Reflection on the Diagnostic Essay

It may be irrelevant to try to compare the diagnostic essay that we turned in at the beginning of the class with the research paper. Whereas the diagnosis paper relied on intuition and use of structure, the research paper employs many strategies learned throughout the course. Perhaps, both the diagnostic and the research paper can be used to see the progress made throughout the semester. Even though I had a pretty solid foundation on writing due to the fact that I took college writing in my first semester, this class has improved my ability to build an argumentation and made use of outside resources.

The diagnostic essay tried to define the meaning of the word power but it was a bit difficult to define it because it is a broad term to define. In that case, I tried to limit the essay into two different discussions; economic and political power. After reading Michael Mann’s chapter on the word power, we all know that it is impossible to gather all the concepts in two pages. After having two aspects of the word power, I approached the discussion. While I tried to follow an organized structure, there were some problems that were evident in the essay. First of all, some arguments out of the place meaning that they did not following a logical sequence that supported the thesis. In addition, I just gave summaries as an examples but that was because I did not have outside sources.

While the diagnosis essay served as an indication of the writing level, the research paper incorporates the techniques that we have learned throughout the course. One of the big improvement is the use of outside resources. I became more critical in analyzing outside resources. It is very essential that the research needs to be carefully evaluated and used properly. This includes the use of citations, and bibliography. Another technique that is critical is that the topic sentences of each paragraph needs to be linked to the thesis. It is clear that I am more confident in deploying these techniques in my writing.

Lastly, this class has contributed to my knowledge about the ancient Near East. Before taking this class, I did not know anything about ancient Near East, except the fact that it is considered one of the first civilizations. Learning is an endless process and surely, I have learned about Mesopotamia.