My opportunity to assess my strengths and weaknesses during this writing process

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Yosef Zidell

Prof. Rodwell

Writing for Engineers

September 17, 2019

                                           Self-Reflection Essay

Writing this paper tested my ability to produce a structured and well-informed memo. There were many areas of this process that I found natural and well-equipped to tackle, yet there were other very apparent areas that I struggled with. It was very clear to me how the structure of this paper was supposed to be presented. However, putting my general thoughts to paper seemed to be a challenge.

For my topic, I decided on discussing the faultiness in the way students find their way around the campus. Because it was a memo, my layout needed to be well organized and each section needed to have a very specific purpose. I felt that although I did understand how the memo needed to be structured, it was difficult for me to organize my thoughts to fit each section’s needs. For example, in my paragraph stating the issue, I knew how I wanted that point to evolve: I would first present how the issue arose to begin with and then explain the actual issue itself. Although this seemed relatively simple in my head, placing the thoughts on paper was challenging. I felt I was too vague in elaborating on the issue and didn’t give the reader a good sense of what the problem was. This problem fell onto most of the paper, as I felt I didn’t give the paper the stability it could’ve had, especially considering that is the most essential point of a memo.

Regarding the purpose of the memo, I felt I did a fair job expressing that. My Introduction introduced the problem I was going to address, and the body paragraphs expounded on that. Although I lacked clarity in some instances, I felt my goal of informing the reader about the navigation problem was apparent the whole time. A challenge I encountered while trying to stay relevant to my purpose of the essay was aligning the diversity of my points. I had to introduce the root of the problem, present the issue itself, and expound on its effect, all while tying these points together. Because of this layout, it automatically felt like I lacked stability in my content, and perhaps in the future I should focus on explaining the issue itself rather than the surrounding facts.

Knowing who my audience was, I made sure to write in a tone and language that would speak to the reader. The President of CCNY has many ideas presented to him, and he must be filtering out the ones he doesn’t deem are important enough to address. To make sure my point was taken seriously, I had to write with a sense of urgency and importance. Looking back on my memo, I realize I didn’t prioritize the urgency factor in my writing the way I could have. I talked about how serious the problem was and had a whole section dedicated to the harmful effect it was having, but I neglected to emphasis the need for the problem to be resolved immediately. Regarding the language I used, I tried to keep it formal and keep the points generalized as opposed to bringing my personal experiences to light, which I felt I did a fair job at.

I felt I learned a lot about my writing process while forming the memo. I had to constantly be aware of my overall goal, word choice, and tone while delivering the appropriate content in each section. I felt certain difficulties while writing in this style, especially making sure to keep relevant points to the right sections. I feel empowered with this awareness and in the future will be more likely to notice these issues during the writing process as opposed to just during the reflection period.