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Block, Joshua

Dr. Colombo

UWRT 1104

13 March 2017

Midterm Reflection

Upon completing the first half of the semester in UWRT, there are many things Ive

learned about myself as a critical thinker, reader, and writer. With the considerable amounts of

assignments, readings, activities, and discussions that have taken place in the class, I have

learned much about social interaction, my peers various opinions on current events/issues, and

the way I specifically complete my work in this class. Although it is noticeable that I have

improved as a writer since being in this class, there are still numerous ways that I can improve

both the quality of my work, and my work ethic. I have presented both my strengths, and my

weaknesses in class so far. Some strengths may include my impressive vocabulary, or my

extroversion presented in my class participation. Some weaknesses may include my tendency to

overthink on many of the assignments I am assigned, or my occasional misuse of grammar or

citations. The first half of the semester in UWRT has taught me about myself, and I plan on

continuing to improve my skills as a student throughout the remainder of the course.

The assignments Ive completing in the course so far (including essays, studios, journals,

discussions, reflections, and responses) have made me realize how I think and how I work. I

have noticed that I approach all of my assignments in a strictly logistical manner. I place

emphasis upon factual information over opinionated statements, I am rather satisfactory at

writing without bias, and I tend to favor assignments with clear, set instructions on what to write

about rather than assignments that provide considerable amounts of freedom on what to write
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about. In my argumentative writing, I always make effort to base my arguments around factual

information rather than my personal opinions. Because of this, I am usually able to construct

pieces of writing that are void of bias. I prefer assignments that give clear instructions of what to

write about because I tend to overthink many attributes of my work when I am given free reign

on what to write. This generally results in me exuding unnecessary amounts of energy, and

spending unnecessary amounts of time doing work. I have also noticed that I tend to write and

think as if with momentum. Once I formulate an idea, I can begin building off of that idea to

formulate numerous new ideas. A prominent example of this would be Studio V: Genre Analysis.

In this studio, I found myself having difficulties deciding what to discuss in two different Genres.

Because of this, I began brainstorming and came up with a base idea of politics, which I later

expanded on and formulated the idea of discussing the recent UC Berkeley riots.

As I progress through this course, my skills as a reader, a writer, and simple college

student continually grow and develop. One of my strengths as a writer is my persuasive

argumentative writing. Although little of our focus in class so far has been directed towards

argumentative writing, UWRT has provided multiple instances that have allowed my

argumentative skills for improve, as seen in the various discussions in class and on canvas. The

in-class discussions that take place in UWRT allow me to present my extraversion and assert my

various viewpoints. These various in-class discussions have improved my argumentative skills

and will aid me in the upcoming argumentative assignments. In-class discussions have also given

me the opportunity to discover the varying opinions of my peers on topics ranging from sports

and entertainment to politics and current events/issues. My ability to work cohesively with others

can be considered another strength that I have presented in class. I solved the class assignment

that we were given to discover which student was the murderer of the high school teacher rather
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quickly. Due to my ability to work well with my classmates, I was able to quickly discover who

the murderer was through the process of elimination. A weakness that I have presented in class

so far would be my tendency to overthink and second-guess myself when completing an

assignment. For example, the Hyperlinked F.A.Q. assignment took me much more time than was

necessary for me to get my points across, however I over thought and began to second guess my

work. This resulted in me spending unnecessary amounts of time and effort, while also most

likely decreasing the quality of my work.

UWRT has taught me much about my thinking, and my working process. I look forward

to the rest of the semester, where I will continue to strive towards effective writing and class

participation. In this upcoming second half, I will attempt to shorten my number of weaknesses

while increasing my strengths. A personal goal of mine is to stop overthinking my writing, and

think in a more fluid manner that would allow me to write in a more fluid way. One way to

achieve this is work with others more often to acquire multiple points of view on my work rather

than me reading over my own work repeatedly. Altogether, UWRT as a whole has been and will

continue to be a learning experience for me and I look forward to the advantages it will give me

in life after college.