Many years ago, I began school as many other children do. You begin with going to kindergarten and as you progress you begin to learn the English language by first learning the alphabet and by then learning to write. For a large part of my high school years, my writing improvement seemed to fall to the wayside. When I began this course, I realized there is more to writing than meets the eye. In my experience I have found that expanding your writing ability can be difficult and often times frustrating, but when done well, writing can influence the opinions of others. In Writing 101, I learned that there is a process to writing and steps to assist you in collecting information and organizing in such a way that presents information …show more content…
Over the course of this semester, I have written various types of essays, and in each essay, the thesis is always the most important sentence. I have learned the necessity of combining the most important information out of an article into one sentence. The thesis statement captures the reader’s attention and sets the tone for the rest of the essay. I also learned that there are different types of thesis statements associated with individual essays. The structure of a traditional thesis statement contains three points that set the stage of the essay. Although the traditional thesis statement is associated with a five paragraphed essay, this semester I have been encouraged to lengthen my essays by thoroughly covering each point mentioned in the thesis with one or two paragraphs. In an informative synthesis, the thesis statement decides if the essay will be written in an alternating or block format. A block thesis statement is composed of a sentence that introduces the articles that will be discussed in the essay, but an alternating thesis statement will resemble a more traditional thesis statement format. This semester, the class focused on creating the most effective and appropriate styled thesis statement for each essay. As a whole, I feel that my ability to form thesis statements has gotten stronger. I can now pull specific points out of an article and recognize commonalities with other articles. English 101 has made it easier for me to formulate a well thought out thesis statement and
Several people have trouble writing college level essays and believe that they are unable to improve their writing skills. In “the Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer,” Sarah Allen argues how no one is born naturally good at writing. Sarah Allen also states how even professional writers have trouble with the task of writing. Others, such as Lennie Irvin, agree. In Irvin’s article “What is ‘Academic’ Writing?” states how there are misconceptions about writing. Furthermore, Mike Bunn’s article “How to Read Like a Writer” shows ways on how one can improve their writing skills. Allen, Bunn, and Irvin are correct to say how no one is born naturally good writers. Now that we know this, we should find ways to help improve our writing skills, and
Learning to read and write are both considered to be fundamental human skills, that we begin to learn from the day we start school. As time advances, as do our minds, and we are expected to evolve in our reading and writing skills. Finishing high school is a large milestone for the lives of young adults; however, there is so much to learn in order to reach the next big milestone. To be a writer in college can challenge our preconceived thoughts on how we write. Although some skills remain unchanged, high school graduates are faced with overcoming new ways of doing a skill that seems so simple that it is practically innate. The definition of writing skills for college students is much different than high school. However, considering we have come so far it is time to go over the information we already know and challenge ourselves with ideas that we are yet to learn more about.
In the beginning of the semester, one of my major problems was constructing my thesis statement. A thesis is a short statement, usually one sentence, that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay, research paper, etc., and is developed, supported, and explained in the text with examples and evidence. Without a well-developed thesis, your essay will be unorganized. I always had trouble choosing the main points of the essay. Throughout the semester, writing my thesis statement became easier because I
Writing is a process I’ve grown to despise. Ever since grade school, I’ve had problems trying to express my ideas on paper. My writing process involves thinking about what’s being asked and trying to reflect my thoughts the best way I can on paper, but my thoughts don’t always come out as clear as I want them to be sometimes leaving a question not fully answered. My writing process isn’t a consistent set in stone process, but since being in ENC 1101 I always follow some of the same parameters such as revising my drafts, grammar usage and considering context and audience.
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
My portfolio will demonstrate the skills and writing techniques I have developed and honed while taking the course English 1010 at the University of Memphis. Some of the techniques and skills I have learned include how to write with different persuasive strategies on the audience and how to incorporate critical thinking into my work. As well as these skills I have learned how to apply an effective composing process to my writing and have fine tuned my writing abilities. Writing with different styles on different topics has improved the way I approach writing papers. These styles helped me learn quickly, therefore making me a better writer and student at the same time.
