I am an international student from China and this is my first semester studying at the University of Oklahoma. ENGL 1113 Principles of English Composition is the basic academic writing class for all the students at the OU. According to the First-Year Composition, English 1113 focuses on the language of power in two ways “the power of language” and “the relationship between power and language “( First-Year Composition). English 1113 helped students learn how to use language analyzing and understand reading materials. More than that, English 1113 teach the format of the essay which is MLA. MLA is required by many courses to write essays and reports. We have written three essays in this class Critical literacy Unit paper, Scholarly Discourse Unit …show more content…
More than that, we need to write our names on the given places. Actually, we do not have specific format on writing essay. However, American university often requires students to use APA, MLA or Chicago. In English 1113, I learned the MLA format. Firstly, I should type on white 8.5*11 inch paper by computer. Secondly, I should use double space and Time New Roman. The font size is 12. Thirdly, the margins of the documents should be 1 inch. Then, page number and family name should be on a header of the page. Finally, if I use the sources from other writer, I should cite it and write the work cited page (Purdue Online Writing). We write three essays Critical literacy Unit paper, Scholarly Discourse Unit Paper and Discourse Community Analysis Paper. Each promote require us to “cite all sources (quote and paraphrases) in MLA format include a work cited page. As an International student, I did not know the MLA format when I came to America. But MLA format is required in other class, for example, I am taking A History of the United States course, according the prompt, “write a short essay of about 800-1000 words, your essay should be in MLA style” (Hoyt).In history class, our instructor talks the American history with us instead of teaching MLA style. The instructor uses the whole class time to teach the specific requirements of MLA style. I can use the correct format in the essay in History of the United States so I will not lose the grade on the format of the
6. Properly cite your references in the text of your essay (either in parentheses or in footnotes), as well as at the end.
Taking ENC 1101 this fall has taught me a few valuable components in regards to composition and college life. These past few months I have learned how to participate in an argument, source my research using MLA format and how crucially important it is to submit assignments ahead of time.
Consistency, is what essay formats seek to provide for readers. Without essay formats, readers may find themselves lost in the style of the author’s text rather than contemplating the ideas and thoughts that the author wants the reader to acknowledge. However, why is it that there are so many different essay formats? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just have one universal essay format? The two most widely used formats, MLA and APA, both have great degree of similarity as well as very distinct differences. Most of the similarities exist due to their effectiveness. On the other hand, the two formats’ distinct differences such as in-text citations or setting aside a whole page for a title, serve to strengthen the clarity of ideas within a field of study the author is trying to convey. Different formats exist due to the specific necessities fields of study require in order to convey their ideas to the reader.
For my Final Reflection Essay I attempted to focus on the most obvious adjustments I made from writing high school papers to producing college level essays. This approach compelled me to examine a few of the papers I submitted in high school and look back on the steps I took to write them. By reviewing my previous work I realized that during Dr. Kennedys English 111 class I have effectively learned how to apply an outline, utilize research, and incorporate that research into my final paper. English 111 has helped me to understand the importance of the multiple steps of writing a great college level essay by forcing me to complete each step individually. My overall performance in this class has been above average and I have really demonstrated dedication to improvement.
Strategies and techniques that a person uses are those that allow you to write great papers. There are no rules on how an essay should be written; the only expectations are to get your main point across to your audience. Whether you are writing a persuasive essay, an informal essay, literary essay, argumentative essay, or a compare and contrast essay you name it there is always a purpose. One individual can follow a linear process and can edit it and precede all over with the following steps. Your fellow class mate might have a different way to write or even have similarities within. Writing takes time, patience, and overall practice. Just like how Hairston relates writing to the best athletes. Athletes are not born the best but through practice, time, criticism, and reinforcement it can lead them to become the
I am an international student from China and this is my first semester studying at the University of Oklahoma. ENGL 1113 Principles of English Composition is the basic academic writing class for all the students at the OU. According to the First-Year Composition, English 1113 focus on the language of power in two ways “the power of language” and “the relationship between power and language “(First-Year Composition). English 1113 helped students learn how to use language analyzing and understand reading materials. More than that, English 1113 teach the format of the essay which is MLA. MLA is required by many courses to write essays and reports. We have written three essays in this class Critical literacy Unit
English Composition II has unexpectedly improved my writing into an academic level. As I studied various English reading and writing courses, this class “English Composition II” did not immediately caught my eye. However as I researched about the concepts of this class, the decision to make was not so difficult since I was lacking in critical thinking and the interpretation of works. Also as a Business Major, it made sense that the subject of English would be of interest to me and as a career requirement. During the first weeks, I thought that I would be fully prepared for this course after taking an accelerated course in English during the spring semester. However, after attending class for about a month, I certainly did not expect to learn an entirely new process of writing
This course was the first course I took as an incoming freshman, as anyone could imagine I was scared and nervous at the same time. Also since it is a writing course; I was hesitant if I wanted to continue in the class because writing is very challenging for me as an immigrant. Returning from summer break, I found it extremely tough to continue where I left off with my writing skills from high school. The fear of writing that my old high school teacher instilled in me did not help my writing anxiety either. In contrast, I found that the professor and the course were not at all intimidating as I assumed, the professor took time from his busy schedule to help his students to further improve their writing and the writing topics were very stimulating and thought provoking. Composition 1 has helped me learn more about myself and my writing skills, which allowed me to further self-evaluate myself, find where I need improvement and become motivated to change.
