Coming into English 102, I thought that it was going to be an easier course; I thought of it as another paper that I could work on here and there and then piece together closer to its due date. I’ve written many papers throughout high school and in English 101 and did well on them. Writing is one of my strengths in school, so I wasn’t concerned going into the class. However, only a week into the course I realized that this paper wasn’t like any other papers I have written before. I never had to spend an entire semester on a paper before, it was always only a few weeks. It is easy to procrastinate when you are given a whole semester for one paper, which is what happened at first. However, when I realized my rough draft was not meeting the course goals, I began to worry I wasn’t going to accomplish my goal of earning a good grade in the course. That worry motivated me to spend more time and effort on my paper. My paper is a great example of what started off as a weak, struggling …show more content…
At this point, my paper was only about half way done and I was stuck, not knowing what to do next. After seeking help from the professor, I figured out that I was struggling to analyze the background information. The facts were there, but the idea wasn’t. I knew what I wanted to say about my topic, but I didn’t know how to say it. I started by writing separate paragraphs after each body paragraph called “thoughts” and I typed what I thought about the information I had in a certain body paragraph. This helped me a lot in figuring out what I was trying to do with all the facts I had. Satisfied with how things were going, I went to see my professor again. I was told that I was on the right track, but needed to work my thoughts into the paragraphs and not have separate paragraphs with just analysis. After doing that, I still was short a few pages and I was stuck
Before this quarter started I was fairly confident that I had what it took to ace English 101. After the first paper, I realized I was mistaken. Throughout this quarter I have had numerous problems with my writing that proved I needed to do a little more studying to help take my writing to the college level. Although I did not fail any of my papers, there was plenty of room for improvement. All the areas I needed to improve on are all areas that I think every English 101 student should know. I believe that every student at the college level should know how to cite sources correctly, know how to use good transitions, and know how to properly elaborate their examples.
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.
Over the course of this class I feel like I have become a much better writer. When I go back and look at some of my Journal entries and assignments that I did at the beginning of the semester, I can’t help but tense up at some of the things I wrote. Sometimes the things I was writing didn’t flow well, or I might have even have missed glaring grammar mistakes.
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
As a second language learner I have never expected myself to be a perfect writer throughout the semester. Even If English was my first language still, I would not be a perfect writer. It is not about first or second language, it is about how well I understand the learning objectives. Then organizing and writing with my own ideas and putting them in my paper. I am going to be honest, I am not good at English subject and English subject is my strongest weakness than the other subjects. In this paper I will discuss and analyze my own writing, reflecting on the ways that my writing has improved throughout the semester.
When I first signed up for English 101 at soar, I thought it was more of a reading and comprehension class instead of a writing class. On August 19, the first day of class, I learned that this class was opposite of what I thought and it made me super nervous. I never had to write so many lengthy essay in a short amount of time. When I first enter the class I saw myself as a writer that needed a lot of work. I knew my writing needed work because of my high school English teachers, they once told me that my writing needed a lot of work and was not college material. This statement became a reality once I received my first essay grade and feedback from my professor. I was still stuck in the high school mindset of the five paragraphs, and was unsure how to write a clear thesis statement. For example, in my first essay I had no clear thesis because I was only briefly taught how to write one my senior year of high school. I had no idea of what I was going to do or how I was going to even manage to pass this class.
...dless of what I am trying to accomplish. I feel that I am much better now, in persuading someone through my writings; which would definitely come in handy in the future. The responsibility I have gained during this experience is incredible and has taught me to be a much more organized person. During this semester I was taught a process of how to write a paper and organize it. I found that all of these responsibilities have made me realize that I could definitely take the next step forward in my academic career. Each new experience I involve myself in has made me continue to grow and constantly learn something new. I am someone who has never really enjoyed English classes in the past and I when I registered for English 101 I only saw it as a requirement to graduate but I really did enjoy this English course and I know that it was something that was worthwhile for me.
Writing papers has been one of my biggest fears as a student. High school English class prepared me for the editing of my essays, for example, grammatical errors, spelling, font errors, and things that were under the category of fixing my paper. I realized that the writing process requires more than just editing, you have to understand that the paper is like a human body, it cannot function if every single part is not effective. I can certainly say that I have improved as a writer a great deal and this portfolio and the final revised drafts of my work certainly can argue for that. English 101 was certainly different from my other English classes; we actually focused on different parts of the writing process in each class instead of wasting our time discussing the same components of the process over and over again. As I reflect on my experiences throughout the semester of English 101 I am aware that I have met very important requirements of writing that I feel were very valuable for me as a student and my writing has improved progressively.
