This semester, I have learned how to write a thesis, eliminate to-be verbs, and write using good structure which has helped me grow as a writer. One of the most important ways I have grown this semester is learning how to write a high quality thesis statement. For the Things Fall Apart essay, the first two rough drafts of my thesis statement were poor and did not succinctly address the prompt. By my final draft, my thesis statement clearly focused on the prompt and summed up what I planned to support in the following paragraphs. Although the Things Fall Apart essay was very recent, I am very proud of how well I could fix my thesis statement and I will use the knowledge I gained for my writing next semester. Another piece of evidence proving …show more content…
Before this semester, I had never really been shown how to eliminate to-be verbs and didn’t know that they decreased the quality of writing. Even up to the most recent essay, on Things Fall Apart, I have struggled with to-be verbs. In the rough draft of my first two paragraphs I had 13 forms of to-be. After having them pointed out to me, I was able to fix most of them by using active verbs and just eliminating them all together when they weren’t needed. By the time I turned in my final draft I only had four to-be verbs. I believe that even though I start out with many of these verbs, if I am able to get rid of them, it is an important skill to use when I write. Additionally, I have grown in eliminating to-verbs by replacing them, but also in knowing when they are necessary. I kept four of them in my latest essay because it is not always the best to eradicate every one of them. For example, I wrote the sentence, regarding the British warning the Umuofians that they should be educated to prevent them from being taken over, “Ironically, this seems to be the British’s main goal . . .” I saw no efficient way in changing this sentence to erase “to be” and so I kept it. Some of these overused verbs are necessary to have in your essay, and although too many is a problem, sometimes they do not detract from the overall goal, and quality, of the
My development as a writer has flourished throughout this semester. The first week of this fall semester started out with writing responses from our readings in the textbook. Looking back through and analyzing my reading responses at the semester to now; I noticed a substantial improvement in not only my grammar skills, but also my summarizing, and in-depth studying of writing adeptness. Another way I have progressed this semester is the vocabulary of my writing has significantly improved and become more scholarly. Another advancement I noticed was that the content of my work has matured, along with my organizational adeptness.
In fact, I began this semester with plans to accomplish skills that would eventually bring me to an understanding of what a great writer is. During the summer I attended an English mini course which proved to be just a quick version of some high school rules on writing, that did not require much thinking or writing tasks, but it did provide an understanding of what was going to be expected in colle...
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.
Especially with the help of my professor Ms. Piper. I was still having trouble on material on writing, but she helped me by teaching us the writing process, how to revise our drafts, and how to use outlines to help us. She has also taught us ways of breaking down paragraphs in piece of writing to help us understand what we are reading about. I feel with this new approach it opened my eyes on a way to help me excel on my writing, and reading. I am an excellent writer and reader than I was before.
...on, this course has taught me many different aspects to writing that I was unaware of in high school. This course has been incredibly fulfilling for me and has been nothing short of an amazing experience. I truly believe all of the things I have learned within this course, such as, writing proper thesis statements, proving my points within the body, discussing topics that critically engage my readers, the use of grammar, and many other essential skills will help me tremendously on my educational path. Although I have learned many skills as to writing a quality essay, I know there are many aspects to writing I can improve on, such as, expanding on my introductions and providing more background within my topics to the readers. I am extremely grateful for the various skills I have learned throughout this course, and I fully intend to utilize them all as I move forward.
