As the semester meets an end, I am enthralled into reflecting upon my progression as a writer, reader, and a prospective professional throughout this course coordinated by Mr. Billings. Nonetheless, considering the inevitable flawed nature of writing, there are some aspects that I still need to work on, and eventually master as I move forward in my academic career. I learned immensely starting from a variety of writing styles, proper use of MLA format to read and to critically use evidence to formulate a strong and persuasive essay.
Throughout this foundational writing class, I was able to cultivate my writing skills and compose essays for particular audiences and purposes. The goal and objectives that I held to be the most important to my
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Every time I would finish a paragraph, I would critically break the sentences down and improve my initial word choice and punctuation. In addition, I took peer-revision very seriously, even though sometimes I would not have a paper completed, I insisted that my classmates gave me feedback on the aspects they thought was efficient and others that needed improvement. When our assignments pertained to class texts and outside readings, I would always refer back to the chapter summary and use the patterns in a text to infer meaning to collect important quotes, and shreds of evidence that the author(s) presented. Along the same note, I tended to keep track of the mistakes that occurred more frequently and improved upon them; when writing an essay, journal or reflection, I made sure that I was employing the appropriate language and if they met the requirements for each paper. Lastly, another aspect of writing the I deeply care about is – flow/structure. The assignment that most demanded a chronologically organized structure was unquestionably the last major assignments (Problem and Solution). This assignment essentially incorporated all the skills we cultivated throughout the semester, namely: proper citation, identify arguments and counter arguments, develop a debatable thesis, selective research methods and the correct usage of rhetorical
Writing with Readings and Handbook. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. 52-57. Print.
During the transition from a high school writer to a collegiate writer, my strength at understanding the basic principles of good writing has remained consistent. I grasp the ...
...Academic Writing. Ed. Gerald Graff. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 179-189. Print.
I am currently an English 160 student who is hoping to move on to the next course, which is English 161. I understand the requirements for English 161. It require students to explore a topic in some depth and conduct independent research related to that topic. Conducting research allows students to learn what it is like to participate in academic culture, posing questions about important issues and developing an argument in response to what others have said. It expected students to learn the most valuable skill in college, which is critical thinking. Students have to be able to read challenging readings. Although I still have problems with English, I think I’m qualified to move on.
The following final drafts, drafts, notes, and peer review letters represent my growth as a writer in the span of one semester. I learned quite a bit about myself and the things i can do to improve my writing and the methods of doing proper research in order to write a proper research essay. Though i have seen an improvement within these essays, i feel i still have much to practice upon.
My development as a writer has flourished throughout this semester. The first week of this fall semester started out with writing responses from our readings in the textbook. Looking back through and analyzing my reading responses at the semester to now; I noticed a substantial improvement in not only my grammar skills, but also my summarizing, and in-depth studying of writing adeptness. Another way I have progressed this semester is the vocabulary of my writing has significantly improved and become more scholarly. Another advancement I noticed was that the content of my work has matured, along with my organizational adeptness.
Throughout the semester i only learned few new things but i did improve and solidify my skill of writing. Before my first year of college my skills have always undermined by other high school english teachers and with that came disappointing grades. I am writing this paper as a reflection of the semester and the progress i have made as a writer. I now understand many things that my high school teachers have done a poor job demonstrating and i am grateful that i decided to take my own route in my education instead of their syllabus. I entered the semester with anxiety that i would perform as i did before but i clearly outdid my own expectations by receiving top grades on my essays.
As the semester finally approaches the finish line, I revisit my past work to compare and contrast how this class has developed me into a successful writer at the college level. Throughout the year my writing style has developed and become broader as I have learned how to incorporate more of my personal views as well as reliable, unbiased information. This portfolio is a representation of how many things I have learned along the way while being an English 102 student.
...on, this course has taught me many different aspects to writing that I was unaware of in high school. This course has been incredibly fulfilling for me and has been nothing short of an amazing experience. I truly believe all of the things I have learned within this course, such as, writing proper thesis statements, proving my points within the body, discussing topics that critically engage my readers, the use of grammar, and many other essential skills will help me tremendously on my educational path. Although I have learned many skills as to writing a quality essay, I know there are many aspects to writing I can improve on, such as, expanding on my introductions and providing more background within my topics to the readers. I am extremely grateful for the various skills I have learned throughout this course, and I fully intend to utilize them all as I move forward.
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.
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.
Over the period of time that I was in this course, I thought it would be a very simple and easy to finish class. But as time went on, I found myself to be demanded more of what I think, what I feel, what must be relied on my ability to understand the concepts and conventions of not only the essays, but of what goes on in the writers mind when writing.
During the course of the semester, all of the writing and research skills I developed helps to strengthen my self-confidence in many areas and it aids me in achieving my goals for the future. By developing more effective research approaches for finding and citing sources, I advanced from an inexperienced writer to a confident writer with the suitable knowledge to create effective essays to capture my audience. Having confidence in my abilities to use the skills I learned will help me to become a success in college. With more practice and valuation of my strengths and weaknesses, I can continue to improve and become an excellent communicator in the future.
Works Cited Crank, V. (2012). The 'Standard'. From high school to college: Developing writing skills in the disciplines. WAC Journal, 2349-63, pp. 63-63.
Much like Benjamin Franklin believed, I feel that a person should take advantage of the time the person has in life with activities a person wants to do or needs to do. A person should not spend much time on activities the person does not want to do. Life is way too short to concern oneself with work or other activities one wants nothing to do with all the time. When possible, I try to forget about my responsibility and just let go of the ‘things’ that do not matter to me. I think a person should try to occupy oneself with something productive, worthwhile, or necessary at all times. Even though a person’s life is left up to a person to live, I cannot imagine thinking that I owe my time to society through working a job that I simply despise. I am a compassionate person, but I do not owe anyone anything regarding my time.