Assignment: Composition Course Analysis

April, 2016

Composition Course Assessment

I first learned to write in school, as I remember it. My earliest memory pertains to Mrs. Holkman’s lesson that taught writing the actual letters, both in printed and in cursive. Since then my writing has increased both in quantity and quality. Outside of school I did not write much, or at all for that matter, because there was no real intrinsic motivational drive for me to, and no extrinsic reasons either. In school I began writing in gradually excelling increments, as everyone else probably did. Slowly my words became sentences, my sentences became paragraphs, my paragraphs became stories, my stories became pages, now my ideas are allowed to fully flow from my mind to the page in an appealing manner.

This is thanks to the hours spent writing in classrooms, which at the time went not only unappreciated but was accompanied with some degree of contempt. While in the classroom I never really relied on peer editing or feedback, nor the teacher’s. I wrote following the guidelines presented and if I ever needed any kind of advisement or input I could ask my mother who, if home, was able to instruct me and aid me further than my normal teachers could from inside an underfunded, understaffed, overcrowded, school surrounded by section-8 projects homes and apartments. My mother was more than capable of aiding me in this regard, she earned a degree in English and natural sciences while raising us and proceeded to earn a Master’s in these fields. I suppose you could say that she is the one who taught how to write at a higher level.
My writing process is one that most may utilize.

I begin once my topic or main idea has been selected. From there I build a foundation of points mentally and often will write them ahead of what I am writing in few words and unorganized. Depending on whom I write for my process remains unchanging, but my word usage and style will alter. I find that if I am writing a paper for research, though I shouldn’t, I attempt to throw in extra vivid language and put a certain amount attention grabbing ideas or comments, though I shouldn’t be so blasé with it. I do this to keep the reader intrigued in hope that the other papers they read are dull and that mine has the chance to liven up their mood. I really think that the written word is one of G-d’s greatest gifts. After a very loose definition of an outline has been lain, I will resume to write until I have laced all the points I am able to and have a rudimentary conclusion. At this point I elaborate further into my conclusion and make sure it is suffice. I reread and retype until what I think is my optimal finished product. I do not rely on peer editing or feedback from others; granted I think it would behoove me to use criticism from an outside source, I simply prefer to keep my thoughts my own and detest when others attempt to influence or alter what my thoughts and ideas are. I read over what I have written and envision I’m comparing a blank outline to my project to evaluate its flow and organization. I admittedly have an issue

with grammar pertaining to commas, semi-colons, colons, and periods. I think that if I did seek external help that it would correct this. I am, however, as stubborn as an ox and do not sway from habits easily.
This is not always my process, I should note. In fact, this is only what I use in school and for scholastic reasons. I write very much in my profession. I am an EMT and I work for a private ambulance company. Every call we take is accompanied by a very long report that we must write due to insurance companies. Insurance companies will look for any possible reason to deny the claims of the patient we transport and it is our duty to make sure that the reports we write are lucid and eloquent enough to provide these serpents with what they desire. When we write reports we must follow the format learned in the EMT academy called S.O.A.P. This stands for subjective, objective, assessment, and plan. I fashioned a much more detailed acronym to ensure I cover every detail of every call. I call it, D.N.A.T.R.C.L.B.A.D.T.F.T.R.A.M.C.P.T.D., which for the sake of time I will not expound upon further. The report we write is written with a different process than my aforementioned scholastic one. Our reports begin chronologically with our dispatching and carry through from our patient assessments and scene size-up, to our transfer of patient care and end of report. In our reports, it is vital for us to mention every aspect of drugs administered so that billing will not deny the patient claim. This pertains to: time, place, reaction, and drug dosage. A report usually takes an hour to write, which following the creation of these little basterds we submit them to our report supervisor. He will look over our reports, guaranteeing that no details were omitted. After this we submit them to our billing department, who in turn evaluate all of our reports for the same reason before submitting them to the insurance companies.
Reports like these, and other business documents, all require that we have a good foundation in writing.

Companies will often send their employees to classes on how to improve their writing. This is because the entire world requires that we have good writing capabilities. The world requires of us to be able to efficiently and clearly so we can effectively communicate. This is a well-known fact that outside of school, the rest of the world requires us to read and write. After school more is expected of you; if you make mistake in class you receive a bad grade, but if you make mistakes in your job you may very well be out of work. I think that it is imperative that we learn to write with good grammar, organization, and style. I believe that all jobs not only require this, but deserve it. We are paid in the real world to get a job done, it is only fair that we do it

diligently.
I believe that I performed well in this course. I feel as though I worked hard on the assignments given and provided assiduously built papers, as was expected of me. I exhibited a strong foundation in creativity, style, and organization I feel. That being said, I do feel as though my punctuation is lacking, I feel that this fundamental aspect of writing was well covered and given plenty of time and attention by the professor. The issue I have with this is most likely something I will always struggle with. I understand each symbols reason and place fully, I merely have a hard time putting theory into practice.