ENGL 298 B: Intermediate Writing Social Sciences   Autumn 2011, University of Washington

yo the most difficult part of political theory in this class is most definitely trying to write in the correct format.  In the past, I was accustomed to writing in my own style, free from any definitive structure.  This writing class was hard for me to communicate my ideas in a method that wasn’t my own.  Most of the political theory that I read, I had relatively no problem with, it was all really easy to understand.  But, the structure of how I was supposed to mold that information was the problem, it was a problem to communicate in a not so much convoluted and wordy way.  It’s really hard for my readers to understand what I’m saying, because I use terminology and concepts that are far too complex to understand that can be explained in a couple sentences.  the first thesis paper i had to write was a problem for me, because when I conveyed my thoughts on paper with words like “statuses” and “power relations,” those were terms that needed to be defined on their own.  Those words required more explanation than if I were to use wording in the question and prompt to convey the meaning, because the reader or grader to wrote the prompt can’t argue that they don’t know what I mean, because I’m using the words in their own words.  This is a problem for me because I’m used to combining and applying all concepts i read and understand, so when I do so, I mix up terminology where it may or may not make sense.

on the other hand, the easiest part of the class was reading, and understanding the material.  There are a few places where there was a little unclear understanding, but overall these concepts aren’t that complex, and I understood that.  The content of writing and quoting in essays of the thesis paper for this english class as well as the political science class essay were heavily grounded in quotes that helped convey and generate a well warranted answer.  This is because I read a lot, take notes, and am genuinely interested in the material presented, allowing me to generate better responses when writing.  and dat’s all folks.