Abdullah Alsinafi

ENGL 150
Assignment #6
Instructor Samantha
May 1st, 2016
Semester Reflection
Improvement is a slow, gradual process. Since the beginning of the course, I have slowly
tempered and developed my writing processes. At the start, I learned about important writing
concepts, such as taking the audience into account. Later on, I received instruction on how to
effectively plan, revise and edit my work. Now, I intend to show the results of these efforts and
my development as a communicator.
My improvement as a communicator began early on in the course. After learning of the
key concept of taking the audience into account as I write, I began to consider my audiences
point of view and write specifically with them in mind. Depending on my audience, I adjust both
my words of choice and my method of communication. For example, should my audience be
children, I would avoid longer explanations because they may not be able to hold the audiences
attention. Instead, I would make use of pictures and analogies so that I would effectively try to
communicate more through visuals than through writing. This key concept of keeping the
audience in mind ties in well with the idea generation process, in which I begin by asking myself
what I want to achieve in my writing and who my audience are. Then, I consider how to achieve
my goal and what my arguments are. Afterwards, I try to think of a list of counter arguments.
Finally, I organize my ideas so that the progression is logical and persuasive. This process has
been invaluable in my improvement as a communicator.

My revision and editing skills have improved considerably too. Before taking the course,
my revision process consisted only of glancing over the sentences and fixing grammar and
disorganization, basically being a glorified editing process. However, I now try to condense my
writing in order to keep the ideas clear and concise. For example, I now look into every sentence
in depth and ask myself whether I could state my topic, example and argument in a more
persuasive and constructive way. In addition, Ive also incorporated others into my revision
process. I now ask specifically about certain subjects, such as organization and word choice in
order to receive detailed criticism that may help improve my writing. As for my editing process, I
use it to sort out awkward grammar mistakes that may have dodged my radar as a non-native
English speaker. The most common mistakes I have trouble with involve word order. For
instance, while writing this current paragraph, I was contemplating whether consisted only of
or only consisted of was correct. Though troublesome, I am making progress on the issue as I
naturally seem to improve the more I write.
In general, most of my writing habits have changed since the beginning of the semester.
Namely, I now try to keep my sentences on point, and generally dont use commas as much as I
used to. I also actively try to avoid the passive voice, as well as the use of weasel words such
as maybe or perhaps, which results in my style seeming blunter than before. Im quite happy
with these changes because they are directly responsible to eliminating the vagueness that
plagued my older writing. Though there are still some habits that I havent gotten rid of. I remain
a fan of using explanations to clarify possible misconceptions or misinterpretations of my
writing, which allows me to strengthen my arguments and persuade my audience more
effectively, though it comes at the cost of my writing seeming boring to read.

I also learned of my strengths in various methods of communication. In one of the

assignments, I created a brochure and learned of my strength in visual communication. With
thought put into put into the background, font, positioning of the various writing and pictures, the
result was an effective design scheme that facilitated interest in the topic and was pleasant to
look at. In another assignment, I worked with a small group of 3 to design a PowerPoint
presentation on the Live Green! Organization at ISU. We had to organize discussions and
meetups through the use of e-mail and instant messaging, which was a great way to get to know
others from an international students perspective. We also had to cooperate on the design of the
presentation itself, which resulted in all of us chipping into the process and creating a meld of
styles. In the end, I discovered I was very good at small group discussions and at ethically
making use of information on the internet.
Overall, I grew a lot as a communicator. I can write higher quality pieces, communicate
and take different audiences into account, plan more efficiently, revise my work more
productively and be able to edit my writing more thoroughly. I also adjusted my writing habits
and identified my talents in communication, all of which result in my development as a
communicator.