Reflection essay
This course has enabled me to make huge development in my English skills, especially writing and selecting sources for my essays. My professor and the SI leader have been resourceful in advancing my language skills. The numerous corrections and guidance from them have always had an impact on my English skills. I have improved from barely constructing a paragraph to writing something close to a masterpiece. My vocabulary has improved a great deal, and also my skills in writing research papers. I have however lagged behind in my skills of writing summaries and conclusions. I plan to apply the skills learnt in studying other areas of literature and history.
My major area of concentration recently has been about impact of culture on women education in various cultures and societies. Most of my projects have been in line with the professor’s guidelines on research methods and English development skills. In the recent past, women education has emerged as a major issue of discussion than any other issue there is. More importantly is the impact of culture on shaping education in various societies. In my research, I studied the impact of culture on education. This research focused on education and empowerment of women and how the culture has influenced accessibility and motivation of learning. In contemporary times, the United States has emerged as a leading example in the education sector. This has many underlying factors which emphasizes education for all and equity across all genders.
My second project focused majorly on a traditional market back in my home country Kuwait. My term paper focused on the fact that this market is both a cultural and historical architectural masterpiece. This public market labeled Souk Al- Mubarakiya boasts of being a major tourist destination for both local and international tourists. It serves as a meeting point of people from all walks of life in Kuwait. It is a major tourist and historical destination. In this particular project, I learnt about the various methods of research and writing about history. I also developed skills on citation from secondary sources that were relevant to my topic of research.
My final paper touched on ‘Hunger games’. I majorly focused on the qualities that were necessary in this context which included rigid skills on death and survival. Throwing knives, archery and setting snares emerged as the top quality requirements that help Katness to survive in this competition. This is symbolic in referring to people in developing countries. The people in developing countries need to develop a variety of skills and tactic in waging revolutions in order to realize democracy and political liberation from poor leadership. This would realize protection of human rights and freedoms including protecting and upholding human dignity. My paper also touched on Libya and what it meant for the future of democracy in their nation. I compared the skills and requirements of warfare in the ‘Hunger games’ and applied them on this revolution and how they were relevant in realizing return of democracy in Libya.
This course has improved me a great deal both as a writer and a student. As a writer, my grammar is much better. I am now able to create comprehensive sentences in an orderly manner to bring out the information clearly. I have understood and mastered the format of essay writing, which involves: thesis statement; the body where the thesis is supported by arguments, and conclusion where the summary of the essay is provided. My research skills have also improved, especially selecting sources for my essays. I have understood that it is crucial to use peer reviewed articles, more importantly, those published within the last five years. In addition, sources supported by scientific evidence are the most reliable. The information from my essays have been eye opening. For instance, my first essay revealed to me the plight of women in the Arabian Gulf. It showed me that most of these women do not enjoy as many rights, e.g. education, as their counterparts in the United States.
I plan to sharpen my writing skills further. To achieve this, I will focus mainly on my weaknesses even as I perfect my strengths. My main problem has been writing reviews for research articles. The major concern is summarizing the methodology and discussion of these articles. This may be due to the fact that I have not mastered the expertise of statistics. I will read more about statistics to improve on this area. Another area I need to work on is writing comprehensive conclusions – I tend to leave some important information. I plan to practice on writing good conclusions that touch on the thesis and arguments of my essays.
