Skills to be Learned

    I have a lot of skills that I wish to acquire through this class, the first being how to integrate and synthesize sources. Just within these past few classes I have seen the importance of doing so, and how it can lend a voice and add credibility to your argument, when done in the correct way. I would also like to learn how to properly outline and logically organize thoughts. This has never been my strong-suit in writing, which hinders me from being able to accurately convey and present my ideas in an understandable way. This is a very important foundation in writing a convincing paper, and something that would benefit me greatly in the future. The next thing I would like to improve is being able to write longer papers. Being able to write an informative paper that doesn’t feel dragged along is a difficult task. It is a skill that requires discernment in knowing how to include enough information that leaves your readers knowledgeable about the subject, but also keeps things to the point and minimizes unnecessary details that will induce confusion. Another skill that I would like to gain is knowing what to do when I get stuck. There have been many times that I have reached a place where ideas and thoughts stop flowing. I am left trying to force words out, which results in poor quality writing that disconnects the readers from what I am trying to express. Learning how to circumvent writer’s block would help me immensely. Lastly, I want to have a better understanding of how to read college level sources and how to collect the appropriate information from them, making sure that everything is relevant to my topic. I believe writing is a skill that must be learned. I hope that the classes and the resources that I will be using will help me to organize and glean the information to make my writing become a skill in which I can express my thoughts and opinions. It is important to me that I convey ideas well enough that others will be interested enough to read what I have to say.

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