Monday, March 2, 2015
My Strengths and Weaknesses as an Essay Writer
I believe that one of my weaknesses is that I have a really hard time making myself do multiple versions of an essay to make sure it's perfect. Although I usually end up with pretty high marks anyways I know I could do better if I would force myself to make multiple copies trying different voices and using different points to support my thesis. I'm also really awful at sticking to either past or present tense, I don't know how I do it but almost every time I write I wind up switching between active and passive. One of my strengths however is that I can more often than not find more points on a topic than necessary, so if I ever did change my mind about where I wanted my point of view or if I found that I couldn't make an argument very strong I could just switch it out for a different point. More often than not I find myself reading and writing essays as if I am saying them out loud so I don't think I have much of a problem with voice and I can usually make an essay flow really well unless I'm not into the topic. My biggest weakness is that if I'm not interested in the topic or whatever I'm writing about, I have a really hard time doing a good job of it because I just can't get into it. Other than those things I am pretty good at writing essays, I've always gotten good marks on them however there is always room to improve, which I am hoping to do during this course.
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I like how you pointed out that it is harder to create a voice within your essay when you aren't very interested in the topic. I agree that you "just can't get into it" when you aren't interested. It also can be difficult if you are asked to write an essay supporting the side of the argument you do not agree with.
ReplyDeleteI always find myself reading my essays out loud to make sure it sounds just as good off the paper as it does on! I also agree that its really hard to keep focused and put all of your work into an essay about something you find uninteresting.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the dreaded tense shift. That's different than active and passive though. I can write in active voice in both past and present tense: The author makes it clear that the main character is not a victim. (present active) It is made clear by the author that the character is not a victim. (present passive).
ReplyDeleteWhen writing about literature you should always write in the present tense unless you're discussing the historical context: eg/ The time period in which Shakespeare was writing was a turbulent one. (This is fine, but then you need to write in present tense when discussing the work itself) Shakespeare portrays Hamlet as a very conflicted man.