As the semester winds to a close, I have found the argument papers to be really beneficial in helping me be more concise in my writing. Starting with the first minor argument, I struggled to pare down my key points and supporting information into something coherent and not an endless citation fest. It took a lot more work than I was initially expecting. I feel that this initial process helped prepare me to adapt my minor argument one for the major argument assignment. This whole process allowed me to feel much more prepared for the minor argument two assignment, although since I was ready for the focus of the minor argument, I struggled to turn it into a major argument. With all that being said, the semester did catch up with me as I worked on minor argument three and struggled to achieve the focus and clarity I did on minor argument 2.

Overall, I have discovered that making clear and concise connections between my argument points and research is an area that I need to continue to work on, as well as maintaining focus on the overall point I am trying to make. I know that I can be to the point, but I also need to be mindful of areas that need further explanation and exploration. I feel that undertaking these assignments helped me refine my process of organizing my research materials to look for both supporting and counterpoints to my arguments. As I move forward in my PhD journey, I will leverage the skills and build upon them as I work towards rooting my research and views in areas where I can make strong supportive points.

This course marks the end of the formalized structure of my PhD program as I move forward to the dissertation phase. I will be finalizing my portfolio this summer and will be using the skills I learned in this course as I wrap up some of my artifacts that I will defend as evidence of the knowledge I have gained. The main area I see being able to utilize the skills I have learned in this class is refining some of my works as I prepare to submit them for publication, especially in being more concise to ensure I can meet the publication guidelines. I hope to be able to continue to learn from my peers as I enter this phase so that I can continue to learn and grow from their insights and feedback, as well as provide assistance where I can for them as well. I know that one area where I struggle with research is developing a precise research question to guide my studies. The skills I have developed in this course will help me better examine the problem I am attempting to answer and envision what is needed to support my findings. The work in this course has helped me better understand how to make my arguments to justify the need for my studies, and I envision this being truly helpful when I reach the point of my dissertation proposal defense.