Coming into this class at the beginning, I thought that it was going to be a breeze, especially since writing was my strong point in high school. Not only was I wrong, but I struggled a whole lot more than I ever thought I would. As the semester progressed, I was able to find ways to make my writing more enjoyable to read by gaining the ability to clearly state my point. Before college, I never understood the importance of using quotes from the text. I felt that if you knew the story well enough, quotes were unnecessary. But boy was I wrong; I learned that quotes solidified my purpose and a point I was trying to make. The importance of using quotes came up when I was writing my first paper, WP1A. At first, it was a struggle writing an analysis because just writing about the topic wasn’t enough. But, adding quotes justified my reasoning and tied …show more content…
loose ends together. When finishing my essay, I thought it was great but my grade said otherwise. Receiving a 73 on my first essay was incredibly frustrating especially since I worked so hard on it, but after looking at the comments my professor put on it, I realized what I had done wrong. Comments like “where is your title?” and “explain more” made me realize that there is no way you can be broad in a college essay. After receiving that grade, I learned from my mistakes and worked even harder and received a 78 on my WPIB essay. At this point I was livid because I thought that I was including everything that I needed to, and I was losing hope in passing this class. Once it was time to start on my WP2A project, I realized what I was missing.
The entire semester I was making my essays just summaries, basically just spitting back out the information to the reader in a way that sounded somewhat knowledgeable. When writing this essay, I had to explain the rhetorical device that the writer used and what her purpose was. Without summarizing, I wrote an essay filled with quotes and outside of the box thinking; and with that I received a 95 on my essay. That was more like it…. those are the type of grades I am used to. By understanding what was asked of me, and then go above and beyond those expectations is how I succeed. I still have so much work to do because my goal is to get a 100 on an essay, because I know I am capable of doing that. My main struggles are just trying to explain my thought process on a piece of paper. I am able to think something but I almost find it impossible to write it down in a way that makes sense. But I will figure it out by the end of the semester, because I believe that that skill is imperative in order to succeed not only in English 101 but in life as
well.
Before this quarter started I was fairly confident that I had what it took to ace English 101. After the first paper, I realized I was mistaken. Throughout this quarter I have had numerous problems with my writing that proved I needed to do a little more studying to help take my writing to the college level. Although I did not fail any of my papers, there was plenty of room for improvement. All the areas I needed to improve on are all areas that I think every English 101 student should know. I believe that every student at the college level should know how to cite sources correctly, know how to use good transitions, and know how to properly elaborate their examples.
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.
I have always known that writing was not my strong point. Entering writing 101 in September I was very much afraid. I knew that the expectations would be very high for this course; thus it would be more difficult than any other writing class I had previously taken. At first writing was a nightmare for me, but thanks to the assistance from professor Smart and my tutors, I have improved drastically in my writing skills and, as a result I am now a better writer. During the course of four months, I have learned so much. There were a few bumps in the way throughout the semester, but I managed to overcome them. It is hard to believe that my journey in writing 101 is coming to an end. Through my hard work and dedication, this class has helped me to build confidence in my writing that will help me throughout my college life.
During the course of the quarter, I feel that I have progressed somewhat. I've gained a lot of knowledge on rhetorical strategies and how to present arguments effectively. In the writings I have written, I feel that each writing works towards meeting the course goals. Logos, ethos, and pathos were strategies and ideas we were introduced to (if not already in the past) and were built upon throughout the quarter. The knowledge gained over the course of the quarter weren't only those three types of appeals. Rhetorical strategies like proposals helped reinforce the course and using rhetorical analysis in different situations have become easier throughout the quarter. I believe that I have made sufficient progress towards becoming a better writer this way.
