To: Scott W. Thune
From: Gregory R. VanNostrand
Date: May 8, 2009
Subject:: Writing Skills Self Assessment II
In this assignment I readdress what I believe to be my strengths and weaknesses as a writer from the
writing skills self-assessment assignment written at the start of the semester. I will follow that with a
discussion on my progress toward the goals I laid out for myself in that first self-assessment. First,
however, I will review the points from the self-assessment written back in January.
Original Self-Assessment Review
I listed my strengths as being:
Non-repetitive in my writing
Sentence structure
Grammar
Likewise, I listed my weakness:
Spelling
Knowledge of different document formats
Transitions
I made my goals based off of these strengths and weaknesses. The single-most important goal I set
for myself was to learn what my actual strengths and weaknesses are. I also had the obvious goal to
improve on my weaknesses and a desire to learn how to use my strengths to my advantage.
There was also a photo portion of the document that I still don’t full understand. I believe it was for
several things. It helped fill the document out, it gives the reader a little insight into the personality of
the writer, and was practice for citing things that you would insert into a document.
Current Strengths
After reviewing what I had written in the previous self-assessment as far as my strengths go, I would
still count them as strengths. At the same time, I still feel the same way about my self-assessment now
as I did when I wrote the original document. I do not really feel qualified to critique any document’s, or
writer’s, strengths. I do believe I have learned from this class, and have a better understanding about
what should be expected in a formal business setting in regards to documents.
Current Weaknesses
I still feel that I struggle some with my transitions. Most of the time transitions that I try to incorporate
feel forced-on and awkward. That being the case, I still would count this as a weakness.
I also do not feel that I have improved at all in my spelling. As I have typed this document, I have made
numerous spelling errors. I suppose that as long as there are word processors that have spell check
and auto-correction features, I will be fine.
I do feel that I have a better understanding about business and “technical” document formatting now
that I have taken this class, but I would still say that I don’t have a very good understanding of a broad
range of document formats.
Progress Toward Goals
As I’ve stated earlier, I do believe that I’ve learn a good deal from this class despite that fact that I also
believe my strengths and weaknesses are the same as they were 4 months ago. My goal of identifying
my strengths and weaknesses hasn’t really come to pass; I don’t really feel I know for sure what my
strengths and weaknesses are. I believe I’ve improved as a writer and that in some ways I’ve made
progress toward my goal of improving on my weaknesses. In the same way, I feel I’ve improved on the
strengths I believe I have and so have somewhat accomplished my third goal. However, I feel that
there is always room for improvement.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have reviewed my original writing self-assessment and come to believe that I still have
work to do to improve on my weaknesses. I also believe that my strength have remained constant and
that while I haven’t met all of the goals I made for myself, I believe that I have improved as a writer and
that I have learned quite a bit from this course.
I’m glad I had to take this course. As I’ve already stated, I do feel I’ve learned a good deal about
“technical” writing. The requirement to work with others in the class for the papers was extremely
helpful and I feel that I learned as much from the peer reviews as I did from the lectures and
assignments.