First Year Seminar has taught me a new way of effectively expressing my ideas through argumentative writing. My argumentative skills were limited coming into the class but through eight different response papers on a multitude of different topics and two essays, I feel that I have effectively learned how to argue a claim. At the beginning of the course, my biggest weakness was finding evidence to support my claims and my response paper grades reflected this. In my second response paper on how Plato uses justice to teach the reader about Socratic dialogue, I listed many examples that ended up becoming a list of observations rather than points of analysis. The next major step I had to make was to learn how to interpret evidence that would help further my argument while also remaining faithful to the text. I struggled with this greatly in my third response paper and my first essay. However, after speaking with Dr. Watts about my first essay I was able to see where my use of evidence was both strong and faithful to the text and where it fell short in both instances. I saw vast improvement in this area of writing and this could be noted in my next four response papers as well as my second essay. At the conclusion of my sixth response paper, I mention how the natural world and civilized world can be distinguished through the excess that categorizes civil man, and used a quote that supported that claim (RP 6, page 3). Throughout the duration of the course, I was able to learn from some of the weaknesses of my argumentative pieces of writing, and turn those weaknesses into strengths.
A major part of the writing process is constantly reading your work and critiquing it to the point that it becomes second nature to build strong evidence around a central claim. Having to visit a writing consultant was a completely new experience to me. I had grown accustomed to completing an assignment on my own and submitting my first draft. However, meetings with my writing consultant were crucial to helping me find mistakes in mechanics, structure, and analysis. My writing consultant made me realize that the only way I could produce an exceptional piece of writing was to read over my work once it was completed and go line by line to make sure that my writing remained focused on my central claim. My small group was also a significant part of the writing process because the group was able to assist each other by brainstorming together and deepening one another’s ideas. Lastly, in class workshops provided an excellent place to hear my classmates’ thoughts and drafts of their essays. The workshop allowed for peer review that helped us expand upon our claims and points of analysis. Workshops on the Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace taught me important lessons of concision and various other means of effective argumentative writing. Learning the tedious aspects of the writing process, mechanics and style were all together foreign to me at first but now are an essential part of creating a compelling piece of argumentative writing.
It is crucial to note how critical reading and thinking are related to argumentative writing. Evidence and analysis of that evidence lie at the core of a strong argument. The only way to get compelling evidence and analysis of that evidence is to read a text critically. In reading a text critically, one is able to understand a deeper meaning of that text and in turn create a better analysis of evidence. There were many difficult readings throughout the semester such as the Republic, Utopia, Discourse on the Origins of Inequality, and numerous exhibit sources. Because these readings were all difficult, they forced me to read the text very carefully. In explicating texts, I was able to interpret the meanings of quotes solely from what the text was saying. Instead of taking quotes out of context, I tried to understand the meaning of what the key words in the sentence were. In understanding what the key words of a piece were, I was able to gain a greater sense of what the evidence meant as a whole. I effectively did this in my seventh response paper when speaking about how the Amish aid one another (RP 7, page1, para 2). Learning how to explicate a text was one of the most effective ways of teaching me how to evaluate evidence and allowed me to remain faithful to the text.
When conducting research on the Amish, I had to come up with a research question while reading many different sources. I originally begin with a very broad question: How is the Amish community utopian? I later realized after reading an exhibit source on the community that I would need a much more specific question. Along with my exhibit sources I also had to read multiple scholarly sources, which were particularly difficult to read. Aside from having more complex vocabulary, I had to read these sources much more carefully in order to figure out what the authors were trying to accomplish. I believe that the independent research project was one of the more helpful assignments regarding critical reading and thinking because it forced me to use all the skills that I had developed over the course of the semester and use them to conduct valuable research. Once I began to see the connections between sources, it became much easier to settle on one research question. After developing my final research question I had to critically think about how each source answered my question or further pushed me towards answering my question. The annotated bibliography was significant in helping me think critically of my sources and helped me tie them all together.
Oral communication has always been a particular area of difficulty for me. However, knowing that FYS would be a discussion intensive class, I knew I was going to have to either eliminate or minimize my fear of public speaking. The first few weeks were particularly difficult for me because I constantly wanted to make sure that everything I said was vocalized as eloquently as possible. I then realized that FYS could not simply be a class that I could try to hide in the back in and that I was going to need to be an active participant in the class. Our first oral presentation on October 8th, 2015 was an informal discussion on my small group’s exhibit source and how it compared to More’s Utopia. Even though I knew the presentation was informal, my nerves still remained very high. Although my group mates did not say anything, I felt as if I could have brought more to that presentation or participated more. I noticed after that presentation that it was much easier for me to communicate my thoughts through writing than it was for me to communicate orally and that the only way I could improve upon this was through practice.
Throughout the course of the semester I became more comfortable with my classmates and this helped shed some of my nerves when speaking in class. The atmosphere of FYS was very inviting and accepting of everyone’s thoughts. Once I learned how to evaluate evidence and communicate that evidence effectively, it was no longer as nerve wracking to speak in class. Also, small exercises such as the activity where each person was given 3 index cards that he/or she had to use by the end of class forced people out of their comfort zones. That small exercise gave me the small nudge that I needed to participate in class discussions, whether it was bringing up an idea or moving someone else’s idea along. Our independent research project, which included a final presentation, was probably one of the most difficult tasks I had to do in FYS. In this case the difficulty of this assignment had nothing to do with the amount of work involved but rather with knowing I would have to stand up in front of the class and articulate my findings for five to seven minutes. I realized that even though I was comfortable with my classmates, I still needed to prepare for this presentation. This presentation gave me my first opportunity to visit the speech center, which turned out to be an incredible resource to me. Not only did I receive feedback on my presentation, but I also got to see myself present on video afterwards. FYS provided me with an opportunity to visit the speech center, which proved to be one of the most rewarding aspects of the semester.
Through learning the writing process of argumentative writing, the use of critical reading and thinking when evaluating evidence, and how to effectively communicate orally, FYS transformed me into a more well rounded student. Although none of these areas were of particular strengths to me when I began the course, I feel that I can perform all of these skills at a satisfactory if not exceptional level. The numerous response papers focused on providing a claim that needed concrete evidence to support it helped my writing significantly. The various types of readings that were assigned over the course of the semester along with the independent research project were crucial in helping me learn how to critically read and think. Lastly, the in-class discussions and multiple presentations provided me with an opportunity to not only make me more familiar with speaking to a group of people but also in helping me become a more effective communicator. Overall, FYS assisted me in transitioning away from the environment of high school writing and helped me adapt to the new standards of collegiate writing, reading, and oral communication.