Liam Kharem

Professor Michael Grove

FIQWS Composition

December 14, 2019

FIQWS Class Reflection Essay

The first semester of college is a harrowing time for many the young writer. We as freshmen take quite the long jump from the years of high school, where school serves a very different role in our lives than it does now. Before, assignments were a grade that were needed to avoid a meeting with a parent and teacher, and later to ensure our acceptance into a school of choice. Now, an assignment represents we as individuals deciding to put our time into something. While in high school, if an assignment was half assed, we would be disappointed in ourselves, but now not putting any effort into assignment can send us into a crazed existential panic. The assignments we were given in FIQWS this semester were lofty, yet gave us room to express our opinions on an open platform. Most of them required more time and detail put in, which for someone who’s work flow is completely controlled by procrastination, was difficult.

I really tried my best to be aware of my tendencies when I got to school in August, and thought that with this awareness I would be able to withstand the effects of procrastinating, and defeat my long time foe. Having the reference of the course learning outcomes(while I didn’t always have them at the forefront of my mind) was helpful to guide my work more. For example, I feel more sure about my ability to identify genre as well as to employ it more awarelly into my own work. We read a variety of genres this semester, all of which can seem very challenging to get through given the levels of complexity they’re written at. Having a solid base for identifying some of the reasons why a writer writes, and who they are trying to reach, gave especially difficult texts more meaning. Once I had a grasp on the process for analyzing difficult pieces of writing, two things became much easier: One was finding the right sources to use in my writing and two was thinking more specifically about the genre and rhetorical devices I used. 

That being said, my topic for the research paper became a bit harder to work with than I anticipated, and I fell into the trap that Professor Grove warned about, which was narrowing down my argument too much before I had adequate sources to defend it with. Again, this comes back to my bad procrastination habit, as by the time I really got underway on the assignment, I didn’t have enough time to really sit with my sources. Professor Dominguez pointed out that the argument I was making, which was urging people to take time to diligently study indigenous culture, was hard to argue against and I only really gave one perspective on it. Had I spaced out my workload over more time, as I’d planned to, I would’ve been able to develop a clearer and more nuanced argument. Moreover, because of the lack of time I left myself to complete the assignment, I didn’t have adequate revision time, and definitely didn’t satisfy that learning outcome as best I could. In all of the assignments for this semester, the flow of my argument and style could’ve been developed much more. That was present specifically in my Ethnology essay, which Grove commented could’ve been fleshed out more, and while I began with an interesting narrative about my family, I didn’t follow through on it, which left the reader unsatisfied. 

The BEAM process for research was also a good tool to have when searching in the schools database, and helped structure resource, and I don’t think my problem was in being able to place my sources into this structure, but more in having a lack of sources to incorporate into each use. Having time in class to compare notes, sources and drafts was a great resource in developing writings. For the rhetorical analysis assignment, having peers review my work really helped in shaving off some of the unnecessary bits as well as in thinking more clearly about how I interacted with and analyzed the sources I was using. That piece was about the Iroquois effect on US democracy, and it was fairly easy to find sources about it, but I hadn’t developed all of them clearly enough before having the peer meeting. Beyond the in class workshops, my friend John and I would often be texting each other throughout the assignment timeline with questions and answers that genuinely helped the process go much smoother. That was true for all of the assignments. Having peers to bounce ideas off makes complicated assignments a little more manageable and can also give new perspectives on ideas.

Having the rhetorical analysis paper before the research paper allowed me to practice composing a solid text and using all of the techniques previously talked about, and I think I have improved in that area from the first couple of assignments to the research paper. I tried, when possible, to summarize and paraphrase ideas in a text, rather than quote, because it forced me to understand what a certain author was trying to say and also mesh it with my ideas and analysis, rather than just stating it to defend my argument. I definitely didn’t quite use citation conventions correctly when doing this, specifically because my use of sources directly and my analysis of them were intertwined so I didn’t always know where to place parenthetical citations.  There is still a lot of room to grow for me in this process, and again the main thing holding me back wasn’t a lack of understanding of the process, but more a lack of preparation for the assignment, so I rushed in the end. 

The final assignment and CLO was to use and understand digital technologies in reaching an audience, using the CUNY academic commons. I am definitely someone who finds it easier to present things in an analog way, as I’m mostly acoustic musician(drummer and songwriter), and that’s the way I find easiest to reach people. Designing things digitally has never been a strong suit of mine, but the academic commons weren’t too complicated to use so I mostly just tried to organize everything in a clear manner, and hit the requirements of the assignment. If I use the commons again, I’ll try to use a bit more creative expression, but honestly, at the end of this semester as a jazz major and full time musician out of school, I am a bit creatively drained, and have most of my creative focus on the musical work I am doing.

This first semester of college was long and arduous. I had to figure out how to live in an apartment and function independently as an adult, while trying to learn and focus on my school work. I began to realize many negative habits I’d formed throughout my childhood, and had to figure out how to work on these, while still finding the energy to really think deeply about the school topics. I also, of course, wanted to enjoy myself and appreciate the beauty of the city I am privileged to live in, and dive deeper into my creativity and work ethic musically. All of these things felt very overwhelming a lot of the time, and there were some days where I couldn’t function very well at all. That being said, I learned many lessons about myself and what I need to work on next semester, and having assignments to relate these things to was important in developing as a student. It’s all a continuing process, but I’m glad I got a good start on it, and that I had professors who were understanding of all these challenges.