The first day of my junior year I was extremely overwhelmed by this class; all the essays we were required to write in the first week didn't help much either. However, since the beginning of the year I have learned so many useful and important lessons which have guided my learning throughout this first semester and, I'm assuming, will continue to guide me for the rest of my high school experience and beyond. In addition, I have made many goals which pertain to essays I have written, and I believe I have met those goals.
First thing I experienced walking into English 101 as a freshman was anxiety and nervousness. Going through high school I was never really good at English and having English 101 as my second class as a freshman was eye opening. I have learned to use proper technique while writing papers, looking through my paper for grammar errors and also that it is always good to ask for help when confused and if you are stuck on a paper.
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
Over the course of this semester, I have progressed as a writer. Picking up new skills and dropping old bad habits has transformed me into a much better writer than when I entered the English 101. Entering this class, the only English classes that I took were mandatory high school classes all four years. In these classes, however, content was focused on reading novels, poems, and literature. There was usually only one major writing assignment each year, which was a research paper on a topic that was given by our teachers. Although there was some writing involved in these classes, most of the class time was spent on improving my reading and comprehension skills. A small part of the class was given to improve my skills as a writer and even a researcher. In English 101, however, most of the class time was spent on writing and more specifically, academic writing. This includes doing proper research, picking a worthy topic to write about, correctly analyzing sources, and developing a well-rounded, complete paper. I have progressed a writer over the semester by effectively integrating and analyzing sources better, and being more specific with my words.
This semester has been full of ups and downs in all aspects of school, but English has created a challenge and reward all its own. I found this class to be relatively laid back and smooth going especially compared to General Chemistry. My biggest accomplishment in English 110, in my opinion, was writing my Rhetorical Analysis. I was required to write many different papers in many different ways in high school, but I never had to judge another author on their effectiveness of writing. After I wrote my analysis, turned it in, and read it for myself I was fairly happy. I thought that I did very poorly on it, but I did fairly well for my first analysis. I took what I thought I was suppose write, put my own spin on it, and it worked.
English 101 is one of the most common college courses in the world. When I enrolled in the class, I was bothered that I would have spend forty hours in a freshman writing class; along with at least another forty hours throughout the semester writing for the class. What surprised me, was that when I began writing my essays I was not annoyed or bothered; I actually enjoyed the assignments. Most importantly, throughout the course of the semester, I have become a better writer and have ultimately met the course goals of English 101.
Another semester has ended. However, this time in English class, it was different. It started out the same: the required course work , the dreaded reading assignments along with the required essays for the class. Once class started, the professor went over the syllabus. I thought to myself that this was going to be a long first day. By the time I got to the second essay (about the sixth week), I started to realize that this English class is not like the others; it had much more to give. Before this class, English was all about structure and writing without errors. It concentrated more on the skeleton of the content rather than the content itself. This class taught me to look at English or more precise, literacies, in a different light. I have been able to develop a clear line of argument that incorporates ideas and evidences from sources; recognize that writing is a flexible and recursive process; and incorporate conventions for source integration such as paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting. I have a newfound respect and exhilaration for the English discourse.
In the end, this semester has really helped me out with my writing skills. It opened my eyes to the simple fact that writing does not always have to be miserable and boring. Having the right subject to write about can make or break your attitude about the papers you have to write, personal ones were never something that I would dread to write. Learning how to incorporate rhetorical styles into my papers really did help spice them up and make them more interesting. The online discussions showed me how to be more outgoing and reach out to other people to help edit my paper and return favors in the end. Over all this English class has changed my outlook on English in general and really did help me enjoy it a little bit more.
Throughout this semester I have learned many ways of writing through two main essays literacy narrative and comparison and contrast. These two essays have taught me how to correctly fix my comma splices, thesis statements, and capitalization. I have engaged in numerous learning material during this summer class. Many times when I thought it would be hard to work on those three developments I never gave up. I gain more positive feedback from my teacher because he pointed out most of my mistakes I made on both literacy narrative and comparison and contrast essays to help me understand what is it that I need to work on. My development as a writer became stronger.
Throughout the semester I have learned an astounding amount of information. The English 101 curriculum has not only taught me how to write in general, but also taught me a variety of ways to get my point across to the reader. Before I took English 101 I was an average writer at best, but now that I am taking a class that focuses on writing strategies I feel that I have been able to improve as a writer. During the course we were taught how to write an informative essay as well as how to write a persuasive essay. The type of writing that this class has taught me will most definitely help me with future classes as well as my future in the real world. Throughout the English 101 course I have been able to improve as a writer by composing essays
Weak skills that I began the class with have become strong and my strong skills have become stronger. Having the opportunity to write a variety of different essay styles has challenged me greatly to improve my writing techniques. Each essay I was required to write brought its own struggles for me. I had to draw on the information that was presented through the class as well as look to the textbook for guidance. To ensure I did well on each essay I thought about my topic, researched the topic, then began to outline what I wanted to write about. Finally, I would write the essay and submit a rough draft. English 102 has given me the skills and training I need to move on to other classes next semester that will require writing essays. I now have a confidence in my writing abilities that this class has given
I have always known that writing was not my strong point. Entering writing 101 in September I was very much afraid. I knew that the expectations would be very high for this course; thus it would be more difficult than any other writing class I had previously taken. At first writing was a nightmare for me, but thanks to the assistance from professor Smart and my tutors, I have improved drastically in my writing skills and, as a result I am now a better writer. During the course of four months, I have learned so much. There were a few bumps in the way throughout the semester, but I managed to overcome them. It is hard to believe that my journey in writing 101 is coming to an end. Through my hard work and dedication, this class has helped me to build confidence in my writing that will help me throughout my college life.
As I look back on my English 101 experience, I have come to the conclusion that I have learned many new things that have improved my abilities as a writer. I have learned some new techniques that have improved my ways of approaching an essay. I learned all about the rhetorical appeals and how to apply them in my writing and how to look for them in a essay written by a author. I have also learned how to argue both sides of a argument, and how to look for reliable sources and to properly quote and site the author of the essay. I feel as if I have become a better writer and my improved writing skills are shown within each essay.
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.
English 105 was a very helpful class. I hadn’t taken an English class since my first semester of senior year so it was good to brush up on my skills. The order of papers that we did was also encouraging because the farther we got in the semester, the harder the papers got. We started small and worked our way up to a 10-page paper. I didn’t believe that I would be able to write as many pages as was necessary, but my research was thorough enough that I had to cut information out. That was one of my proudest moments in this class. In English 105 I learned how to write a rhetorical analysis, a research paper, and an evaluation.