Here you can find my works from the Spring semester of 2020, for the course- Writing for Engineering

Kennan Terzic

Writing for engineering 

SPRING 2020

The Self-Assessment Essay   

Topic: To what extent have I achieved the course learning objectives? &  In what ways have my perceptions on what writing is and does evolved this semester? 

Throughout the Spring 2020 semester, I am satisfied with my experiences as I have met many great people, who have helped me along the way. We live and we learn. In this I Kennan Terzić have made many course learning objective achievements. This may be firmly stated with evidence of my course work and the understanding that I will demonstrate throughout this paper.

As for my perspective of writing, I have seen several personal changes. Firstly writing is a powerful tool and tool that when not understood properly can inflict instability in both the writer and the reader. As when one has a common frame of dialogue, it  helps set a greater deal of understanding and common ground. We live in a global world and dialects and accents are bound to develop and phrases/ slang develop. Also writing is a powerful tool to pass down knowledge for hundreds of years and generations to come. As resources may not be present for one generation, but maybe for another. To update technology one must first understand the past technology. Writing helps connect global thoughts together, no mather the language. 

My major shift in perspective can be attributed to the various styles of writing that I have encountered as I never encountered them before entering Writing for Engineering 210, as before in writing I always knew that there were certain writing elements that constructed a particular writing piece, like a normal story or poem. Though after seeing a greater variety of writing themes such as the introductory letter, technical description and lab report, these writings did not only teach me of a new structure, but of a new motive and a message that a writer aims to encompass in his work. I have a greater range in vocabulary in portraying a message and a more tuned mindset in the vocabulary that I use. When I am writing an essay, I think about the reader, I aim to perceive the interpretation of the  reader. I would like to ask myself, can this be interpreted in a different way, negative or positive? I also would ask myself what I am describing enough, what am I missing? Through this course I have witnessed the importance of quotes, I personally before did not like to use quotes, though in the college setting I like to reference such statements of information. Integrating, quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing, and citing sources are important as it may strengthen one’s claim and prove the logic behind it. If a statement is later discredited that one may understand the flaws of that statement, as quotes may be credited/ uncredited all the time.Though I still do not over use quotes as I like to portray my own voice to my audience, a charter who is clear and straight to the point. As to formulate and articulate a stance through and in your writing is a key element in writing because many people can write a 50 page that is undecided about a topic and never state a claim, being clear and direct saves people time and questioning in the engineering world, the engineering world should be different from the legal world, but yet they are similar.

In retrospect of the course learning objectives over the course of the semester, I have acknowledged my partners in group works, as projects such as the LAB REPORT, we worked together to develop such definitions and descriptions for each of the paragraphs. In use of linguistic differences as, we were able to draw on these resources to develop rhetorical sensibility, developing a clear statement that can be understood by many styles of speech and linguistic structure.  Also this semester I have greatly portrayed engagement in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes, such as my group project of the PRISTINE PEDAL, as group communication is a very important element, not only in writing but for construction site, scientific experiments and math calculations. As a common english phrase states “teamwork makes dream work”. Collaboration was a great experience for me, a fun one and educational, as when I worked with my classmates I was able to witness their point of view and their process of writing a description for our invention. As when writing a description many things may be explained, but it was how we explained it that I reflect upon.

Throughout this year I have achieved strategies for reading, drafting, revising and editing. These are significant elements to becoming a good writer as a writer must first understand what he or she is trying to describe and present to the audience. If one does not see the errors of one’s work, then one will never truly be able to present a cohesive message. As these skills ensure that one’s written message matches their thought. These skills help improve the efficiency of writing and ensuring that there is good logic. Understandable to a specific audience, as medical terms in example, are generally not understood by people in other professions. It helps guide a message.

For this year, I can firmly state that I need to work more on expectations regarding conventions of genre, medium, and rhetorical situation. As this is very important for legal matters, when writing my technical description, I came to understand that the Patent world is a very tricky world as patents can be made for any device, but depending on how one describes this device, can encompass many other devices. It is for me still a learning process in learning these styles as there are so many, it is one thing to write with a premade organizer of information and another to embody the writing style.

For this year, I can firmly state that I need to work more on expectations regarding practice using various library resources, online databases, and the Internet to locate sources appropriate to your writing projects

In conclusion I have made many improvements to my writing skills. Though what is much valuable to me is my perspective towards writing that has changed. Writing in any field is a powerful tool and should not be taken lightly. It can mean the difference between an atom and that of a sun. This semester was enjoyable and a semester that I will remember. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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