Final Critical Essay
Learning is a good thing, and this course has made me realize that it is good to strive on and keep learning despite the many hurdles one may encounter. When I enrolled for this course, I expected everything to flow just like any other course I had undertaken in my journey of being a college student. However, I have realized that what stands out in this course is how it emphasizes critical thinking while answering various questions. Before attending this course, I had little value in critical analysis and concentrated on the mere analysis of the questions being asked. Furthermore, it was initially difficult for me to come up with a concrete thesis statement and back it up with various relevant pieces of evidence, but this has since changed. I know how to get to the point while analyzing stories to avoid filling my work with a summary of useless plots. In addition, I am grateful to this course for making it easier for me to understand how direct quotes can be used in an essay without plagiarizing the work. I went through many challenges with my previous works, which kept on being rejected on the grounds of plagiarism.
This course has also played a vital role in helping me learn a lot regarding the MLA citation method. I have a good mastery of MLA citation, and this information will help me handle other courses that I am yet to cover in the easiest way possible. This course has molded me into becoming a critical thinker.
I did several assignments in this course that I feel have contributed positively to developing my critical thinking. I did an argumentative assignment, responded to students’ posts, and analyzed various themes in different stories.
One of my argumentative essays was on gun control and its importance. Completing this assignment was not as easy as I had to conduct research and analyze different articles from the QR library. These articles had different ideas on the level of importance accorded to gun control. The professor also provided different links with movies on gun control that I had to watch and understand what was being presented. With my analysis knowledge, I came up with conclusions deemed most appropriate concerning gun control.
As I was doing the assignment, I faced many challenges. One was how to cite the documents I got from the QR library. It was so tiresome following through the videos to get points that could justify my thesis statement, but I had to keep up for better grades. This assignment taught me a lot about sticking to the outline drawn for an assignment. I had to work with the thesis statement and ensure that my main points were interrelated to this statement for the flow of events. Through the assignment, I understood that it is important to expose children to the ideas of gun control as they go to school. This way, they can protect themselves in case of an attack in school. And with this information, I will, later on in life, ensure that I give my children gun education at an early age so that they are used to operating a gun. This way, even in my absence, they can protect themselves from malicious individuals.
In order to respond to the works of other students, I read through their entire work to understand their main points of discussion. After reading through it, I kept analyzing each presented point from a critical angle. From here, I used google search to get more information on what the classmate was talking about to understand what I responded to properly. I must, however, admit that I found it challenging to append negative comments to my fellow students’ work. The reason was that I was not sure how they would take the responsibility. And so, I tried to remain as positive as possible and was sometimes forced not to exhaust my comments for fear of creating hostility. Another challenge was that some classmates had vague points that were not easy to analyze and get meaning. I had to spend so much time figuring out what they intended to write.
Through the assignment, I have learned the rule of making comments so that I don’t sound so rude while commenting on other people’s work. I have also learned how to critically analyze other people’s works to get more ideas and add to what I already know. This idea is important because even after class, I will find it easy to share in thoughts with others and correct them politely so that they are not offended. Responding to posts has surely made my language softer, and I believe this is one tactic that will help me survive even after school.
In order for me to complete such assignments, I had to read different stories presented by different authors in different contexts. This way, it would be possible to get the common themes in the stories and carry out a critical analysis of the author with the particular themes. I learned how authors use their power of knowledge to present their ideas. However, I must say that reading through the long stories just to get to know the themes used was not an easy task, and at some point, I could feel the need to discontinue the assignment, but I’m grateful I finished. One important thing that I learned from the assignment is to be critical with my analysis. This assignment needed that one notices beyond what the eyes can see, which I managed to do. I believe this is a skill that will help me throughout my life. It will guide me in making analyses on vital matters in society. Through this assignment, I also learned about making comparisons favorably without giving preference to one over another. For instance, in the story about Lahiri and Junot, the theme of parenting can be analyzed in equal measures.
Looking into the knowledge, I have gathered through this course; I still confirm that it has been a critical but vital path of academic learning. I am well equipped with the necessary skills that I can use in real-life situations after finishing schooling. I encourage people to embrace the course so that they get to learn various survival tactics that they may be lacking in the other courses.