In “Chapter 24” of Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe adopts a spiteful and grevious tone, and utilizes diction, symbolism, and figurative language to capture the pinnacle of the extirpation of the Igbo tribe. Achebe uses intense diction throughout the chapter when construing Okonkwo’s feelings about his fellow clansmen and the Europeans. Since his tone is meant to provoke emotion, he laces his sentences with temerit words like “vengeance,” (Achebe 199) and “tumult,” (Achebe 203). The use of his diction emphasizes the agonizing feelings of the clan, especially those of Okonkwo. Alternatively, Achebe utilizes a surfeit of Igbo words such as “nno,” (Achebe 199) meaning “welcome,”and “Umuofia Kwenu,” (Achebe 202) a phrase used to show the tribe members were paying attention during
Throughout the semester i only learned few new things but i did improve and solidify my skill of writing. Before my first year of college my skills have always undermined by other high school english teachers and with that came disappointing grades. I am writing this paper as a reflection of the semester and the progress i have made as a writer. I now understand many things that my high school teachers have done a poor job demonstrating and i am grateful that i decided to take my own route in my education instead of their syllabus. I entered the semester with anxiety that i would perform as i did before but i clearly outdid my own expectations by receiving top grades on my essays.
English 102 has taught me a lot about my writing. Becoming a better writer and pushing myself to the next level was my goal for this semester. Therefore, I learned how to use research to back up my arguments. We wrote many different essays based on different types of literature, which is something I had not done before. Initially, I had a few problems, but learned from those mistakes to become better at writing. I definitely have things that I need to work on in the future. However, looking back on my semester I have overcome many of my writing obstacles and have become a better writer.
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.
The book Things Fall Apart shines light on the traditions, culture, and struggles of tribal Africa. Through the use of the Igbo people in the Umuofia clan, this book touches on everything from racism, the oppression of the African culture faced by the Europeans, to the effect that colonization had on Africa as a whole. By using these characters, the author conveys to the readers what life was like in the Igbo culture, and with that is able to show the readers the fact that Africa has a beautiful past, far older than just the times after colonization. This book, as well as the video from Dr. Basil Davidson, contributed to a recurring theme of change in the Igbo culture and in African civilization during this time.
Over the course of this semester I learned a lot about myself as a writer. This English 101 class has really allowed me to expand my essay structure and ways of thinking. This was my first college writing course and it has given me much more freedom when writing because in high school I felt limited and like what we were writing was not very important. In high school I would write essays to just to fulfill the required word or page count and to a degree I still feel like this but maybe that is why I am an engineering major but in this course I actually was able to express my ideas and for the first time really test the limits of my writing capabilities. I really enjoyed being able to incorporate my voice more in my essays and I believe that I developed my own personal style a bit from this. At the beginning of the semester my writing was quite choppy and there was plenty of room for improvement in the overall flow of my essays. Now, I use several different tactics such as outlining to create better connections between paragraphs. I believe I was able to move beyond many of the high school ways of writing and make general improvements to my essays.
This semester was my very first semester as a college student. Being the first, it was probably the semester I would learn the most in. I learned the expectations for writing that I will have to live up to for the next four years of my college career. Though my high school teachers were usually demanding because I was in the Honors English section throughout high school, writing in college has still ?raised the bar? for me. Also, in high school, we would have weeks to pick a topic, create a thesis, outline the paper, write the paper, and then revise the paper. In college, the time restraints are not quite as lenient. I?ve had to learn to manage my time and be more productive with what free moments I have. Strangely enough, I?ve found the college English experience to be much more rewarding and enjoyable than in high school.
Things Fall Apart, Thematic Essay: Humans’ natural instincts are to deny a new aspect and stick to older ones. Nevertheless, old and new aspects are intertwined. Traditions and change are ever present in society, without them society would not prosper. Traditions are the foundations of society. However, just like any other foundation, sooner or later it must be altered or changed, even in the most miniscule way.
For an abundance of authors, the driving force that aids them in creation of a novel is the theme or number of themes implemented throughout the novel. Often times the author doesn’t consciously identify the theme they’re trying to present. Usually a theme is a concept, principle or belief that is significant to an author. Not only does the theme create the backbone of the story, but it also guides the author by controlling the events that happen in a story, what emotions are dispersed, what are the actions of characters, and what emotions are presented within each environment to engage the readers in many
A major flaw that I discovered in this class in my writing was my inability to write a proper and creative thesis statement. To me thesis statements are the most difficult things to write in English. I always seem to write the thesis statement to sh...