This quarter was one of the most writing intensive of my college career. I had eleven papers to write, and did two presentations. I am at the point in where my writing improvement, is making only slight gains, and that is ok. I am satisfied with the effort that was put forth in this class. I definitely found the class more challenging than composition I. I came into this class, trying to successfully navigate through three research papers and a bibliography. The first paper was the synthesis essay and it was by far the most challenging of the three. I did not even know where to start. I read both our books description and the classroom descriptions of the essay many times before starting. When it was time to put ink to paper, I had a good understanding of what the paper was supposed to be about. The analysis and breaking down of my subject (opiate addiction), was something I was familiar with from other classes. It was once they were deconstructed; trying to put it back together in a new way was the challenge. This forced me to work closely with my sources and gain a deeper understanding than what I was accustom to. …show more content…
This paper did have its challenges regardless of me being accustomed to this particular type of essay. My goal was to argue for a specific treatment of opiate addiction. Unfortunately, most of the sources I was finding arguing in favor of specific treatments were not very strong or dated. I also had many sources arguing the same point repetitively; this consumed a lot of time reading entire papers only to realize that they would not provide anything to my essay. When it came down to writing the paper, it was much easier than the synthesis essay because I had a solid foundation of where the paper needed to
As I chose to take this class and better my writing skills at a college level, I knew this class was going to be difficult. With a total of four essays to write I knew I had to be on my game from the beginning. Throughout durations of this class, I have learned how to become more responsible, plan ahead of time, and how to become a better writer. With each mistake made i have been able to learn and improve. An Ad Analysis, Comparative Analysis, Narrative, and an Argumentative Essay are the four papers we had to write for the course.
Entering this course I was worried because I have struggled with writing in the past, and writing has never been my strongest area. I feared writing classes in middle and high school, and had the same expectations for this course. I had wondered if I was ready for college English, and was worried that my skills and abilities would not be one the level they needed to be for college courses. My attitude and understanding of my writing process have both changed since the beginning of this semester. One thing that really helped my attitude and confidence was the fact that I was able to complete the assignments and get a decent grade. I was worried that I might not be able to do college level writing, and when I started completing the assignments and learning new ways to write my confidence and attitude changed. Another thing that really helped me throughout this course was that there was plenty of reading and information available to guide me through my assignments. I realized that there was more freedom when it comes to writing than I had experienced in high school. Being able to write more freely, and the freedom to choose what subjects I would write over made the assignments more enjoyable and easier to
Get The Facts About Painkillers, Marijuana, Cocaine, Meth & Other Illegal Drugs. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2016, from http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/heroin.html
From deciding on the research topic, to the material that would be best to use, and the best resources to use to find that information were all very overwhelming to me. The Comparison-Contrast Essay was the first essay that required a good amount of research. The weekly discussions helped me in finding a good topic to write about and I was able to get feedback on my ideas prior to starting my paper. The feedback was very insightful and let me know if I was on the right path. Knowing that I was able to articulate my thoughts to the professor and receive helpful advice was very encouraging. The assignment regarding topic sentences was also very helpful to me in preparing the structure of how each paragraph should be written. This exercise helped direct me in breaking down my research into different components, and taught me how to provide a controlling idea for each paragraph and to stay on track through out the essay. Moreover, the use of the library search tutorials and the Purdue OWL resource was extremely beneficial. When researching for my essays, I was able to narrow down my search results by focusing on the key words and databases. I was also able to see my progress in my writing by examining the quality of both of my essays and making sure it was in the correct APA format. I was proud of my final work and felt that it reflected all of the different aspects that I have learned throughout
What is addiction? Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of the brain reward and memory circuitry. Addiction is the inability to abstain consistently from a substance which leads to an impairment in behavioral control. This forms cravings, a diminished idea of significant problems with one’s behavior, and dysfunctional emotional responses (Definition of Addiction 2014. p 1). There are several different substances that a person can be addicted to: alcohol, drugs, food, sex, etc. These substances affect the neurotransmitters and interactions within the reward structures of the brain. Thus giving the person a pleasurable feeling that they want to recreate over and over again. Most people are not able to control the use of their desired substance of choice. They may continue using the substance despite knowing it is harmful. There are characteristic stages of abstinence and relapse. The abstinence stage is where the addicted person tries to quit using. Unfortunately most are not successful because it is almost too hard to quit on their own. This is followed by a relapse stage where they start using the substance again. Addiction can cause serious long-term consequences including issues with mental and physical health, relationships, employment and the law. To help a person overcome an addiction it may take help from a doctor, family, friends, support groups or an organized treatment program.
After taking this course, this has been a struggling journey. I did not find fun in this class due to the grade I have now as a result. My writing skills did not improve from high school, losing confidence in myself to create well-written, interesting papers. However, this class has given me ideas about new styles of writing. Having done these papers helped me to discern the qualifications to write a rhetorical analysis essay from a visual critique paper. Here is how my experience in College Writing went.
People often associate the word addiction with drugs and alcohol because they are the most common form of addictions. The word addiction is often misunderstood because people connects them with negative addictions that are compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance abuse. I believe that the term addiction is evolving because there are positive addictions that exists and can enhance your mood and well being. Addiction occurs with everybody, whether it is good or bad and it is part of life. My personal definition for addiction is forming a habit due to physical or mental needs causing to change a mood.
