Rearview Mirror While looking back at my first semester in English Composition 1, I am surprised by how much I actually learned and how much I developed the writing skills I already had. The rough drafts and group work we did helped me a lot during the four papers we wrote. My portfolio of the semester includes four pieces of writing and this reflective essay. The four assignments we had were a culture description, observation, comparison-contrast, and a persuasive essay. During the semester and the papers we wrote, I found out some things that I struggled with but also found that I’m pretty good at certain aspects of writing. Throughout the four essays we wrote I struggled with detail, sentence variety, but did well with apostrophes. Out …show more content…
A lot of points I lost was because of bad sentence variety. My first paper about cultures, and I started many of the sentences with the word “the.” This caused me to lose two style points in my first paper. Also In the opening paragraph of my observation paper I started seven sentences in a row with “the.” Then in the last three paragraphs I started multiple sentences with “the” and “she.” Mr. Bays wrote “need to vary sentences,” and circled all of them making my paper look like a spider web. This showed me specifically what I did wrong so I could fix it for my next papers. Though I did lose many style points for sentence variety in my first two papers, I was happy to see that I didn’t lose any style points for sentence variety in my last two papers. This showed me that I did a good job of mastering sentence variety, and taught me to look for these errors while proofreading my …show more content…
I always did poorly in high school with grammar, so I thought I would carry this same struggle over with me to college. It made me happy to see that through all four papers did I only lost 2 points for grammar. In the culture paper I had a couple of comma splices causing me to lose points. I wrote “The weight room was like a second home, there were days we wouldn’t get out until 6 P.M.” I should have put a period after home instead of a comma. I had a few small comma issues causing me to lose the two points, but other than that I did really well with grammar. I was very happy with how well I did with apostrophes. In high school one of my biggest problems was showing possession with apostrophes. In the four papers we wrote I didn’t lose any points for apostrophes. What helped me a lot was the group work and the rough drafts. If I did make an apostrophe mistake either Mr. Bays or my group members would point them out to me. Then I was able to go back and fix them while I was proofreading my
When I was first accepted into the AP Language & Composition course, I felt overwhelmed. I had always received above average grades in all subject areas, but because this was an AP course I was unsure if my English skills were up to par. During the summer, my anxiety about the course increased. I began to feel that my writing skills were inferior to the skills of my peers’. Before this course, I did not have a developed writing voice or style. I had little knowledge of what phrases or words to avoid using in writing. I started to wonder if I truly belonged in an AP course. After having completed this course, I have a better grasp of the English language and have acquired skills that have improved my writing.
This trimester I began the class English 101 with mixed feelings. Depending on the topic and style, I could really enjoy writing. However, there were occasionally times where I just did not feel much inspiration, and consequently, my writing quality was not exactly remarkable. My previous course to English 101 was AP Literature, where I learned how to analyze writing and write powerful papers. Although, to my disadvantage for this class, the teacher was more concerned about content than presentation and grammar technicalities. I learned to create good ideas and responses, and while I did possess the ability to convey them with proficiency, I could not express myself at a college level. Nonetheless, I can happily report that I have acquired these skills throughout English 101, learning to curb my near addiction to prepositional phrases, in addition to halting my use of coordinating conjunctions to begin sentences. I find it pleasing to read and compare my first essay to my latest one, seeing all of the differences and enhancements. My writing has improved through the trials of in-depth analyses and short deadlines, enabling me to perform my best no matter the style or topic. Overcoming the oppositions found in the class and my own
In one semester of English 101 I have learned so many things about writing. I used to believe that writing was just putting words on paper, but have since learned that writing is much more than that, I now understand that writing is a way of exploring my mind and of making connections with other writers and readers. Over the course of the semester I have been learning to write in a way that uses the skills of reflection, critical thinking, and much more. I have used these skills to compose two academic essays that I am submitting in a portfolio to determine my final grade in English 101. In order to have a passing final grade my essays need to display skills I have learned in the course that are required by the Portfolio Assessment Rubric or
This reflective essay will lay emphasis on one of the learning needs I have developed during my two week taster placement in hospital. Reflection helps an individual build upon their skills and makes room for self-criticism as he or she can contemplate upon actions and make relevant changes (Taylor, 2000). I will be applying the “What”, “So what” and “Now what” model of reflection by Driscoll (2000) in this piece of work because it is a more coherent and comprehensible approach to follow when writing a reflective account and is also an easier guide to writing reflections. The learning need I chose to reflect on from my learning plan is having a better understanding of diabetes and the 6 basic medications used in treating the condition since it is a common illness on the ward I am have been allocated on for my first placement. The timescale set for achieving this objective was by the end of my two week placement that is from 27th January to 9th February and I achieved it with the help of a host of factors. In this assignment, all the names of the patients and wards have been omitted and indicated with letters and numbers for confidentiality reasons as stated in the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) code of conduct (2008). The paper will primarily touch on the type 2 diabetes and furthermore on the achievement on my learning need.
