I’ve learned a great deal of information this past semester
in Writing 140, whether it’s about research, collaboration, or even about
myself. Research is something that is necessary for almost any paper because
there is often going to be background information that helps to strengthen
arguments and make conclusions that emphasize the thesis of the paper. Along
with that, research isn’t incredibly challenging, which makes it more appealing
to both the writer, who gets to learn more about the topic in question, and the
reader, who finds the arguments made to be more legitimate if sources can be
cited. I’ve learned that collaboration with others is important in writing
because ideas can spring up from that discussion that one member might not have
been able to think of themselves previously. This sort of discussion is also
useful in other fields, even engineering, where new ideas are necessary in
order to solve problems that exist in the world today.
This class has confirmed my suspicion that practicing can
help to develop skills, even if they seem to be nearly impossible to improve. I
felt like I wasn’t ever going to improve my writing skills because I didn’t
have the natural talent to write something that other people would want to read
or enjoy reading, but over this semester, I’ve found that my writing has been
more appealing to read and writing has become more interesting, despite how challenging
it can be.