At the beginning of the quarter, I had preconceived notions as to what "good" writing looked like, and how I should formulate it. I found that to be successful in this class, I had to leave my thoughts from high school at the door and start from scratch. I quickly came to understand, for example, that a thesis statement is completely different than a claim. This was a big issue for me as I was confident in my thesis-writing abilities at the beginning of the quarter. However, when I received multiple papers back regarding my claim, I was discouraged. Although I didn't have any specific goals for my own writing at the beginning of the course, this immediately became a goal for me to work towards. I needed much additional help, and found the Odegaard Writing Center to be particularly useful. I took what the tutors there had to say directly into account, along with Allison's recommendations. With their help, and also in following by example, I devel...
I have always had a strong belief that I could pass college like I did in high school. Always relying on those quick study sessions before a test or having the teacher going over the material right before a test. But boy was I wrong. In my first test I learned the hard way that studying is essential in college.
Thinking that I was strong minded and never looking at the negatives, ones suspicions changed my whole mind setting. After an endless wait in the mournful waiting room of the hospital, my name was called. The nurse brought us to Dr. Yazay's office where he confirmed his suspicions, and so began my life with scoliosis. Since the age of eight I have been swimming. I was a competitive swimmer for nine years, and now had to deal with a life without the activities I felt defined my identity. The treatment for my scoliosis involved wearing the most uncomfortable thing in the world which was a brace. With several restrictions on my physical activity, I had an abundance of free time on my hands.
The process of preparing for college is an arduous process. College is an instrument used to have a successful life. However, getting into college is difficult. The competition for college admittance is extremely high. Most students do not take the necessary actions to ensure their admittance. Consequently, many students do not get attend their ideal college. Therefore, I have taken steps to make certain that I attend the college of my choice, By taking care of my class ranking, actively participating in school functions, and researching my intended degree, I have set myself up to attend the college of my choice.
Another semester has come and gone and I am a few steps closer to the goal I set for myself back in the spring of 2012. A degree! In a few scant months I will be at the halfway point earning my Associate of Arts degree and a couple years from now, hopefully, I will be stepping onto the stage up in Flagstaff and accepting my Bachelor’s degree.
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
As for me, I'm not a good writer, but I think this class will help me to become a better writer. My fear of writing is getting my thoughts out in my writing knowing how to express myself with the right words or phrases indeed. When I think about the value of being able to communicate ideas through writing what comes to mind is the thought of expressing myself by
After my Freshman year I was currently sitting at 26 credits, I needed 4 more credits in order to enroll for Accounting 230 to stay on track to certify on time. During my group advising appointment Spring 2016, I was recommended to take my biological science, which included a lab that would allow me to reach my 30 credits. I figured that this Biology 102 course, "General Biology", would be a course that I would be able to handle while balancing a full time job. I do not use financial aid so I am expected to be able to cover all my living expenses, only using a summer job for income. Summer 2016, I was working an operator position at a manufacturing company that picked up their most business during the summer. My job originally had me posted
I feel that out of all the essays I had to figure out a way not to write too much and try to keep it in the length required. I would have to say my least favorite essay was Point of View Essay. Mostly because I did not clearly understand the instructions, which I blame on myself. Which would make sense why that is the essay the I recieved my lowest grade in.
All throughout high school, I have taken advanced writing courses. I didn’t think I was a good writer, and I personally didn't think I learned how to write an essay until I took AP Language and Composition last year. College-level writing is important to me because it is very much needed and good to know how to write effective to achieve your goals and pursue your future career. Evidence from three of my EN 1113 papers this semester, suggest(s) that I’ve made great progress in explaining and elaborating on an issue, using detailed examples, and better understanding punctuation and grammatical errors in my writing. Reading through these papers, though, it’s clear I’m still working on improving using correct comma usage.”
Starting community college I was unsure what I wanted to major in, especially since in my immediate family background no one has ever gone to college so I was never encouraged to think of a future in my education. Taking course in college like criminal justice, psychology and sociology it opened my mind about the many possibilities of career choices that are out there in each field. When I took my first sociology class it impacted me the most out of the entire pervious course. It opened my mind to the world we live in, I saw a different perspective. Sociology is my calling, yet I have not had any experience in the field, but I am very excited to start volunteering next semester to get more involved and a hand on experience. Although I did attend