To demonstrate my written communication skills, I chose my midterm essay for ENG-242 (British Literature II), which I took in the spring semester of 2023 over sixteen weeks. Having had the opportunity to write weekly explication essays on a variety of works of literature using literary theories throughout the course, I was excited to see what would come of a more in-depth and extensive essay communicating my thoughts and analysis of a specific work of British literature, that particular piece of literature being The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, written by himself. I had previously visited the autobiography in other classes (HIS-131 specifically), so being already familiar with it was incredibly helpful and provided room for further insight and analysis that I had not observed in my first time reading and writing about it. 

The project was titled “The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano Through the Lens of New Historicism,” and it explored the writings of Olaudah Equiano using the “New Historicism” literary theory, with which I ultimately aimed to understand the writing through the cultural and historical context of the time and location in which it took place and communicate my analysis and thoughts effectively. The reason I chose a literary analysis as my artifact was primarily because I felt it was a more difficult form of written communication that takes a different level of skill to successfully communicate, especially as literary analyses often explore deeper and more abstract thoughts that might not always appeal to readers. Typically, I prefer more free forms of written communication, such as creative writing, but I enjoyed writing it because I felt my writing style and prose still came through while still managing to carefully examine each important aspect of the analysis and summarize my thoughts in a condensed manner. 

The goals I had selected previously for this assignment were to develop a more effective writing style that better communicates my ideas to my professors and audiences and achieve a point where I can clearly and effectively write on complex subjects. I did not find these goals as measurable as they could be, though I do feel I successfully accomplished both within this assignment. Because my previous goals were particularly broad, and I feel I had developed those skills in past classes, I chose two other goals that could be better incorporated into this specific written communication assignment. The first was to choose valuable sources and incorporate them into my essay effectively, and the second was to capture the reader's attention and present my analysis in an engaging and entertaining manner.​

For my first goal, I wanted to ensure I chose valuable sources and incorporated them into my essay effectively. The main source I used for my essay was Olaudah Equiano’s own personal writings and autobiography, but there were other aspects I considered, such as sources on other historical events and culture of the time. I was able to incorporate each source, especially my main source, into my essay primarily through quotes and summaries, which I feel added to my writing style and communicated my analysis in a way that was easier to understand.  

For my second goal, I wanted to capture the reader’s attention and present my analysis in an engaging and entertaining manner. My primary attention grabber, I believe, was the incorporation of quotes that I mentioned previously. I know that personally when I read an essay or article or written work, quotes tend to grab my attention faster than other techniques, and worked especially well considering my introduction summarized the gist of things fairly quickly. Olaudah Equiano’s life story is also entertaining in itself, so I incorporated as much of it as I could into my essay without subtracting from the analytical aspects of it. 

Written communication, I believe, is one of my strengths—and I love every opportunity I get to improve upon it and develop it into something even better than it currently is. It is something that I will have the chance to apply to most if not all, potential career paths, and it is important in every context of life, whether personal, academic, or professional. From this particular artifact, I learned to better incorporate sources into my essay, as well as catch the reader’s attention and keep them entertained throughout the essay, and I have had the opportunity to further develop my written communication skills in nearly all the courses I have taken here at SPCC, but most especially ENG-111, ENG-112, ENG-241, and ENG-242.