Reading Journal 8 – Eileen Hernandez

I wrote my midterm essay on The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I argued that Hawthorne challenges notions of religion and morality through his protagonist’s resistance to religious punishment and advocates for finding redemption from sin on one’s own terms. I think my top strengths when it comes to writing are creating compelling theses and synthesizing evidence appropriately. I also believe I am good with pacing myself when completing a paper since I never allow myself to submit something last minute. I usually plan for my papers and set mini-deadlines for myself, such as running an idea by my professor by a designated day, finalizing my thesis and intro, and completing a first rough draft of my paper.

I think my writing is understandable for the most part, and I can get my ideas and arguments across clearly. I enjoy the rewarding aspect of the writing process after putting significant effort into producing and finalizing a piece. I like looking back at my writing and seeing the final product, although I never feel completely satisfied with it and always feel like I have room for improvement, which can feel disheartening sometimes. I would like more guidance in expressing my thoughts eloquently because although I feel like my arguments are unique, I get frustrated when there may be much better ways to express them. When I feel like my writing sounds too simplistic, I often use online thesauruses or read sample papers for ideas and words to use in my arguments. I have found that even reading seemingly unrelated forms of writing, such as film reviews, shows me effective ways to express ideas that can be applied to any form of writing.

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