Writing Skills Analysis

It is my belief that three of the most valuable skills one can have in life are public speaking, reading comprehension, and writing. These three skills are vital to everyday life, and I feel that everyone should strive to master these skills to the best of their ability. Out of the three techniques, I would have to concede that writing is by far my weakest. However, the eight weeks I have spent in Writing 101 have truly helped me to become a better writer. Over the course of those eight weeks my writing skills, that had been suffering from years of atrophy, were challenged; the biggest challenge of all being the research paper I did on the use of the atomic bomb. The amount of research required, as well as the paper's length, made for a difficult …show more content…
I would go on to argue that it was indeed a justifiable decision to drop it, and would use the research I had conducted to articulate my point. Careful thought and consideration was put into the topic choice for the assignment, and it is due to such planning that the paper came out so well. While I found the topic to be personally interesting, (and thus easier to write about), I did not select it merely on a whim. Knowing that the atomic bomb's use was controversial, historically significant, and academically studied made it a topic that was simple to research. Also, its controversial nature meant that there were numerous opposing opinions on the subject, allowing me to not only support my own arguments but find opportunities to argue back against opposing arguments as well. The sheer amount of information at my disposal, the controversial nature of the topic, as well as my own personal affinity for history made the paper far easier to write. I was able to choose not only an interesting topic for the assignment, but also keep that topic focused and concise. The topic allowed for easy organization of ideas and smooth transitions that helped the assignment to turn out …show more content…
My topic's focus made research less taxing, but I still had trouble selecting specific articles given the large amount of information available. Some databases weren’t offering exactly what I was looking for, and then of course a lot of time had to be taken to go through and analyze the material that I did acquire. Once all the material had been selected and analyzed, I often had problems condensing the information down to only the key points. Full articles and papers were written on some of my supporting points alone, and this made it difficult to balance being clear and concise but still providing depth to the sources used. While using an argumentative formula made organization easier, I still struggled to balance how to use the sources. The paper was of a significant length, required smooth transitions, and good organization skills, all of which made it quite challenging. At the same time it is because the paper required the use of so many different skills, that I was able to put into practice what I had learned. Despite the difficulty, I did use the research effectively, I did manage to make good transitions, I did convey my argument clearly, and that is why I am so proud of how the paper turned