The importance of writing skills - Essay Example

Writing has always been a profound, visceral experience for me. It helped me achieve an exceptional level of understanding and knowledge of myself, how my mind works, and how I perceive reality. The portfolio I have chosen, I hope, will be an accurate reflection of my journey towards self discovery and realization. I picked the following choices as examples for this paper because I feel that they are a reflection of what I am as a writer and a person, as well as the areas that need to be developed in the future.

My native language in not English, so these works are a testament to my struggle to transcend language and social boundaries. Evaluating my works from the past year gave me a fresh perspective on my writing and made me see some faults that I haven't seen before. As I matured and acquired more experience, the quality of my writing also took the same direction. I have developed my own writing style and idiosyncrasies. Despite my improvements, there are still areas that I need to work on. The first piece of writing from my portfolio is "Immigration Policy", a case study about the recent developments in immigration affairs, including the driving force behind those initiatives.

Interest in this topic stems from my being an immigrant myself, and it underscores my own struggles becoming a legal resident. I have also come across opposing views from every side of the argument, representing different interests. I tried to explore these new information with an open mind, sometimes even challenging my existing beliefs. Re-reading my paper, I spotted a few sentences which could've used a comma or two, and a few that could've done without it. I realized that using appropriate punctuation would make them much easier to read.

Recognizing these flaws reinforced my belief that my writing sensibilities are now more sophisticated than before. In terms of structure, one of my main weaknesses is maintaining a smooth flow of ideas and making transitional sentences so that there is an effortless shift in between paragraphs. In my second portfolio example, "History of Child Abuse" ideas and issues were raised about the very definition of child abuse for it differs in various sociological and cultural contexts. I can deeply relate to this because in the country where I'm from, child abuse is not something that is discussed openly.

This premise has, in a way, challenged my preconceived beliefs and innate cultural sensibilities. I had to approach this topic without biases, and in the end, I was rather pleased with the results. It also exposed me to this abominable side of humans, something that has only gained attention in recent times. But this sordid view of humanity kindled a spark of fire in me. Learning of the history of child abuse made me more aware, and it established a foundation to the opinions that I proudly hold until now.

I had to look at a considerable body of literature doing the research for this paper, so maintaining organization is an essential aspect. And though I had some difficulty finding the words that would best express some concepts, I have gained new ideas about the research process and integrated them into my writing. Greek mythology is one of my biggest passions. Ancient Greek civilization during the dawn of the great philosophers has always been a fascinating subject for me, thus my interest in my next portfolio example.

My paper on the critical analysis of "Plato in Apology and Aeschylus in Eumenides" required me to employ in-depth reasoning since both texts deal with arguments. Like Socrates, who espoused self-improvement through self-understanding, writing this essay proved to be a formidable intellectual challenge as I struggled through these great works, not to mention the language barrier that I had to surpass. This helped hone my logic and critical thinking skills. Even though it took me great pains reading it, it was well worth it.

The construction and organization of ideas is a far cry from the works I've done before, and I felt that I have expressed myself more eloquently on this essay. Because of this rewarding experience, my passion for reading Greek literature was strengthened and it aroused in me a new-found confidence in my writing abilities. Looking at my previous works really helped me put things into perspective. As they say, vision in hindsight is 20/20. In my assessment, my writing has improved considerably than when I first started out in this college.

Being a foreigner, every writing assignment is a formidable task, but during the course of the year, I strived to rise against every challenge. As a writer, I learned that I can create my best works when I have enough time to pour into undertaking a writing project. I discovered that if I have thoroughly digested and understood an idea during research, the words come easily. These journeys writing has always been a challenging, as well as fascinating affair for me. I have been able to develop my abilities through these invaluable experiences, and no matter where I go or what I do, these skills would definitely help me succeed.