Before entering this class, I thought I was prepared for college English. I had incredibly capable high school English teachers, who taught me detailed mechanics, creative writing style, and of course, the necessity of practicing good grammar. On entering this class, I quickly realized how little I had actually learned in my high school English classes. While most of my high school English essays I wrote were based on literature, the majority of the essays I wrote in this class have been more experiential and centered on real-life issues. I expected to be writing essays on books I read and articles I analyzed, but that was not the case. This class showed me in a variety of ways that things are often very different than they seem originally …show more content…
The vague prompts are a representation of how not everything in life is straightforward and one must adapt in order to succeed in certain situations. This is shown in the prompt of essay three, where my teacher states that he wants “this research paper to show [him] that [I] have a handle on everything we have been doing and that [I am] somewhat awake and alert as [I] am jumping through the hoops of this class and [my] college life in general” (Crowell). Oftentimes in class or in my teacher’s office hours, I was encouraged to “push farther” and “dig deeper” in my research and analysis (Crowell). Not only did he encourage us to do this in English Comp 2, but he encouraged us to do so in our other classes and life in general. Less time able to be spent on the overall quality in comparison to deciphering the prompt is representative of how sometimes in life one is not able to spend the most time on what they think might be the most important aspect of a project. As I mentioned previously, such environments sometimes make for an uncomfortable writing environment, but real life is not comfortable. Oftentimes the most value is found in the process of the overall project itself, rather than in the smaller details. High school English prepared me for nothing more than more high school English. College English is preparing me for the real world. It is teaching me how to adapt, how to learn on the go, and how to systematically make a powerful argument on a subject that may be somewhat foreign to
Students, who come from different cultures and backgrounds, are not prepared (especially on their own) to give up everything that they have spent the past eight-teen years believing in, in order to write the perfect college essay.
“Unteaching the Five Paragraph Essay” by Marie Foley demonstrates how a five paragraph essay formula disturbs the thought process of the students and limits what they can write. A five paragraph essay is an introduction with the main idea, with three supporting topics showing the relationship to the main idea, and a conclusion summarizing the entire essay. Foley argues that this formula forces students to fill in the blank and meet a certain a word limit. She noted that this formula was intended for teachers in the education system to teach an overcrowded class how to write. While it is beneficial for the first-time students learning how to write. In the long run, this standard destroys any free style writing, new connections between a topic,
In Patricia Limerick’s article “Dancing with Professors”, she argues the problems that college students must face in the present regarding writing. Essays are daunting to most college students, and given the typical lengths of college papers, students are not motivated to write the assigned essays. One of the major arguments in Limerick’s article is how “It is, in truth, difficult to persuade students to write well when they find so few good examples in their assigned reading.” To college students, this argument is true with most of their ...
Entering this course I was worried because I have struggled with writing in the past, and writing has never been my strongest area. I feared writing classes in middle and high school, and had the same expectations for this course. I had wondered if I was ready for college English, and was worried that my skills and abilities would not be one the level they needed to be for college courses. My attitude and understanding of my writing process have both changed since the beginning of this semester. One thing that really helped my attitude and confidence was the fact that I was able to complete the assignments and get a decent grade. I was worried that I might not be able to do college level writing, and when I started completing the assignments and learning new ways to write my confidence and attitude changed. Another thing that really helped me throughout this course was that there was plenty of reading and information available to guide me through my assignments. I realized that there was more freedom when it comes to writing than I had experienced in high school. Being able to write more freely, and the freedom to choose what subjects I would write over made the assignments more enjoyable and easier to
One thing that I learned from this course is to follow directions. In the first assignment, we were told to write a personal story of what shaped you as a whole. At first, I had a difficult time thinking of a topic to write about, but after viewing other students’ essays, I finally understand what the professor was asking for, and I came up with an idea of writing how I got my cats and wanted to become a veterinarian. Writing this type of essay was difficult because I am not good at expressing myself. Therefore, I always did a bad job in describing my feelings, my thoughts, and etc. Since English is my second language, I know I have a lot of mistakes with my writing. Thus, I went to the Writing Center to ask for professional help. The tutors are very nice and willing to give you academic advices. After going to the writing center, the essay turned out to be my favorite essay that I have even written. However, the assignment was not asking to tell the story, the main theme is to write what shaped you as a whole. As a result, I got a poor grade and realized that this college level course was not the same as a high school writing course. In high school, I was only satisfied in completing the essay and receiving an A. What really ...
