In this class, I have gained tremendous skills especially in research paper writing about contemporary world issues. Through the various writing skills I learned during the class, I have learned how to identify a topic and carry out an extensive research about it by use of various academic materials from different sources. The skills acquired will be vital for me in other academic assignments. In addition, I learned how to write my own paper, realized the areas I want to change and the reasons for changing them. In addition, I discovered the academic tools that helped most where I was writing my papers and identified the biggest challenges in doing a research or writing my own paper that I had to solve.

While choosing the various topics for my research paper, I learned a number of things. My research topics were all related to contemporary issues that the modern world is presently encountering. One of the research topics I identified is about the tense world relations. My aim was to understand the various political tensions that are existing the present world especially involving the standoff in Syria in relation to Russia and other Western countries led by the United States. While carrying out my research on this topic, I came to understand the various reasons why the economically and military powerful countries such as Russia and US are always opposing each other especially in issues centered around Middle East. The main reason for their antagonism is because of differences in ideologies. I am particularly impressed that I now understand how to integrate the different information especially from news agencies. With the knowledge and the information I gained when researching on this topic, I can now be able to argue or present an argument as to why we major countries in the world are experiencing misunderstandings on issues that touch the lives of many people.

While writing about the topic, “nuclear proliferation”, I learned that many countries are adopting the development of nuclear weapons which is a major threat to the world security. Nuclear proliferation is especially dangerous in the wake when the society is facing a widespread increase in terrorism and terrorist activities. I now understand the need for developed countries such the US, European Union, and Russia to come together and provide a solution to address the issue of nuclear proliferation. Similarly, my research on the topic of deforestation has enabled me to understand how dynamic human activities have significantly led to destruction of forests such as the Amazon. Through the research, I now understand the deforestation plays a critical part in the increase in carbon emissions as well as global warming.

When conducting research, I learned how to integrate different academic resources both online and from hard copy resources to develop a solid argument based on the topic under discussion. I understand how to differentiate between scholarly research resources and unverified academic materials presented online. I have also improved my skills in taking notes especially through thorough analysis and summarization of information from various academic resources and integrating them into a single and substantive research paper. Furthermore, I have learned how to develop a thesis statement that acts a reference statement for the later discussion of the paper. I now understand the outline is important in research writing because it provides a guideline for writing a paper. In addition, I learned the importance of proofreading and editing my research paper before submitting the final copy. Generally, the class has enabled in enhancing my research writing skills in various ways and I understand the required process involved in research paper writing.