My personal revision process has changed greatly over the span of this class and these two paragraphs are an excellent example. These paragraphs come from the second draft and the final draft of my paper 2. A problem that I struggled with greatly in high School was my organization. I would often write my papers in one sitting and then only proof for grammar and spelling errors. This would make my papers seem very jumbled and my ides would be all over the place, but through the mutiple drafts that this class forced me to write I began to learn how to better the construction of my paper. Before this class I made no connection between writing and passion for building and designing, but through this class I have learned that they are one in the
As expected, my rough drafts were not crafted with care to the extent that my final drafts were. Normally, I put the same effort towards my first draft that I would for my last revision. This was seen in my profile which was kept largely unchanged from my rough draft. However, the following essays could not receive the attention that they required, as the due dates for each of them lined with work for other classes. As I became busier, I could not look over the essay to avoid simple mistakes in grammar and refine my word choice. To improve these, I would later read it aloud in its entirety and make improvements. This would often include replacing frequently used words with synonyms and eliminating errors regarding language
However, these techniques that I fostered as a child proved lacking when I entered middle school. It turns out that in comparison to my previous writing, I was no longer writing for my own self-improvement or joy; I was now writing to please someone who was grading the work. After many dissatisfying remarks about my writing, the self-conscious feelings I had as a child crept up on me once again. I felt the need to impress and be perfect. For every paper I wrote from then on, there was that little voice in the back of my head telling me that I had to try twice as hard because English was my second language. For a very long time, I was not able to write a paper without scrutinizing it harshly. “The oppressor,” as Anne Lammot states in “Bird by Bird,” kept me from what I truly wanted to write and made me focus on the unattainable goal of being perfect. Perfection is something that “… limit[s] us…[and] keep[s] us from experiencing life” (Lammott 30). The purpose was not to write for me, but for others, and that was my flaw; I was just writing to please. Technicality was my only worry and I did not worry if what I was writing actually had
Anyone who is doing any type of writing piece has a process. They may not know it but it is there and it exists. It is one’s approach to their piece and how they go about accomplishing it. It has to do with how you write it, how many drafts you do, as well as your revision process if you even have one. My writing process however has room for improvement. A summation of my writing process consist of heavy planning, one draft, and little revisions. Anne Lamott, Shirley Rose, and Kathleen Yancey all drew attention to major points through their writing pieces that support and dispute my writing process. Through their pieces they have found a way to inspire, inform, and entertain me all at the same time while passing along great information that
When writing a five paragraph essay, there are five steps one must fallow in order to attain perfection, these steps include understanding the question, brainstorming, writing a rough copy, revising, and creating a final draft. The first and most important step is understanding the topic. The topic of the essay is what the essay will be about and if this is misunderstood, the whole essay will be off course. The second step, brainstorming, will help organize thoughts and ideas so they flow amiably. There are many different ways to brainstorm, some of the most helpful are making a web of ideas, making a list of ideas, or creating a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the conviction. All these ideas will be related to the topic at hand. For example, if the essays topic is about how the earth is affected by global warming, then the brainstorming ideas might include the ozone lair being reduced or how global climate has raised. The third step when writing a five paragraph essay is creating the rough draft. The first draft must have all the features the final will, but does not have to be...
In the past three months I feel like I have accomplished a great deal. As the semester comes to an end I find myself reflecting not only how I have survived the first semester but also what I have learned. The most important thing I have learned so far is how to become a better writer. I did not think it could really happen to me. I did not think I could handle all the work. I did not think I could actually become a better writer. Some how after all the hours of writing, and putting effort into the papers that I wrote this semester, I became a better writer. I did this because I concentrated on two very important areas, with the attitude of, if I could just become better in those then I would become a better writer. With help from an awesome teacher and a reliable tutor I have become a better writer by improving my skills in the areas of procrastination and content.
