During the semester we covered three different units.

Each of these units discussed a

different style of writing. In the first unit we discussed a discourse analysis writtign, in the
second unit we discussed argumentative style of writtign, and the third unit we discussed
Analyzing style of writing. Each of these units gave me different struggles I had towork through
to complete the best essay possible, not only did I struggle these units have also given me skills
that I can use not onlyin my future at Appalachian State, but also in my career outside of
Appalachian State.
The Assess unit was not one of my favorites, only because of the learning curve that I
was behind, but after catching up I started to realize how to write a good discourse analysis
paper. This unit taught me many different things, most importantly how to cite authors' works in
my essay, which was a big problem I had before taking this class. My essay was on AI systems
and the benefits they bring to the world today and in the future. Beginning the essay was a
struggle for me since I had never written a discourse analysis paper before, So I didn't really
know what I was looking for or doing. After being taught and shown certain things to look for in
certain scholars' writings, it made writing the paper a little smoother. Learning some simple
tricks and ways to understand how authors speak in their writing really helped me out, with
finding good quotes to use within my essay about AI systems and the benefits they can bring to
us. One thing I struggled with in this unit was, knowing when and how to cite the author's work
in my essay. I have always struggled when citing in my work,since it was not really taught in my
previous writing courses, so this was an immediate struggle I had, after learning the different tips
during class, through the PowerPoints, and trial and error. Also the peer review was a big help
the students in my group were very informative on where I was making mistakes with my
citations and other points I should clear up within my essay. The citations I used and when I used
them in my essay really started to improve, which started to bring my essay together. These skills
I have learned from the many informational powerpoints, the annotated bibliography, trial and
error, and peer review have given me many skills that I can use for the rest of my college career
and for my professional career as well.
The Argue unit was the second unit we covered in the class this semester. This unit was
not as difficult as the assess unit because most of my high school papers were argumentative
papers, so I had some sort of background in the concept of writing an argumentative essay. My
essay was about the benefits of AI systems and how they will affect our future as humans. This
topic was very interesting to me, so that also gave me some motivation and joy when writing this
essay. During the unit, I did not struggle as much as in the begging unit, but I still had some
struggles throughout the way. This essay definitely challenged me with in-text citations as well
as the first unit did. While completing the different activities, going through the PowerPoints,
and the peer review definitely helped me get through the problems I was having when citing
authors' work in my essay. This unit was definitely my favorite out of all the units, just because
of the topic I was discussing and all the feedback I got from the peer review. The topic of AI
systems and how they can benefit us is very interesting to me so siding and writing an opinion on
this topic was pretty easy for me. Also, the peer review for this unit from the classmates in my
group was very informative, my group gave me every detailed tips, and certain things to work on
and improve on, which really helped my essay out in the end. The argument unit has brought me
a lot of information that I can use not only in a writing class but also in any other class, other
than the classroom thus unit has also given me information that I can use in my future career and
in everyday life.
The final unit for the class was the Analyze unit. This unit was definitely my kryptonite. I
have never written any type of analytical essay or have done anything to do with analyzing an
authors work, so at the begging of this unit I was pretty nervous for what was coming. My topic
for this unit was the AI systems and the benefits they can bring. The main scholar whose work I
was analyzing was Abbas Dhilawala. Abbas Dhilawala is a respected engineer, developer, and
programmer. He has over fourteen years of experience in medical device software. Abbas wrote
a very informative article about AI systems in the medical field and the benefits these sytems
could bring right now and in the future. While reading, discussing, and analyzing Abbas work,
there were many things that I was not clear with at the time. During this unit we completed the
Annontation and analzing worksheet. Doing this worksheet really helped me understand, what
quotes were important or not and what quotes I could analyze that would go with the topic of my
essay. Along with the annotation and analyzing worksheet, the peer review given by the students
in my group was also very helpful to me as well. This unit was the most challenging for me, but
it was also the unit that gave me the most skills that I can take away from this class and apply to
other things. Analyzing a scholars work goes more than just english class and writting a paper.
You can analyze anykind of writing at anytime, especially for my degree, scholars in the field of
computer information systems speak in a very informative way. Now having some skill and
experience with analyzing scholars work, I know I will be using these skills in my future classes
at Appalachian State and in my everyday life.
In conclusion, these three units have come with their struggles but I think the positives
that have also come from these units outweighs the struggles. Each unit has given me different
skills that I can use here at Appalachian State, not only with Appalachian State but also for the
foreseeable future. These units and the essays I have written for these units have made me a
better scholar, a better reader, a smarter student in other classes, and more informative on my
major and the field of computer information systems.