FUNDAMENTALS OF ACADEMIC WRITING
I specifically chose this picture because of Madam Natasha's finger heart.
ABOUT MY LECTURER
Madam Natasha is an incredible lecturer. She is thorough with everything she teaches, and ensures that it delivers to us well. Writing can be difficult to understand, but she has always reassured us that we will be able to do it. It gives me the confidence I lack. She breaks down complicated processes slowly one by one, and asks each of us to give our personal opinions. Although online learning limits interactivity between the lecturers and students, I think Madam Natasha was able to make it as easy as face-to-face classes. I am very grateful for that.
What do I think about the course?
Academic writing is such an incredible course. Let me break it down to you on WHY.
First of all, I have always preferred writing factual essays, but I also tend to include some abstract ideas. I am not a good enough writer to create a well-described fiction, but I am also not good in being concise for non-fiction writings. However, when I was first introduced to this course, I was immediately intrigued by it. There was a way for me to improve in writing, learn how to discard unnecessary ideas and synthesise important information.
On the other hand, I have also wanted to read more on important news and articles, but I have never actually made a habit out of it. With academic writing, I was able to do my own research on interesting topics. Specifically, regarding literature and its importance on the modern society. That was the topic I chose for one of the assessments. It was interesting to read people's perceptions, and also how they were able to convey their ideas with evidence. This was a crucial step for me to learn how to put my abstract thoughts into concrete ones.
Academic writing has also introduced to me the value of paraphrasing and citing sources. Madam Natasha has made it clear to us that it is a must for us to abstain from stealing other people's works or ideas. All this while, I thought that citing was a hassle, but throughout learning the significance of it in writing, I was able to get rid of my initial perspective. Citing also acts as a checklist for all of our main points as it backs up our own ideas.
Overall, this course helped me grow immensely in writing. I used to be a student who would just depend on my instincts and write as I go. It is good, but If I were to put it out to the world, there is no guarantee that others would get what I am trying to convey. My old style of writing also gave me discomfort, as I was not sure whether my essays were good enough or not. But, with this course, I was able to understand the links between paragraphs, and how it is important to include evidence and revise our works from time to time. My words also became constricted, not in a bad way, but rather a good one. I learned to not include any sentences that are not of importance.
OPINION-BASED ESSAY
As I am unable to show you any other physical notes (it is not with me), I will share with you instead my work for the Opinion-Based Essay assignment. There are flaws, but mistakes are meant to be learnt from.
Final thoughts?
To Madam Natasha : Thank you for being patient with us.
To TSL024 : Thank you for helping me grow in writing.
