In the process of studying the courses COMM 101 & 102, I went through the analysis of many texts by successful authors and researchers. Analyzing, I identified elements that supported or supplemented my thesis in each of the works. Through study and analysis, I also learned how to structure my thoughts in my work. Additionally, I learned how to use research, argue my position, take into account the audience for which I am writing, and make the text appropriately attractive.
In almost every piece of work during the course, I have gone through an analysis of the language, the structure of the plot and dialogue, and other elements that various authors use. For example, in my essay on literary works, I refer to “But what is most striking in the book, Pride and Prejudice, is the expression of deep topics through words”. Elements like this make reading interesting and exciting for the reader. This taught me how to conduct a full-fledged analysis of the text and identify the necessary details.
The same is done in my works since the awareness of the audience is taken into account. Each paper follows the style of a given structure and it is assumed that readers in the form of peer students and teachers expect a qualitative and understandable development of each topic. Most of the course papers begin with an introduction and a thesis, followed by an argumentation, including citations, and a conclusion.
While writing skills are cumulative, however, a third-party critical review is also important, as it allows me to highlight aspects that are areas for improvement. My research essay on the impact of children with autism on life in the family has been divided into two parts. First, I wrote the first draft, on which I received comments. This allowed me to adapt the first and second parts according to the feedback received and thus improve my work. Getting input from people who have different views on writing or are seeing work for the first time allows me to discover new possibilities for my papers.
Additionally, the phased writing of the works allowed me to make an additional independent review. The review became a tool for me to notice features that I had not seen before. For example, sometimes, looking through my work, I began to notice that the same idea can be formulated differently so that it is more understandable and accessible to the reader. Moreover, after writing other works and going back to my past, I notice that I could potentially improve them as my skills and knowledge have grown.
Books and works of other authors are inexhaustible sources of new knowledge. The role of information flow in our lives is difficult to overestimate. Books enrich our inner world, allowing us to plunge into different eras. From books, we learn about the fate of different people, learn something from someone else’s experience, and sometimes get inspired for new achievements. Moreover, in our time – the time of high technology, we can instantly receive any information that interests us using the Internet without making any effort. This allows me to expand my horizons, learn more information, and find useful resources for my research or creative work.
In today’s world, fast and ever-changing, each person has to adapt to this frantic rhythm set by constant development. Technologies do not stand still either and simplify the life of a person making it possible to do or find something in the shortest time. At the same time, the information flow is vast, and to find something rather specific it is important to have a structured approach to filtering. For example, I relied on several factors to find and compile information for my research on censorship and free speech. The studies that were used as an information base had to be written within the last five years. This made it possible to leave only those works that are close to relevance or fully relevant at the current time.
Educational and scientific literature is the basis of information support in the learning process. Through this kind of literature, we draw knowledge about a particular subject of study, so it serves as a learning tool. After the relevant studies were found, I carried out additional filtering. Only scholarly studies, written in an academic style, remained. This approach allowed us to maintain the quality of the applied references at the proper level. To search for texts, I used several keywords relevant to the topic, which got me acquainted with a full variation of quantitative and qualitative works on the topic.
There are fewer and fewer literate people in the modern world. Now people communicate in a way that suits them, in most cases using non-literary abbreviations and grammatical errors. That is why knowing the importance of literacy in human life is extremely relevant today. Books and research papers make me more orthographically and lexically informed when I study. Reading them, I learn new words and remember how they are written, how semantic turns, and topic-to-topic transitions. For me, it has become a resource of inspiration to improve my grammar and vocabulary. I began to read and improve my work using the learned words and writing approaches. Moreover, I carried out an additional check for grammatical errors in each of the written works.
I started my semester of COMM 101 & 102 with the idea that I was well-read and educated enough to cover most topics without using additional sources. However, as I got closer to writing, I realized that I still had many aspects that needed hard work. One of the useful findings was the types of research and their application, such as online surveys as a qualitative research tool (Braun et al., 2021). In addition, at the very beginning, it was difficult for me to structure my work for the understanding of potential readers. By the end of the semester, I can say with confidence that I have learned to write papers with the target audience of readers in mind, not based only on my vision.
In conclusion, at the end of the semester, I highlight several other strengths and weaknesses in my writing and information processing skills. As strengths, I see that now I can structure my thoughts, and make texts fascinating, informative, lexically, grammatically, and meaningfully filled. At the same time, my weak side is working with quantitative studies, as I feel that to fully understand such studies and their results, I need more study, which I plan to work on. The COMM 101 & 102 course allowed me to develop such important skills for the modern world as studying and filtering information, as well as writing.
Reference
Braun, V., Clarke, V., Boulton, E., Davey, L., & McEvoy, C. (2021). The online survey as a qualitative research tool. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 24(6), 641-654. Web.