Good Example Of Self Evaluation Paper Essay

It is hard to evaluate yourself when you enjoy the class and have a feeling of self-accomplishment at the end of it. I believe I deserve B+ grade because I don’t think my performance is superior. According to definition grade B+ shows “clearly above average performance with knowledge of principles and facts generally complete and with no serious deficiencies.” This matter of this subject was new for me, so I tried to incorporate the principles of essay writing in my response papers. Having tried hard, I believe I have become a better at all aspects of writing papers, especially argumentative essays. I always thought that it would be hard to express my opinions effectively and at the same time to elaborate on the claims of the opposing sides in order to refute them. However, I am satisfied with my accomplishment especially because I learned the art of critical thinking.
My greatest achievement is that I understood how to properly make a thesis statement that can be arguable and which would develop discussion. I prefer to state it at the beginning of the essay, in my introduction, and then to write clear and concise arguments, supported with quotations and evidence in the main body of the essay. In the end I support my position once again and that makes my conclusion. In my essay about Malik, I began the paper by writing: “I strongly disagree with the main theme of the Malik’s essay: languages with a small amount of their speakers or with no speakers at all should die.” I stuck with this statement throughout the whole paper. I refuted Malik’s claims by saying that he contradicted himself. He said that “even a language of a few hundred people give them the opportunity to communicate between each other.” My argument was that this claim supports the statement that “even a dying language serves as a tool of communication.”. That was not my only argument, as I had three more: the example of Latin language, the knowledge carried by the speakers and the specific culture that each language contains. The more arguments one has in their paper, the better the essay will be. In the end I concluded with restatement of my thesis and summarizing the main points of my argument.
Second, I have learned about the structure of writing essays. I was good at paragraphing and positioning. I also had a proper use of quotations. They were effective as I used the statements that were most important. I tried to improve my grammar, punctuation and spelling and I am still working on it. Language is a living thing, so there is always room for improvement. In that way, I was inspired by Malcolm X and his Mastery of the English Language. Not only this course, but also the topics of the essays made me a better thinker. Mastering of formal English is the best way to express your opinion and present it to the masses. When one is armed with knowledge, there is nothing that can hurt them.
Another skill that I acquired is reading with comprehension. That is called critical reading. In this process I have to take a stand and to understand the opposing side. At this point a student is developing rhetorical devices and argumentative techniques. After the careful critical reading, which involves taking notes, as ideas comes spontaneously and can be forgotten afterwards, one has to analyze the text and demonstrate it using a proper structure. With constant practice, writing skills are perfected. Taking the other side and their counterarguments into consideration makes students develop their unique voice, not only to take one side or the other.
Organizing one’s thought is not easy for the beginners. That is why I struggled at first, but then learned about the importance of a good structure. My essays begin with an arguable thesis statement, where I share my opinion. Then, I move on to logical argumentation with strong textual support. In the main body I use as many arguments as possible because that supports my main thesis. It can be arguable and therefore I mention the counterarguments in order to explain why I disagree with them. The example of that is: “Malcolm X did not betray his people by learning and using “white” English.” That is also a thesis statement, which I was defending throughout the main body and in the conclusion.
The shortcoming of this essay was that I didn’t use many counterarguments. I concentrated more on explaining why Malcolm was an admirable and significant person.
My strong feature was good argumentation. One example is: “Words and language became his weapon, and he was not going to rely on slang, or a limited vocabulary. He was going to become the best and most eloquent speaker and writer, because he was serious about what he was saying.”
I am good at writing clear and concise conclusions. In my essays I restated my thesis statement and therefore I consider it my strength.
Even though I wrote from my point of view I was not biased. All of my points were supported by evidence and in-text citation. That is important for academic writing and I am becoming better at that all the time.
I had some grammar errors, but not serious. My sentences were well-written and I used transitions. An example of that is “As an autodidact, learning formal English was a natural result of his education, and necessary to reach a wider audience and spread the word about his beliefs.”
I made a good use of descriptive words. A good example of that is: “He had a passionate message to share” A description of a positive emotion can lead to the reader’s clearer comprehension of the written text. It comes alive in a way in someone’s imagination.
Another skill that I acquired is appropriate research. It came along with critical reading. After making a thesis statement, I had to provide explanations and reasons, as well as evidence to support my side of the argument, my claims. Organization of my essays was something that I worked on throughout the whole course English 110. I am constantly improving my grammar and trying to learn new words and synonyms, so that my vocabulary would be richer. That helps the essay seem more persuasive and give it a formal tone. I also used sources and provided good quotations.
I appreciate the fact that I had the chance to show my critical thinking skills and to express my own opinion. It is necessary for any profession because it provokes debates and debates question the old theories, inspiring the new, more elaborate ones.
What I understood is that the most important thing to do when writing an essay is good research to that one can make an arguable thesis statement. It is the foundation upon which the whole argument is based on. After stating a good thesis, which should be clearly defined and arguable, responding to the prompt, one can move on to elaborating on that. It is important to gather pros and cons for each argument, so that there can be no surprises. The key is to be well prepared.