Substance use disorder is a condition in which an individual depends on a substance, harming his or her mental health. In such a disorder, the continued use of the substance can affect a person’s normal functioning in correlation with the society. For example, the overuse of the substance leads to behavioral issues, which in turn, causes the person to fail in meeting the standards of work and or family matters. Substance intoxication refers to the state of being high due to the effect of the psychoactive substance used. The substance can be either a stimulant, increasing activity level, or a depressant which tends to slow down a persons’ activity level as well as awareness. Such substances are abused because individuals feel that they will be able to avoid uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms (Rosenberg and Kosslyn, 2011). Its’ negative cognitive effects such as not thinking properly nor having proper judgment can make a big impact upon an individuals’ ability to perform activities of daily living.
It was not hard to write, but I hate papers that give students a wide spectrum based on their own ideas. Annotated bibliographies are not hard not write but they can be extremely complicated to write, especially when you find horrid articles. At first, it was challenging to understand what the teacher wanted let alone expected from the class regarding the paper. Before English 111, I had never typed using APA format; therefore, it made writing papers in the class a bit more challenging for me. Citations were probably the biggest challenge related to APA formatting. For some ungodly reason, I could not get the hang of it and kept butchering the citations for the papers. The running head seemed to be a slight challenge also, I do not know why, but it seemed to be an issue for almost everyone in the class. The critical analysis paper was not callus. It was a facile first paper, the only hard part about that paper was understanding how to use the authors name throughout the paper correctly. The research paper was not difficult but it was complicated at times. It took a good amount of time to completely write the paper and say everything that needed to be said. I never knew how hard it was to find creditable information before writing a paper on vaccinations. I now know to never write a paper on such a controversial topic because no one gives creditable information it is all biased. The people who run the test for vaccinations are the people who create the injections, now what kind of crap is
This semester was my very first semester as a college student. Being the first, it was probably the semester I would learn the most in. I learned the expectations for writing that I will have to live up to for the next four years of my college career. Though my high school teachers were usually demanding because I was in the Honors English section throughout high school, writing in college has still ?raised the bar? for me. Also, in high school, we would have weeks to pick a topic, create a thesis, outline the paper, write the paper, and then revise the paper. In college, the time restraints are not quite as lenient. I?ve had to learn to manage my time and be more productive with what free moments I have. Strangely enough, I?ve found the college English experience to be much more rewarding and enjoyable than in high school.
The act of writing an essay has always been something of a love/hate relationship for me. Like many students, I find the process to be either pure enjoyment or incredibly painful depending on my view of the topic. It’s something that I think all of us come to terms with at some point. Throughout this course I have come to realize that a lot of the pain associated with writing can be relieved through an understanding of the skills and methods needed. The process of my growth in this class can be seen throughout my essays. It’s almost hard to believe the journey I’ve been on from my first essay in this class to my last. The feeling I get when I look over my writing assignments is the same as I would get if I were looking at pictures of myself developing as a child. It’s a feeling of distance. Like the entire process took place a long time ago. Despite the fact they were only done months ago; the changes that I have undergone in writing feel immense. Each essay from the first one to the last reflects the challenges and lessons that have contributed to my growth as a student.
The writing process was frustrating. This was due to the fact that my interview was not done yet when I started writing my paper, First, I wrote a paper that seemed to be a very long explanation about how high school does not prepare students for college, it was biased and it seemed more like a rant rather than an essay. Then I polished it and formatted it so there would be three main paragraphs. One
What I found challenging was learning how to write in APA format. I have only used it maybe two times before this assignment so I had to learn how to construct APA properly. My MLA is defiantly my stronger writing format but learning how to do APA is going to help me when I move forward into my education and even my career. Turning the Synthesis paper into an argumentative without writing a whole new paper was very interesting for me. It showed me how exactly the formats of the paper changed and how one can create a new paper out of an old
Addiction is defined as a chronic relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. The best argument against calling addiction a disease states that addicts make the choice to use drugs and that their inability to stop is simply immature and irresponsible behavior. From the articles that I have researched I am going to discuss whether or not drug addiction is a disease or if it is just a choice. I will analyze some key points on the definition of disease as well as choice and hopefully show some evidence to support my theories of drug addiction being a disease or a choice.
I can attest that from the first essay, my knowledge about addiction has expanded in many levels and ways. Although I was aware that people, especially those from the younger generations, were more prone to experimenting with drugs for many reasons such as out of curiosity, peer pressure, and other “compelling” factors, it was very interesting to understand that drug addiction is not always linked to youth or inexperience. It was also intriguing to better understand why some people, even amongst sibling, become addicted to drug or alcohol use/abuse and some don’t. While I have now gained more insight and knowledge about the multiple factors that can contribute to disorders such as genetic vulnerability, environmental stressors, social pressures, personality characteristics, but which of those factors have the biggest influence, is still an area that I will want to continue to learn more about as I start my career as a counselor. Nevertheless, it is clear to me that while each drug produces a different physical impact on the user, all abused substances share one thing in common: repeated use can have a long lasting impact as they can permanently alter the way the brain functions. As I mentioned in my first essay, I started with the misconception that drug abusers