Throughout this semester, I was able to learn many writing skill and was able to develop as a writer. When I found out that I was scheduled to be in English Composition I, I was very nervous as I have always felt that writing was one of the skills that I needed to improve on. Although I usually received good grades on my essays, I did not like writing them since it would always take me more than five hours to write a one page essay. If I wanted a good grade in English Composition I, I knew that I was definitely going to have to improve on my grammars. The main skills that we learned in this class were writing a clear thesis statement, paragraph structures, and sensory details. Through this class, I was able to attain more knowledge in these areas and gain confidence in my writing skills. The areas that I have improved on over the course of the semester are staying in the same tense, using
When it came to the process of writing my first, second, and third essay’s, there was clear visual improvement that I have become a better writer in certain aspects. As for essay one, I tended to rely on my writing skills as a high school student rather than use the components of a successful college student essay. This was definite once I received the feedback given by ...
The days are getting warmer, the grass is greener, and everything is growing. As the spring semester has progressed, our class has focused on developing our writing skills. Like the buds on the trees, my skills are emerging. Instead of sunlight and water, my freshly developed skills will need practice and review. Based on this perspective, the word that best describes my experience in my Advanced Composition class is “developing.” My composition skills have been thoughtfully developed as we have progressed through differing challenges in our assigned papers.
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.
The next paper I wrote was, The Tornado of the Century, it was a descriptive essay and I really focused on finding the small things in my papers to make them correct. I begin to use a website called paper rater and going to Mrs. Thomas for help during the next couple of papers, so I starting narrowing down the grammar mistakes to make my grade better. The third paper I wrote was, How to be a Wingman, I found out in this one that punctuation was everything, because I got some points off for using the wrong punctuation. However, taking out this grammar issues did help my grade in the end. The final paper I wrote was, Success, this was by far my favorite paper, because I knew how to look for grammar errors and punctuation errors. Even though I still took this paper to Mrs. Thomas, she was not marking it up to badly just for the fact that I learned these things over the course of the class.
The English classes that I have taken over the course of my years in school have always been greatly enjoyable. Fortunately, I've been lucky to have had amazing teachers, more than eager to aid me in improving my writing. I believe that as far as my writing skills, there is always room for improvement. There will always be another vocabulary word to learn, or a writing style to master. Although I am not necessarily striving for perfection (I don't dream of being the next Mark Twain or F. Scott Fitzgerald), improving my personal best is what I am invariably working towards. This year in English 101 has served as a very significant step in my writing journey. It gave me a push into the “bootcamp” of college writing, while still retaining certain aspects of writing that I find truly enjoyable.
The writing skills I focused on for each paper were lessening my grammatical errors and working on having better vocabulary as well. I thought I was really good at writing papers until I got to this class and realized I can't half ass anything and I need to take the time into my work. I have always struggled with spelling and commas but I have become much better after first semester. The papers I worked the hardest on in first semester was my Research Paper, and my Profile Essay because I actually took my time on it and had to do extra work than just think of something to write about and type it. I got to interview someone, and do research that will make my paper
Over the course of the semester, I feel that I have grown as a writer in many ways. When I came into the class, there were skills I had that I already excelled at. During my time in class, I have come to improve on those skills even more. Before I took this class I didn’t even realise what I was good at. This is the first class where I felt I received feedback on my writing that helped me to actually review my work in see what areas I lacked in and where I succeeded. Some of the skills I had shocked me as I didn’t think I had those capabilities in me.
Within Frankenstein is a world divided between the egotistical ideas of a mad man and the monster that is created through his insanity: in Lacanian terms, between the Symbolic and the Imaginary Orders. According to Lacan, “the Imaginary [is a] field of images and imagination, and deception” (Wikepedia.org ); Victor’s imagination being reflected solely on the monster that is created by his own guilty hands. To Victor, his creation reflects the idea and ego that cultivate through him, it is the spark that takes the ordinary and turns him into the “alienated.”
At the start of the semester, I struggled mostly with using summarizations of the book as evidence, rather than elaborating on my own ideas. My second paper, for example, can be considered more of a summary of the book Frankenstein, rather than an argumentative essay on the dangers of the acquisition of knowledge. By the third paper, I was aware of my struggle with summarizing the text, rather than arguing my point, so I did a better job at making an argument. Along with starting off the semester by mainly summarizing the text, I struggled with using topic sentences. In my second paper, my paragraphs had no definite beginning and ending sentences; they were simply continuations of the following paragraph. My third and fourth essays had stronger topic and conclusion sentences, allowing me to stick more closely with my thesis, rather than drifting away from what was asked. Though I feel that I could greatly improve in providing evidence and having stronger topic sentences, I believe that I have greatly improved throughout this semester. I had started this semester very weak in my abilities of elaborating on a topic and providing strong topic and conclusion sentences, and though I still have more room to develop these skills, I have become a stronger writer after developing these
In this “Digital Age” that we currently live in, it becomes very easy for an individual to become infatuated with the amount of social media outlets available on the internet. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat all revolve around the idea of showcasing one’s personal life for the sake of receiving positive feedback or attention by peers and strangers from the outside world. An episode of the Netflix sci-fi anthology series, “Black Mirror,” decides to tackle this topic in a surreal yet imaginative way. The episode in particular, “Nosedive,” investigates a hypothetical future or alternate universe where social media profiles and star ratings have become the norm. The plot revolves around a young lady named Lacie, who