Reflective Essay for Inquiry Five

The purpose of a college English class is to challenge students beyond what they thought possible. Composition and Rhetoric 111 has been one of the most challenging classes of my writing career. Various assignments, such as a rhetorical analysis, a proposal, and a public service announcement expand one’s writing because each assignment has attributes unlike the rest. This semester of writing has stretched me in terms of writing ability, mental stamina, and adaptation ability.

Throughout the semester, many different assignments have been designed to better writing ability. Though the assignments were difficult, my writing ability has changed for the better. Previously, my teachers have not expected me to limit the use of to-be verbs; this class does. At first, using few to-be verbs proved challenging, but the more I paid attention to how often I use to-be verb the easier it became to limit them. At the beginning of the course my teacher told the class that to-be verbs do not sound professional and limiting them can enhance writing and she was right. Before this course, I considered my strengths to be organization and professional diction; however, I have noticed a change in the sophistication of my writing simply by eliminating to-be verbs. The best grade I received in Composition and Rhetoric 111 happened to be my college essay where I used only two to-be verbs per paragraph and I cannot say this surprises me. Additionally, I have not had to include various phrases in assignments before this class. Having to identify such phrases as gerund phrases, infinitive phrases, participle phrases, and absolute phrases has forced me to pay attention to the appropriate time to include certain phrases. In college and my professional career...

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...er to question why that made Kennedy effective. In my effort to abide by the constraints I lost focus. In the future I need to not only keep focus, but also begin with the end in mind. Thinking of logical locations to place these phrases can help the logic and focus of my essays and help me gain more points.

Composition and Rhetoric 111 has given me the ability to grow as a writer. The class has challenged me in not only my writing ability, but also my mental stamina and ability to adapt writing to constraints given by the teacher. After taking this class I know I need to work on placing phrases in appropriate locations, limiting to-be verbs, and creating effective topic sentences. This class has allowed me to understand what makes me a good writer, but also a bad writer. Keeping these changes in mind I will continue to write, perhaps more effectively in the future.