9/7/2020 Essay 1: First Draft When initially reading the directions for this assignment, an essay I wrote that stuck out to me in particular was a current events report. The essay discussed human trafficking and online slave markets in Kuwait, and I was assigned create connections to topics in The Handmaid’s Tale. As this assignment was considered a major assessment, I found it in my best interest to set a time to go to a local public library, where I could develop an essay with minimal distractions. Walking into the library, I maintained the mindset of finishing the first draft of my essay in one sitting and coming back the next day to revise. At the time, I had not been accustomed to brainstorming outlines of my ideas on a separate document. Instead, I formulated my thoughts and worried about the cohesiveness and substantiality of my ideas while writing my draft. However, before I could develop an essay that possessed any essence, I needed to do some research. I decided that it was most efficient to look for current events by using digital resources and borrowed a laptop from the library. I began by hovering over to the “News” category on Google and typing several keywords that potentially applied to my assignment. I started off with typing “human rights violations” but felt impartial to the results brought up. For an assignment that was worth a big portion of my course grade, I thought it would be most advantageous to research something that genuinely intrigued me. I believed that writing about a topic that I felt impartial or uninterested towards would not only limit the quality of my essay, but also be a waste of time. Narrowing down my web search to “human trafficking”, I found a headline that caught my attention. After selecting the article that I was possibly going to refer to and analyze in my essay, I needed to assess the reliability of the source. Although I am unable to recall the source I used, I believe that it was most useful that I verified the article by checking if the information was displayed in other sources that were known to be trustworthy. A crucial skill that I employed in gathering my research was reading annotations. Acknowledging that the article was somewhat lengthy, I asked a nearby librarian to assist me in printing out the article. Annotating the article was essential in helping me condense the large amount of information by actively interacting with the text and highlighting key information that I need to include in my essay. Ultimately, my goal in developing my essay was to effectively communicate my points across to my teacher and, as a result, receive a good grade. In order to achieve this, I needed to ensure that my sub-goals were carried out as well. This included my ability to describe the current event in concise detail and making relevant connections between the article and themes in The Handmaid’s Tale. On top of this task, I had to keep caution of a five-hundred-word limit. Consequently, there was much more importance stressed on proper research and placing emphasis on information that would most help facilitate my thesis. In examining my past work, I come into the realization that the assignment had actually been a new experience to me. Prior to this assignment, I was unfamiliar with constructing a current event report and simultaneously analyzing its relevancy of major themes in a book. Therefore, I would regard the completion of this assignment as an acquisition of a new skill. I learned the significance of choosing a reputable news source and how to effectively summarize the often-lengthy discussion of the event, and then being able to accurately formulate ideas and comparisons to a Sci-Fi book. Despite the maximum word constraint, there were not any limitations that swayed me to bring about a different approach to this assignment. In addition to obtaining a writing skill, this assignment helped sharpen old skills as well. My past teachers and mentors have always emphasized the benefits of annotation, and I recognize that close reading has improved my full understanding of a piece of writing. On the article that I printed out, I was not afraid to underline the parts that confused me, highlight key takeaways, and even input my own reactions. I am appreciative of the opportunity that the assignment offered to enhance my annotation strategies because, in the long term, it pulls me through even difficult texts. Without my purposeful interaction with the article, I am certain that I would have had a much challenging time following the word count limit. Although I did not receive any constructive feedback on my draft, returning to the library the next day to revise my draft was undoubtedly worthwhile and beneficial. Because I did not create an outline for my essay, it was much more challenging to organize my thoughts and structuralize my essay. However, revising allowed me to reflect on my own piece of writing and to identify parts that needed improvement. As I scanned through my first draft, I noticed that there were a lot of details that I dwelled too long on as well as parts that needed more substance. I believe that proofreading and reading my draft with a clearer mind undeniably contributed to the success that my final essay received. Without doing so, my essay would have been incohesive and would have limited its fullest potential. From reflecting upon a successful essay that I wrote previously, I learned about the necessity of working in an environment with little to no distractions. During the academic year, I routinely work at my home. Because my home is relatively small, I often get very little privacy, which results in frequent distractions when I am doing schoolwork. I recall that this assignment was one of the first times I chose to go to a library to work, which was beneficial in giving me a peace of mind when working on a major assessment. Additionally, I learned the values of writing about something that genuinely captured my attention. Despite my reluctance to work on this report beforehand, I quickly recognized the spring of motivation I received when the topic was not only relevant to my assignment but also intrigued me. Consequently, doing so enabled me to put down my ideas that flowed smoothly despite not having an outline prior to my draft. Learning about this strategy when creating an essay encourages me to do the same in future endeavors. Reflecting on the process of writing a paper has taught me that finding a subject that interests me plays a huge role in determining whether the piece of writing to compelling to the reader. Ultimately, accepting that reading annotations are great skills that facilitate deeper understanding of a text is game-changing. Interacting purposefully with my research and pinpointing areas that are possibly confusing sped up the whole process and helped categorize information essential in creating an essay that possessed meaning. As a result of such skills that I implemented in the process of writing my essay, I received an excellent score for my major assessment with some constructive criticism. My intended audience, the teacher, approved of the overall structure of my essay and sensed the immersion of my curiosity along with an adequate understanding of how the current events applied to themes in the book. In my future papers, I need to practice getting into the habit of brainstorming an outline before my draft. I noticed that my essays are much more liable to being disorganized and lack sufficient ideas when I type my essay all at once.