Writing has always been a difficult subject for me to tackle throughout my education. I enjoy writing academic essays and rhetorically analyzing in research papers but not personal narratives of any sort. In this class, there was a combination of both, which helped me to continue to grow as a writer. During this semester, I have learned several valuable things in this class and gained a lot of knowledge to use in future academic classes. From different styles of writing, how to analyze images, MLA format, rhetorical analysis, and structuring my writing to an online audience. Even though this class initially seemed to be a difficult task, going through the entire semester beginning to end has helped make writing a more achievable challenge.
Over the past semester, I have found the most challenging part of this course to simply be the transition from high school composition classes to college. Because writing expectations are so different in college than in high school, even with AP and Dual Enrollment “college level” classes, I first found myself being overwhelmed with the pressure to write the perfect first draft. The pressure came from knowing how much a final draft of a paper contributed to my grade. This left me sitting in front of my computer for hours at a time with thoughts of what I wanted to say racing through my head, but unable to deliver these thoughts into organized, structured sentences. I learned, through writing my persuasive essay, that instead of trying to write the paper start to finish and already in its perfect form, it is easier for me to look at the paper through its different components and focus on them individually, then work to best organize my ideas fluently.
Whether I liked the subject of the paper or not, I tried my best to keep an open mind. Pushing myself was difficult but seemed to expand my mind and my abilities to write about things I had no prior information on. The more I wrote, the more I realized how real and terrible writers block was. It was dreaded and expected every time I sat down to begin writing. Once I realized how much writer’s block was affecting my work, I decided to take action. I began exercising skills such as eliminating distractions and taking breaks every half hour. Becoming aware of my troubles and making a conscious effort to change them improved my writing ability tremendously. As a writer, I feel that I have a responsibility to uphold myself to my own standards. Depending on these standards, this could encourage me to push myself harder or cause me to put myself down. It is important for me as a writer to learn how to balance myself and accept constructive criticism without getting
When I reflect back to the beginning of this semester I am astonished at how much I have learned. English 124 has been a real eye opener for me. Not only have I grown as a writer, but it has challenged me to become more of a critical thinker. In the class we have read many articles on diverse topics, studied theories of history’s greatest philosophers of education, and wrote various styles of papers.
When I write a paper, I usually tend to write and edit at the same time. I could never continue writing without correcting my mistakes and making sure everything seems perfect. However, throughout this course, it made me realize that I should write everything on my mind, when writing a paper, just like I would in my notes. Later on, I should revise and edit my paper, making sure to cut back ideas and sentences that are off topic. Additionally, I’m the type of person that likes to write with no boundaries. Writing my research argument essay, made me realize that I could stick to a structure and yet bend the rules a little bit. When we started with this assignment, I was truly excited to research and write about a topic that I am passionate about. When we were asked to form an outline, I was bummed. I felt like I wasn’t able to form ideas or narrow down my topic, let alone write...
Operant Conditioning is a way of learning that uses rewards and punishments for certain behaviors. It was first coined by BF Skinner. It is also known as Skinner Conditioning. It creates an association between a consequence and a behavior. Sometimes it is also referred to as response-stimulus conditioning. Operant conditioning is related to classical condition but focuses more on why the behavior is happening & what the drive is behind it to accomplish the task at hand.
In high school, English was my strongest and favorite subject. I never had to work as hard in English as I did in math or any other subjects I took in high school. My peers would cram all night for a Literature test we were going to have but not I. I excelled in writing essays about Moby Dick and his white Whale or Beowulf and Grendel. My confidence in my ability to write was always high and when I enrolled at Chattahoochee, I assumed my confidence would not waiver. When I received my grade for my first paper, I was in shock of all the red ink that covered it. English 1101 taught me the skills I needed to have to be able to write a great paper and prepared me for what was to come for English 1102. English 1102 have taught me to rethink my abilities as a writer and to work harder and spend more time on my essays and think outside the box.