21007

17^th December 2021

Self-Assessment

                Throughout this semester I was able to grow as a writer and acquire skills that will help me improve my writing in the future. It is clear that I was able to learn how to formulate and articulate a stance through my writing because my arguments are clear and concise. This can be seen in the Engineering Proposal final draft when I stated that “Water is an essential commodity for human beings. Water is life, and the lack of it would lead to catastrophic effects that would be irreversible.” This is demonstrating my argument that helping to provide water access to rural India is a valid concern, because water is essential for the survival of humanity. By presenting this strong stance, I was able to strengthen our group proposal because lack of water was proven to be an essential component needed for survival. Thus, I was able to articulate an argument in my writing through the Engineering Proposal.

              Additionally, my drafting process has improved in terms of organization and outlining which can be seen in the improvements I have made from one of my early drafts, the Lab Report draft and then my most recent draft for the Engineering Proposal. My recent draft is more put together, has better grammar, structure, and required less editing than my previous draft. For example, in my previous draft I was missing proper resources that I used for my writing, but I was able to improve this in my Engineering Proposal rough draft. The Lab Report rough draft was also not descriptive enough to provide the necessary information to the audience about the experiment, however, in my Engineering Proposal rough draft, my group and I were very detailed and thorough with our work. Therefore, my drafting, revising, and editing skills have improved due to there being significant improvements in my Engineering Proposal draft that cannot be seen in the Lab Report rough draft.

             Through doing peer reviews and receiving peer reviews, I was able to develop and engage in the collaboration and social portions of writing processes since my peers and I were collaboratively giving feedback on our rough drafts that would assist us in making improvements and correcting any errors. This can be witnessed in the Peer Review worksheet that I created for a peer during the Lab Report rough draft assignment and all the helpful feedback that shows collaboration and revision. It is refreshing getting feedback from a peer, and I enjoyed the assignment very much because my peers had many valuable comments about my work and provided helpful suggestions that made my final draft better. To reiterate, through the participation in peer reviews, I was able to develop and engage collaboratively and socially with my peers and assist them in the writing process.

               In addition, I was able to use various resources and online databases to collect sources appropriate for all my writing projects such as the Engineering Proposal, and this can be seen in the Potential Sources my group and I provided for the Engineering Proposal because it demonstrates that we researched and looked for academic and scholarly resources that helped us with our final proposal. The sources were all very detailed and provided the necessary background information regarding the desalination process of salt water to create clean water. These sources were what strengthened our proposal. Therefore, through the process of navigating the internet and collecting valuable sources for our Engineering Proposal, my group and I were able to use multiple resources and online databases to find the necessary sources to incorporate in our writing project.

                 All in all, this semester, I was able to focus on improving my writing in terms of organization, drafting/revisions, and catering to a broader audience. Formulating and articulating an argument through my writing, improved drafting, collaborating, revising, and engaging in the collaborative and social sections of writing processes, as well as using various resources and online databases to collect sources appropriate for all my writing projects are the learning outcomes I have successfully achieved. Overall, the semester proved to be a success due to all my newly developed writing skills, and the process was enjoyable and engaging!