Throughout the semester in this FIQWS course, I have learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses that I previously did not recognize, especially during the crafting of my two argumentative essays. Whether it was struggling during the planning, drafting, writing, or due to any external factors, I knew that I wasn’t entirely alone in the writing process. I strongly believe that peer work such as the peer reviews and small group work/discussions we would periodically have during different phases of our essays really helped push me in the right direction when I didn’t have any idea how or where to start on things. I remember struggling so much if I’d try to do things on my own without any criticism, which is also why I struggled with the writing process in most of my assignments. Our frequent group work introduced me to new perspectives on my writing, with fellow students often giving suggestions on how to make a stronger argument. In developing my Argumentative Essay on Two Texts, I would gain insight on in-class discussions for forming ideas all the time. Our group brainstorms helped me with this, where as a class, me and 3 other classmates discussed our ideas for the essay and typed it down on shared document that we’d then share to the class. It’s actually through this exercise where I got the topic for my third essay from. One of the ideas we wrote down was “Eli wants to hide his Jewish identity so he can fit in with the Protestant community he lives in.” Choosing my second text also came from this discussion, where a different group wrote down “The Loudest Voice & What Must I Say To You and the interaction between the Jewish and Christian faith in the same community (Call It Sleep works for this too)”. This opened the door for my idea to write about assimilation, using the two different, but similar stories of “What Must I Say to You” and “Eli the Fanatic” to convey the idea of assimilation going against traditional Jewish faith and culture, and thus being responsible for much of the issues within Jewish families and communities. I remember a few weeks into planning my essay I still hadn’t come up with a thesis till I looked back at this and it clicked. Coming up with an argument or thesis was always the hardest part of essay writing for me, so after I reread both texts, it was easy to write.