Being in, FIQWIS 10108 gave me a different understanding of literature and an introduction to college English Composition courses. I learned many new writing techniques throughout this course as well as studying a new subject. This course required multiple essays that pushed us beyond summarizing to focus on being analytical. We were tested on our analysis of the psychoanalytic concepts made by Sigmund Freud, an Austrian Neurologist. Regarding Freud’s psychoanalytic concepts we had to refer to other readings and connect it Freud’s concepts. 

      The beginning of the course, I was very confused and had several questions. The first essay was a literacy narrative which required a reference to an image of Sigmund Freud giving a lecture, and portray how I felt about the image. I struggled with content because I had to write an essay based off one image. Also, I was unfamiliar with the style of writing because it was in first-person point of view, while in high school I was taught to write essays in third-person. Moreover, the area I lacked in during this essay was thinking about the audience. While writing in first person you are required to interpret the text in your own understanding. However, if you are unable to clearly portray your thoughts, the readers will be confused. The idea of making sure the readers understood every point I made was an obstacle for me. Understanding a topic versus explaining the topic is two different things, and that’s what I needed to improve on this essay. This took a while to adapt too but what I learned was proofreading, and taking into consideration my rhetorical situation is key to making great essays.

     From the first essay, I learned how to better understand the rhetorical triangle and how important it is. The second essay we focused on in this class  was the explanatory essay. I felt confident writing this essay because I was able to use resources to help support my claims. However, this essay was new to me, as all my life I’ve summarized texts in my essay while this essay required me to be analytical. With that being said, I was responsible for analyzing two texts: Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic concepts and “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe. What better helped me grasp the idea of being analytical was reading different examples of analytical essays. While writing this essay I learned that I had to gather, interpret, and asses information clearly. Also, this essay taught me the importance of synthesizing because discussing my source was crucial in allowing my audience to understand my claims. Lastly, I learned the significance of being organized and connecting my thoughts together. Often times I have a lot of ideas I want to write but I don’t realize how disorganized my work gets and how not all my ideas are relevant. Overall, in this essay, I was taught to connect my points so that the reader would have a better understanding of my analytical point of view. 

     The Critical Research Analysis essay concluded all my learning outcomes from the semester. Compared to all my writing assignments, I feel like the CRA was definitely my best. It concluded Freud’s psychoanalytic concepts and our understanding of writing in an analytical genre. In the beginning of the course I struggled with analysis, but this essay helped me become a better writer in the analytical genre. Also, it introduced me to databases where I found resources I’ll be using throughout all my college experience. The CCNY database helped me find specific outside resources that were relevant to my essay and time efficient.  

     Throughout this course, I picked up a handful of ideas. I also learned the effort it takes to make a perfect essay. I was introduced to new genres, writing styles, and writing techniques in this course. It was shaky at first but then as I understood the significance in writing in the ways I was being taught it made my writing much more analytical. Although I haven’t perfected it I still truly believe my writing skills improved dramatically. Looking at my literacy narrative and then comparing it to my CRA I see a huge improvement because I adapted to writing essays analytically. This course is the foundation of writing great essays.