...ragraphs that support the argument. The easiest part of this component was actually inserting it in my essay after I understood the purpose for it, because at the beginning I was confused on the whole thesis concept. The thesis was the most challenging because I kept asking myself "Can I really argue this for five to six pages?" and also "Is this even considered a thesis statement?" I noticed that I can speak and write more effectively when I'm thinking critically and intellectually. My sentence structure has always been strong and I feel it has grown because of the practice we have had in class with finding thesis statements in our readings. My overall issue with this component of the writing process is using a justifiable argument and remembering to support my argument with claims and trying not to put unnecessary points in my paper while maintaining my ethos.
One can never be done learning how to write; new techniques, styles, and forms arise on a daily basis and allowing creativity to flow is an unending process. Through the process of writing and the writing done in the class, I have come to learn a great deal about myself and others. Writing acts as a form of communication. People
The thesis essentially tells the reader whether the essay is important and worth reading. As a result, the thesis should be stated in the introduction paragraph such that readers can easily identify what the essay is about and they will know what to expect. Furthermore, if the thesis is not strong, then the overall essay will follow suit and will not be strong either. The common saying, “quality over quantity,” is applicable to the thesis; its strength comes from its conciseness, clarity, and detail, instead of its length. If the thesis does not express the essay’s purpose in a coherent and detailed fashion, the reader will not be interested and may not wish to continue reading.
In this course I have learned and written many essays from as small as reading responses to writing an argumentative paper. All the essays had a similar style of writing and that is that it had to have a thesis, body paragraphs, and a conclusion except for the major assignments like LEN, Argumentative Paper, Lit Review, and etc., which required more than just those three elements to writing the essay. I prefer one type of writing style to another because it lets me see the difference in my writing and if there are improvements in my writing. I do see similarities in the different essays I wrote and they are that my thesis statements are not strong enough, which is why my essays are not strong enough. Choosing a good thesis statement and having good body paragraphs are crucial to writing essays because that is the key part of the essay, which I needed work on all semester.
Reflections on writing My experience with writing 101 was quite eye-opening for me. It has been thirty plus years since I have been a student so it was a struggle for me get back into a daily routine that included schoolwork. In the beginning I was very unsure of myself, always second-guessing if I was completing the assignment properly, and basically making it much more difficult than it had to be. Every day I would log in to my class to work on assignments and think to myself, “What in the Hell am I doing?
One of the most dreaded parts of writing an essay is the thesis statement. While I still take an abnormal amount of time to decide on a thesis statement I like, I have gained quite a
The tools I have accumulated in English 43 have set me up for success in future English classes. My strongest growth is prevalent in my ability to formulate a strong thesis statement. As displayed in the following thesis statement, I wrote, “Do not let your past memories fool you! When you find yourself in this battle of the living dead simply remember to stay one step ahead, arm yourself accordingly, and trust no one during your battle to survive the enduring wrath of the zombie threat.” I was able to hit on all the critical criteria to require in a thesis statement. Here, not only did I give the reader a general preview to the topic of the piece, but also I listed my three main points that will be covered. This is important because the thesis statement paints a picture to what you are going to cover in your writing. Without a strong thesis statement, your reader is left without a clear preview to what your position or point is within your writing. English 43 has also refined my ability to write a strong topic sentence. Introducing my first main point in the department exam I wrote, “Nettie’s utilization of the Internet is simply out of control and she needs to make a change to her daily Internet usage before it’s too late.” With this being an argumentative essay, my locus on the issue is clearly stated; leaving the reader...
I cannot lie, especially in a paper my Bible teacher will be reading! I have struggled to accomplish this assignment. For weeks, I continually have forgot to read my Bible or do a long just me and God prayer. Not weeks at a time per say, there were many nights however, I would finish my homework, crawl into bed at 12, after my roommate and I had turned off the lights, and remember I had not done my Bible reading that day. This of course was a good time to have a me and God talk, but I would have trouble staying on task. After all, it was late, I was tired, and I had a lot on my mind! None of these are excuses which is why in my reflection I have decided to share the ways I used to get myself in the habit of reading, and prayer, as well as what
I really enjoyed this class and how it was set up. One thing that I would do differently was make sure and work more with my book group and also when we did the movie jigsaw to ask others that were watching the movie to watch it with me to get their incident as well. I wished that I also had gotten to know more of the people in the class earlier on to form relationships with people that have similar interests as me.