I had always been a strong writer in high school; I know how to form an argument and support it fully, but this did not prepare me for the writing at a college level. I expected to be reading long and boring books about topics that did not pertain to my life; as it turns out, this assumption was completely false. All of the three essays that we were required to read in class were fairly difficult to understand, but after a second reading, the essay's meaning became clearer. I also feel as though their messages and key ideas are captivating. I definitely thought they would be extremely dry and difficult to understand.
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.
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.
This class has been significantly more difficult than any other English class I have taken all throughout high school. This semester, I have been introduced to different styles of writing that I have never been exposed to before. This class has been stressful, but also fun. With using all of the resources I have been given throughout the semester, I have been able to do my best to further my writing abilities and hopefully only continue to grow them as I finish my later years in college. Throughout this essay, I will discuss my failures, my successes, my overall performance in the class, and my skill development skills.
This class made me face the repeated mistakes of laziness in my techniques, and created an importance to write what really needs to be said and nothing less. I had a very tough and intelligent teacher for my class in which he would not let laziness or anything but perfect slide. At first I was frustrated and lost, but after relearning how to write properly with actually needed content, I understand and appreciate his teaching. My teacher never forgot to call out any “fillers” I used out of bad habit and carelessness, in doing so changed the quality of the content that I write. Also pointing out the bad structure and overall messiness of my ideas and how they relate to one another, I gained valuable lessons on technique. I now write with purpose and intent with every sentence and within the structure of my papers, as well as spend more time understanding what I am really trying to say and prove. Without taking that AP English course and learning through my teacher that I once thought was too hard on his students, I wouldn’t be prepared for college or life in general. My knowledge now, that what you write should always be necessary to your point and how you write matters, I have reformed skills that will influence my resumes, college education, and even my career. I couldn’t be more grateful for what I learned and changed in that class and that I
Throughout this semester we have had to write many types of essays. Although this is a college English class there is still room for improvement. I made much improvement during the semester of the class. I was able to identify my weaknesses. I learned how to make improvements to the areas I was having problems in. Although each essay we did was different I was able to begin with one essay and throughout the semester turn it into two other essays. I was able to change my style of writing to fit the type of audience I was working with. I will continue to work on my writing and keep improving it.
As writers, many students write to the expectations of their professors and not to their fullest potential. Throughout English 101 I had been writing only to please my professor or to fill the basic requirement to pass English. I always felt that my writing ability was never enough for my professors throughout the previous years. They always wanted clear and concise essays, which for some reason was unreachable by me. However, starting college and taking English 101 helped me with my weaknesses and changed my technique of writing essays. My experience in English 101 taught me to write to my fullest potential and to write what I felt; rather then writing what was required.
It's only been a couple of months since I've started attending Foundation academy and I must say that my expectations have been satisfied, I've built important relations and have felt more successful than ever. I admire the expectations that are set because I believe that starting on the right foot is very important. I expect nothing but excellence from myself throughout this high school career. To do this I must benefit from every opportunity, that includes composing this piece.
In the beginning of the Fall quarter I was unprepared for the class, and I was unsure what to expect from the class. Having no prior experience in college. I was very nervous about how I would fair in a real college class. Although I may have started the quarter with fear in my heart and a nervous mind that my skills that I have were not on par with that of a college level student, over time as the quarter progressed, I began to develop and improve upon my writing skills such as my the development and organization through my body paragraphs and the content that I include throughout the essay, but there are still aspects that I struggle and need to improve upon which are grammar and my reading skills. Throughout the quarter I have progressed
Students struggle to understand writing prompts. Instead of starting with a strong topic and thesis statement they are frustrated and confused by what is expected of them. They are unable to begin the process and cannot organize their thoughts into a written response.