Journey Through Essays: From Literacy Narratives to Research Challenges

Literacy Narrative

As soon as I heard about “Language literacy”, I thought about the struggle I went through as a newcomer in the United states. I knew what to write and how to shape my essay right away. I consider myself as an expressive person. So for the entire essay, my main goal was to express myself through the right words and tone to represent my actual journey. When I started writing the literacy narrative, It was easy for me to express my thoughts, find the right words, and structure the story. It is because I already knew my experience well. So expressing through writing was not as difficult. It was like narrating a familiar story, and I found the right words without much struggle.

While writing the scene for my second paragraph, As I was working on the scene for my second paragraph, I got tangled up in this uncertainty about whether to make it my introduction. The whole decision had me feeling nervous, and in the end, I stuck with it as my second paragraph. My professor later pointed out that it might’ve been a better move to start things off with that scene, setting the stage and pulling the reader’s attention.When I read her comment, it hit me how it could’ve actually elevated my essay, fixing a hitch throughout. It was a bit of a “should’ve done that” moment.This whole thing made me realize that starting off a story with a clear setting just helps the reader understand it better.

While writing the essay, I struggled when it came to keeping my paragraphs in order.Initially, It felt a bit messy as I read through the draft, yet as I started playing around with the sequence of paragraphs, it all clicked into place. While working with the orders , I realized how a simple rearrangement brought clarity and coherence to the entire essay. Not only that, but it also taught me the importance of structure in conveying a story effectively.

Exploratory Essay

I have always believed in female empowerment and equality. I would always discuss it with others but never thought about writing about it. So writing about empowering women and gender equality in my exploratory essay was a bit of a challenge. Researching for reliable sources took some time, but I was clear about my stance and perspective. The easy part was knowing where I stand, But finding the right tone was tricky, especially for such a serious topic. Expressing my thoughts while backing them up with the right sources was my goal, and despite the struggles, I learned many facts throughout the sources. It taught me that in order to make an essay clear and straightforward, it needs solid research which is like having a strong base.Getting the right tone, especially for serious topics is like finding the right tune to help the reader understand it clearly and be able to relate to it.

While writing my third paragraph of the essay, I was struggling to find the right tone. I was confused, whether to be straightforward or adding nuance. I started the paragraph saying, “Women are always treated differently than men in every field in society. There are still differences and inequality between men and women in the workplace.” Ultimately, I chose to stick to my beliefs and be straightforward. From that I learned that, no matter what, stay truthful to your own voice while writing essays.

Research Essay

Everytime I hear the word “Research paper”, I feel anxious. I instantly feel like the entire world will come to an end and I will be a failure. That is exactly how I felt when Professor Voisard mentioned the Research Essay. Just like I thought, coming up with the first sentence of the introduction was just as difficult because I was overthinking it too much. But the beginning of my research essay was not as difficult. But it surely got difficult as I went through the middle of the essay because of the sources, especially the ones from the CUNY website. Since I have never used the CUNY website for any sources before, it was definitely challenging. It was difficult to read those books and long articles to find the right information and evidence to back up my reasoning.

However, the annotated bibliography played a crucial role in overcoming challenges. It offered a valuable head start because I already had some sources listed with their explanations. When working on the essay, I could simply revisit that assignment, making it much easier to initiate the process with the evidence and reasoning needed for each paragraph.

I used to skip reading after writing, but working on this research essay and other essays in the class changed my perspective. I learned the importance of reading as I write and revisiting my work once it’s complete. This practice revealed areas that needed editing, rewriting, or removal, significantly influencing the overall shape of the research paper. Therefore, writing this research paper taught me to stay patient as I write because good writing requires patience.