When I read “Proficiency” by Shannon Nichols I really felt for her. I understood and resonated with her story perfectly, especially when she stated “After I failed the test the first time, I began to hate writing and I started to doubt myself. I doubted my ability and the ideas I wrote about.” (83). After I failed my writing assignment I was so embarrassed and didn’t want to write again but obviously, I had to. I always doubt the things I am going to say or which order I am going to organize the essay in. I try so hard to make sure all my sentences are cohesive and all my ideas connect to each other and the main concept but sometimes it just seems that when I keep messing with one little sentence or paragraph I just makes things worse.
Throughout this semester I have learned many ways of writing through two main essays literacy narrative and comparison and contrast. These two essays have taught me how to correctly fix my comma splices, thesis statements, and capitalization. I have engaged in numerous learning material during this summer class. Many times when I thought it would be hard to work on those three developments I never gave up. I gain more positive feedback from my teacher because he pointed out most of my mistakes I made on both literacy narrative and comparison and contrast essays to help me understand what is it that I need to work on. My development as a writer became stronger.
In writing his poem Strange Meeting, Wilfred Owen uses revision as a tool to both clarify his ideas and re-evaluate one of the central figures in the poem. By examining a reproduction of Owen’s original text and comparing it to the final, published copy, we are able to retrace his steps and, hopefully, gain a further understanding of his thought process and motivations concerning this particular poem. From these examinations, it is evident that Owen spent a large portion of the revision process attempting to alter the character of the “encumbered sleeper”, whom the narrator encounters in hell. These alterations could be viewed as an attempt by Owen to make this “vision” more ambiguous, vague, and otherworldly, and therefore to alter his readers’ perception of this character, the narrator, and the poem itself.
In the beginning of English 101 I was what you call a novice writer a person who only wrote what they felt was required. However, certain techniques that I learned in English 101 made me realize that writing was not about filling requirements; it’s about speaking out, exploring and proving a point. “Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.” (Trimble, 17) In John Trimble’s quote he tries to point out that writing is something that you grow with and learn as you go along. I believe this growth was achieved with a technique that was introduced to me by my professor called repetitive revision. What I found out was that revision of your essays helps in recognizing your mistakes and enhances the flow of your essays. By providing me...
It’s no secret that students are supposed to learn, improve, and grow throughout the course of a class. For true improvement to occur, a student must identify that they have made a mistake, learn from the mistake, and correct themselves for the next time. For me, this semester has been an extremely amazing learning experience. No, I did not have a dramatic transformation in my writing. Yet, the things I have learned in this class have been extremely helpful and have stuck with me like glue. When first given this assignment, I thought the same thing that most self-centered teens think. The generic, “I haven’t learned a single thing this semester. I have always been an amazing writer!” This is generally because most people are inherently selfish.
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.
Throughout the Mid-SEE I have written reflections on my writing and participated in group activities. I have received comments back from my peers and suggestions to help with revising my paper. With the help of my professor, Professor Church and my classmates, I was able to comprehend their suggestions to me to make my essay better and by revising my classmate’s essays, I was able to point out mistakes that I might have made in my essay, which made myself go back to my essay and check and see if I had mistakes that just flew by my eyes.
As I look back on my schooling I can’t believe how many papers I’ve written throughout my life. Naturally as I’ve grown up, my writing has developed from learning how to write sentences all the way up to the pages of essays that consist of deeper criteria. I know for a fact that I’m a better writer now than I was before. College writing is more challenging and I’ve had to learn how to adjust to it.
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...
Throughout this term, my fellow classmates and I have had a chance to participate in a group project with two or three of our peers. The general topic was a vivid problem in a industry. Our class had a very wide and diverse sets of topics: from Styrofoam, to industrial hacking, to corruption in an influential international organization like FIFA, and so many more. Our group decided to develop a project named “Outsourcing and the price we pay for brands”. The name itselves is somewhat self-explanatory, however the problem is so much more complicated and interesting. In this paper, many struggles and concerns, of the group and of my my own, will be unfolded as I reflect the progress of this project.