In the course of these past few months, I have done many assignments. These include a source-based essay, a composition in two genres, an inquiry-based essay, and a research proposal. 

Over the semester, my writing has improved greatly. In a matter of a few months, I learned how to write multiple-page essays that relate to my topic, while also locating and utilizing different sources. Before I came to CCNY, I was not efficient in writing essays and finding sources. High school essays would usually be about my stance and/or opinion on a certain topic. After taking this course, I believe that I am proficient in writing research essays. The assignment that I remember the most about is “questions for rhetorical analysis”. For this assignment, I was given an article where I had to answer whether the author was credible or not and to define the genre of the composition. I remember struggling to find out what the genre was. However, I am now able to assess different rhetorical situations, as shown in my composition in two genres project.

For my source-based essay, I wrote about whether climate change is beneficial or harmful for the environment. After extensive research, I came to the conclusion that climate change is generally bad for the environment, as you might have guessed. Reading a wide variety of academic sources allowed me to hone my skills on how to analyze and research a wide variety of rhetorical genres. This allowed me to further study the sources I selected and incorporate the information I discovered into my essay. For example, I learned that climate change causes water to evaporate faster, causing places close to the equator to dry up. To provide proof about this, I cited a sentence explaining that climate change is causing droughts in Kenya. In the end, I learned how to explore and analyze a variety of genres, and rhetorical situations. This is an important skill for me to possess because it will help me find the information I need for later assignments and research. 

In my inquiry-based essay, I asked the question “Does social media negatively or positively affect college students’ ability to learn.”? To help me find the answer to this question, I used my research proposal as a rough draft. In my proposal, I explained what question I was going to answer in the final draft of the essay, how it was going to be formed, and what sources will be used to support my conclusions. In order to find sources for my research proposal, I searched for scholarly articles that related to my topic, in the CCNY databases. This enabled me to write my essay while relying on sources that agreed with me.

I used social media as a platform to convey my message to a bigger audience, in my composition in two genres. By uploading my view, to social media, I was able to reach a larger platform. In the essay, I conveyed the message that climate change is detrimental to the environment.