Taking ENC 1101 this fall has taught me a few valuable components in regards to composition and college life. These past few months I have learned how to participate in an argument, source my research using MLA format and how crucially important it is to submit assignments ahead of time.
Prior to taking ENC 1101 I could not participate in an argument because I wasn’t able to support my points with valid evidence. However now I can continue engaging in a debate and sometimes even win! One of the assignments I thought contributed the most in developing this skill was the discussion assignments we submitted online, we had to use examples and support our opinion on the topic we were given. Along with the discussion based assessments I also developed my writing skills and even expanded my vocabulary. Throughout the course when submitting new assignments I tried incorporating new words and slowly but surely have had better word choice in essays, discussions and even at work.
Other than learning how to argue (my boyfriend loves my new ability) I learned how to source my research using MLA format. This new skill is tremendously important in college because most professors, if not all, require their papers to be submitted using MLA format. Throughout my upcoming years at Valencia and then The University of Central Florida I will find writing papers significantly easier because sourcing will be practically second nature. In class we were taught how to use the in-text reference throughout our papers, build our own citation and how to set up our work cited page. Although in high school we used the MLA format for papers, prior to taking this class I hadn’t noticed how many small details go into the actual citation, the authors name is last name then first name, the commas must be in the proper place, page numbers etc. In some classes you “learn” how to do things however it is only stored in short term memory because you don’t consider it an important attribute or useful for future classes. Personally, I made sure I knew how to do MLA, every aspect of it, I reviewed the rules, did my assignments, and then reviewed my assignments in order to store this new skill in long term memory. By doing this I have successfully transferred the information to long term memory and made it into a skill.
Another valuable attribute I obtained after taking this course is the importance of turning assignments in ahead of time! Assignments are due at 11:59 and no late submissions will be graded.
In English 1102, I was exposed to a variety of different genres, including, argumentative research paper, an annotated bibliography, an analytical paper, and a workplace specific piece. Entering this class the majority of papers I had written were all analytical, and in this class we went above and beyond the basic 5 paragraph essay. Though each paper had a different genre and style, I learned that each project was similar in composition.
This course and writing these essays has drastically improved my writing capabilities. Before this course I could not write an enthymeme or effectively write an argumentative paper. Establishing a clear and strong enthymeme to a question at issues helps me organize my ideas within the body paragraphs and keeps me from becoming repetitive. I understand now that addressing a counter argument strengthens my paper and helps tell the reader that you know your topic and have strong reasons. I look forward to using the writing skills I learned in this class towards future writing opportunities either with my studies or outside of school. I will continue to use enthymemes to effectively state my claim and reason and to strengthen my argument.
My experience into English 111 not only left me anxious, it became a self-revelation. My learning capabilities were challenged because writing did not come natural and the possibility of becoming a prominent writer were going to take a lot of time, effort and hard work. In spite of not knowing what to expect, I entered into this new semester pumped up carrying an “I can do this” attitude and feeling confident.
My method of research has changed slightly. When i search the internet for articles, journals, and blogs, i always give it a quick scan. I look for key words and terms that are pertinent and if i feel that the material will be useful to my research, then i read it while taking notes. This semester, i tried to take less notes. I made sure that my notes were very specific to the focus of my essay. This way, i was not swimming in a sea of notes, thus overwhelming myself. While reading Amanda Ripley’s The Smartest Kids In The World, I made sure to keep important word and terms in my head on a chapter-to-chapter basis so that i had an idea of what to talk about in class. This helped in my in-class writing...
English Composition II has unexpectedly improved my writing into an academic level. As I studied various English reading and writing courses, this class “English Composition II” did not immediately caught my eye. However as I researched about the concepts of this class, the decision to make was not so difficult since I was lacking in critical thinking and the interpretation of works. Also as a Business Major, it made sense that the subject of English would be of interest to me and as a career requirement. During the first weeks, I thought that I would be fully prepared for this course after taking an accelerated course in English during the spring semester. However, after attending class for about a month, I certainly did not expect to learn an entirely new process of writing
Being in this class has benefited me towards my priorities. I was always one to procrastinate and I still am, but now I know how to do it in a smarter, more effective way. During this class, I found out how to plan my priorities. I had to think about my life priorities, semester priorities, and also my week’s priorities. All of these take time and dedication to achieve and procrastinating in the wrong way is not going to help. My life priorities were to graduate early, and receive my degree. The semester priorities were to pass all my classes, and also to take knowledge from the courses. My week’s priorities were a little more realistic, and they were to take time on my activities and to not be stressed about a small situation. These priorities are very important to me because I feel like these will lead me into the right direction for my career. This section of this course has had value toward my college career success. It has helped with life skills that I will be able to take farther in
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.