The strengths in my writing are my organizational skills, grammatical construct, and my work ethic. Organizing an essay is a very natural process for me. I always follow the basic guidelines for the structure of an essay, which state that one must have an introduction, thesis statement, body, conclusion, and a works cited when needed. The “Are Helicopter Parents Entering the No Fly Zone?” essay, “Animal Cloning—How Unethical Is It?” essay, and the “The Clean Water Act—Is it Successfully Reducing Water Pollution?” essay all have a proper introduction, an informative thesis statement, a body, great conclusions, and works cited pages. Formatting the essays is an integral aspect of organizational skills. Each new paragraph is indented, the font is twelve-point Times New Roman, the sentences are double spaced, and the headers are correct.
Every English 111 textbook should consist of three main things: the proper way to write an academic essay, review of proper grammar, mechanics word usage and a short transition chapter of the difference between writing in high school and college writing. Successful College Writing by Kathleen T. McWhorter has many of the essentials but noticed it lacked examples of a noble essay. All throughout class students critiqued essays but never actually saw an example of a good, noteworthy complete essay. Having examples of what a person shouldn’t do in an essay is always beneficial but should be followed by a precise academic essay. How are the student supposed to improve their academic writing skills if they have nothing to go by? Just because the book lacks a few of the basic essentials doesn’t mean the book itself will not be beneficial in any way. The book as a whole is pleasing but still has room for revisions.
My English 1310 course was taught by Professor Daniel Stuart. He taught us the concept of academic writing and why it is important. Academic writing is the process of down ideas, using a formal tone, deductive reasoning and third person. Writing done to carry out the requirements of a college or university on a research based level. It requires a starting point or introduction, followed by a thesis on the preferred topic, then comes proving and disproving of the evidence based arguments. Learning academic writing is important because it is a way to communicate our thoughts clearly and originality. It helps us think and see what evidence we can come up to contribute to that thinking. This course approached this idea of academic writing by
Students in Eleventh Grade College Preparatory English classes will be able to read a writing prompt and understand what it is asking them to do. They will demonstrate this by being able to restate the prompt into a topic sentence and articulate their response with an appropriate thesis statement. In addition they will be able to organize their paper and support their ideas with evidence from the text provided.
Throughout high school I dealt with MLA format which I never truly understood because it was not emphasized on. Now that I am in college, however, it is a completely different story. I’m not going to say that I struggled immensely with APA format, but it did take some getting used to. Instead of freewriting where formats are thrown out the window for idea creation, I had to stick with set rules on how a paper should look and how information should be organized and presented. After a few papers with the grand finale of the “research supported cause/effect essay,” citing sources and notating references seemed much easier. Being able to use different techniques to cite sources will allow my future papers to flow and allow the reader to not be bored to death. Referencing sources properly will keep my papers from being flagged as plagiarized and authors will get their due credit because I know I would not like my work to be claimed as someone else’s. With all of the writing in the future I will need to do for college and my business writing, Writing 101 has ensured a bright start for all of
I had never written in MLA format at any other school in the states. Mrs. Jamadi also taught us how to write a proper paragraph. In her class I learned about Shakespeare. I learned when he was born and when he died. I learned that he invented around 1,700 words in the English language.
I have learned many things throughout the course of the term, including such things as: how to write an essay and how to improve on essays that I have already written, how to locate and composite better research through the use of numerous resources found at the campus library, the internet, and the “Common Sense” textbook, how to cite research, examples, and quotations properly within the contents of my research paper as well as document it accurately according to MLA standards. Through the exploration of the “Subjects and Strategies” textbook, I have learned nine different methods used when writing an effective essay and how the different writing styles affect the overall theme and tone of the essay when used properly. This past semester, I have encountered many difficulties when trying to write these essays, but through the use of the textbooks, the aide of the instructor, and once I was able to classify the different types of essays and styles, I found them possible to overcome.