My theory of writing is to be straightforward with my ideas, and provide the necessary backup so anyone reading my papers will understand my words. Growing up I was someone afraid to talk due to my lack of confidence and my speech impediment, but when it came to writing, I would write pages continuously on a topic that I like. Coming into class, I was someone who just wanted to be heard and appreciated for my words. My writing before was very cluttered, with lots of useless words serving no purpose in different sentences. This can be seen in my Letter of Introduction. I was very eager to talk about myself and the experiences that have shaped me into who I am in the present day. I went on to talk about the languages I am deeply interested in and my reasoning for studying engineering or business at The City College of New York. 

My writing has evolved as the semester went on through the different ways I would introduce a topic within my writing. I did not have a flow when writing, even when I had an outline. However, when reading the textbook, I was able to realize just how important it is for me to establish a flow so my reader will not sidetrack and stay engaged with my writing. Especially from a technical standpoint, for example, say I want to pitch an idea to an organization or a government agency, I need them to stay engaged about what it is that I am talking about. 

This strategy that I developed can be found in my Informational Report writing, where I was to bring notice about New York City. The concern that I wanted to deal with was the increased carbon dioxide emissions, and how to bring forth a solution to the Department of Transportation. In my introduction, I ended off with my thesis, “ The DOT should invest in more bike lanes and form campaigns that encourage people to ride bicycles more to help reduce the impact of carbon dioxide”. In the following paragraph, I planned on introducing the negative benefits of carbon dioxide, so it brings a sense of urgency as to why the DOT should make this issue a top priority. 

When learning how to organize my outline, I took a look at the many resources that my teacher provided me. I used those resources for my Technical Description paper. I was unsure how to set up my outline for the process of how a computer works or the different parts a computer has. In the end, I went along with an example that was provided by Professor Davidow. That was to put the different parts of a computer first, then explain the process of the computer. This event directly goes alongside the course learning outcome of “practice using various library resources, online databases, and the Internet to locate sources appropriate to your writing projects”. The resource that my professor provided was very helpful in helping me develop my Technical Description Paper. The reason I did this was because readers know the parts so they have a basic understanding of how they function. 

I was also able to complete the course learning outcome previously mentioned in my Technical Proposal. This was achieved to prove why the innovation needed was going to be sustainable and the many benefits it would bring to the society of Chennai, India. My group mates and I gathered lots of information from different sources across the City College databases and many websites that were going to help us write our proposal. 

During the assignments, I was able to complete the course learning outcome of “strengthen your source use practices ( including evaluating, integrating, quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing, and citing sources). When I first came into class, I was very confused about how citations in general worked. But as the semester went on, I looked into resources, such as PurdueOWL, that my professor mentioned to help my way of understand the different types of citations needed for my papers. Some citations were in-text citations and the reference pages. It was very confusing how each website mandated certain types of citations, but in the end, I was able to correctly make use of the citations.

The semester is over, and all your hard work has paid off. Mohammed Ajmain Mahafuj, don’t forget how to write and lastly do NOT forget to keep your readers engaged when writing such beautiful writing, considering you are still a shy person trying to break out of your shell.