As a soon to be graduating high schooler, I can say this class definitely gave me a dose of (that grown up word) independence. By focusing on the learning goals, I was able to see what changes I can make to create polished work. When I signed-up for this class, I assumed it would be easy and I was only taking it because I needed it to graduate; however, I can say that this class will help me in the future. There was no set requirement throughout the class, it was based on self-improvement. By making my own standards and being forced to make decisions, I definitely matured as a student. With this in mind, thank you for this valuable quarter and I can’t wait to advance in the future thanks to the learning goals and this overall
In addition to annotations, I was taught to create an outline before writing an essay. Having an outline was very helpful because it guided my writing. It kept me from going off topic by only focusing on the task that the prompt asked me to do. Since then, I have always done an outline before writing and it has kept me on track. Besides that, I was taught how to format my paper using MLA format, how to cite sources, and how to integrate quotes in my writing. As a result, I
This course was the first course I took as an incoming freshman, as anyone could imagine I was scared and nervous at the same time. Also since it is a writing course; I was hesitant if I wanted to continue in the class because writing is very challenging for me as an immigrant. Returning from summer break, I found it extremely tough to continue where I left off with my writing skills from high school. The fear of writing that my old high school teacher instilled in me did not help my writing anxiety either. In contrast, I found that the professor and the course were not at all intimidating as I assumed, the professor took time from his busy schedule to help his students to further improve their writing and the writing topics were very stimulating and thought provoking. Composition 1 has helped me learn more about myself and my writing skills, which allowed me to further self-evaluate myself, find where I need improvement and become motivated to change.
As I look back into my high school years, I thought I wrote papers well. But then coming into a college environment, my papers were mediocre. By overlooking at my past papers, I found that they were unorganized, sloppy and had bad use of diction. From now on, I will use the tools I learned in English 1100-40 as a foundation for the future papers I intend on writing in college. Following the criteria of organizing ideas so that they flow, impacting the reader with diction and also by being creative, will help become an ideal writer. Following the criteria of staying motivated in short and long term goals, taking responsibility for actions and finally the ability to study well will help me develop into a supreme student.
During my first semester of college, I felt like this course overshadowed all the others. I faced many challenges, gained better habits, and even increased the value of myself as a scholar. Not only did my professor provide her students with the course material she built a confidence inside of us that will allow us to be able to tackle any task, especially pertaining to any written compositions. The things that I have learned from this course could and will be applied to any and everything I do from here on out, whether that writing an essay or even taking a test. Again, the journey was long, but I will be forever grateful for the things that I, and all of my peers have gained from this
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst, I walked in to English not knowing what to expect. English 111 was boring at times but in many ways helpful. College Composition I main objective is to teach students the fundamentals of academic writing and critical thinking. Aside from learning how to academically write, recognizing grammatical errors, tone, and different styles such as MLA, APA, and CMS, are some other things learned in the course. This essay will be evaluating the book as a whole, self-reflections, essays, my strengths and weaknesses and my professor.
Since the first day of this course, I learned new things every week that I hadn't learned before such as how to use APA style of citations, How to write a thesis and how to differentiate between the strong and weak source. I've made many mistakes with my assignments, so I will do my best to avoid them and will work to improve my skills by reading more in English. The most things I loved are writing an essay and the reading assignments as it helped me develop my critical thinking and reading, and substantive response. I will try to apply all these moral lessons I learned during reading assignments to my life.
With my first semester as a college student coming to an end, I can honestly say I have gained so much knowledge and this has been a major eye opening experience. By being in your English 111 class, I have learned a great deal about myself as a writer and a communicator. English used to be a subject I took for granted because I always considered it to be easy and there wasn’t much to it. You have helped me realize that in order to write a good paper, it is important to have a deeper understanding of the many structures and usages; as well as a better understanding of yourself and your audience. In what seems like such a short time, I have learned about rhetorical knowledge, the writing process, oral communication, critical thinking/reading/writing, and digital technology.