Reflective Essay: High School English And College Level Writing

English has never been one of my strengths. I hate reading books and writing papers. I only did them because I had to. College English and High School English are nothing alike. The expectations for College essays are much higher than that of High School essays. What may have been an A on a high school essay may be a D on a college paper. In college English, the main essay type is classical argumentation. An argumentative essay focuses on whether the writer can construct a well-developed argument that persuades his/her audience. The transition from high school level writing to college level writing has been a little bit hard for me to grasp, because it was something I had never done before. At first, I was skeptical as to why I was put into English 111. I thought to

myself “Why I, Taneisha Watkins, who graduated in the top thirty percent of her class was placed in such a class?” “Was I not smart enough for English 112?” English 111 was not in my major description.

“So why am I taking a class that I do not need to graduate?” In the end, I am glad that I was placed in English 111, because I honestly believe that I was not ready for a higher level English. I needed a bit more practice before moving on. Dr. Zaice has prepared me for what is to come in English 112 and 200. Over the course of the semester I have learned about the writing process, how to construct a well-developed classical argument and the rhetorical situation.

Writing and/ or essays go hand-in-hand in college. From freshman year to senior year, writing takes up most of one’s time, so good writing habits are essential. Writing is a process that takes time. I always thought the writing process included brainstorming, drafting, and revising. In reality, the writing process includes invention, planning, drafting,

incubating, and revision/editing. The first part of the writing process is invention. Invention is defined as brainstorming ideas for what one wants to write about. The second part is planning. Planning is organizing ideas into outlines. The third part of the writing process is drafting. Drafting is putting one’s thoughts into words and onto paper. The fourth part is incubating, which is taking a break to let ideas settle. The final part of the writing process is revision/editing, which is the process of reviewing what one has written and altering it to make any necessary changes, whether it be the topic, the way it is organized, or the overall content of the paper. At first, I struggled with the writing process because of drafting and revision. Writing can be hard for those who do not know how to go about constructing an essay. Drafting the paper was the hardest part for me. I could never figure out how to put my thoughts into words, and then begin my essay with something that grabbed my reader’s attention. When revising, I would just skim through my paper very quickly and miss out on small errors. Over the course of the semester I have written two papers and met with Dr. Zaice to revise them. Each time I met with her my paper improved, and went up one letter grade. With her help I have learned the writing process and how to improve my weaknesses of the writing process. The proper revision can make a big difference on one’s writing.
Classical argumentation is the main type of writing in college. There are many steps to developing a well-developed argument. Dr. Zaice gave me an outline, called a keyhole, which laid the foundation to all of our writings throughout the course of her class. The first step was the title. She was always going on about how every essay has a title. In high school, I turned in many papers that did not have a title. My title was to be two parts. The first part was to catch the reader’s attention and the second part was to be descriptive, or describe the catchy part. Then came the beginning, or the introduction. I was supposed to hook the reader’s attention by an anecdote or story of some sort, but no quotes or dictionary definitions. At the end my introduction should be my thesis. The thesis is the basis of my argument. The introduction was supposed to bring the reader from the outside world to the world of the paper. After the introduction comes the body paragraphs. The body paragraphs is where I make my actual argument. Each body paragraph should contain a topic sentence, a discussion of the concept, how I and the concept relate, and an example of me and the concept. Finally comes the conclusion. The conclusion should restate the thesis and addresses what should happen next. The conclusion should not be a summary of the paper. The conclusion should also take the reader from the world of the paper to the world outside the paper. In high school, my introductions would sometimes grab the reader by asking them a question, and my conclusion would restate my thesis and summarize my essay, which is the exact opposite of a argumentative essay in college.