Sanpong Sukavut(Percy) Sukavut 1

CWR1A Section 23
Teri Crisp
May 7, 2019

An Enjoyable Journey in CWR1A

“What R1A are you taking next semester”- a question my friend asked me as I was about

to enroll in classes for Spring 2019. Knowing that I have to fulfill the Entry-Level writing

requirement, I scrolled through the course description, and this title catched my eye:

“Magnificent Diversity: Eco-Thinking in the Age of Climate Change.” I quickly enrolled with no

hesitation and expectation from this six-units class. At the beginning of my first class, I was

surprised by how most of my classmates are international students. I felt that this was going to be

an interesting class since they would be able to contribute their unique ideas if not much but

more from their home country to the class.

Coming into the course, I felt that I was a decent writer since I had experiences with text

analysis but mostly on fiction. However, after fourteen long weeks, I feel that I have become a

stronger writer and in part through going through vital process in this class to produce perfect

final drafts. Not only that this class has helped me to acquire the skills needed to become a better

writer, but also provides me with insights into interesting topics that I have never been exposed

to. Professor Teri Crisp has really helped me with my writing especially writing with specificity.

From this class, I have learned essential steps towards perfecting a final draft. From

brainstorming ideas, making drafts, and getting into groups for peer reviews, this are all vital

steps that is beneficial to my learning. Nevertheless, there was some point in this class that I

struggled to make my voice heard in the paper in which I have spent hours on it working and

consulting with Professor Crisp to fix it. Overall, I have really enjoyed being in this class in
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which I feel more confident in my writing, especially writing with specificity through my own

voice.

During my initial stage of writing my first text analysis essay, ​The Sacred Balance, ​I

practiced on analyzing a passage from the book which was really essential towards writing my

first draft. After I got back my first draft from Professor Crisp, it was filled with feedbacks to

help solidify my argument for the topic. Although I felt discouraged by a lot of red marks on it, I

tried to read through every comments. After reading through the feedbacks, I realized that I

should make my argument based on what the author is trying to say not just generalizing it based

on my opinion. Also, I found out that sometimes I did not fully incorporate the essential part of

the quote which can badly affect my interpretation later on since there were no evidences to

backup my argument earlier. I also realized that I often “cherry-picked” my quote in which I

went back and re pick it again for coherence of my paper. In addition, I figured that my argument

was not coherence where I mix pages around to make my point. So, I rearranged my paragraph

around so it made more sense chronologically according to how the author does it in the chapter.

I also fix on quote bombs that did not really make sense at first with the structure of the sentence.

My biggest struggle in this course was writing with specificity and wisely picking quotes

to support my argument. Since this class was my first time dealing with non-fiction book, I

tended to go off track where I usually brought in abstract ideas that generalized the true intention

of my interpretation. Also, I struggled to bring evidences that goes with the topic of the

paragraph. Although my interpretation and analysis were are well-written, there were no

evidences from the author that would back up my claims. In addition, I struggled to focus on one
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main point in the paragraph. In other words, sometimes my paragraph lack coherence and often

make the transition between ideas confusing.

In this portfolio, I believe that all the essays have demonstrated my improved writing

abilities throughout the course. From the text analysis essay on ​The Soul of An Octopus,​ an

articulate review of the Oakland Museum of California, and the text analysis essay about the

Suzuki’s soil chapter in his book ​The Sacred Balance, ​I have learned essential skills that will

benefit my college writing experiences as well as in my future career. Through my hard work of

getting rid of my bad writing habits, I dug deeper to understand the material rather than just to

observe it from the superficial. I realize that the more I try to understand the context of the

reading, the better it will be for me to use them as evidence to support my argument. These

pieces in my portfolio have been edited, revised, and look over by my classmates. I hope as you

go through this portfolio, you will enjoy it as I do, and see how much I have grown in my writing

skills and abilities through my first semester in College Writing R1A.