Coming Into English 101 As A Freshman Art Student

Upon entering Columbia College, writing was one of my weaker areas. It was very important that I gained the necessary knowledge and confidence to become a better writer. I didn’t know how to express myself and felt as though my writing was not my interest. As a result of taking English 101, I have gained a better understanding on how to properly research and build a satisfactory paper. Every paper that was assigned seemed like a struggle to complete. Before entering this class, I did not know the meaning of a thesis or why it was important, however, I obtained this skill quickly. I noticed that every paper has an argument and the thesis helps clarify the rebuttal. Now, I have a new outlook on writing. It’s a way to express my thoughts and allow others to see things through my eyes. There is no doubt that I still have a long way to go, but I know if I continue to write, I will get better. Just as I developed more skills in class, the various papers assigned helped to better structure the writer in me. In addition, the subject areas were not only interesting, but very informative and made it much easier to write about my experiences.

With the guidance of Mrs. Smythe, my peers, and my parents, as well as my own determination, I have gained much better control over the English language. However, I also learned something about myself as a person throughout my time in English 9/10. I used to let fear control me in English, which would translate to other parts of my life. Throughout my seventh and eighth grade years of Middle School, I would sit in silence for entire class periods, afraid to begin my essays, afraid to have to accept that it may not be as good as my other school work, afraid of what others would think. However, I learned this year that people like my mother and grandmother were not disappointed in my work but instead would suggest ways by which I could improve my writing. Additionally Mrs. Smythe constantly helped through the feedback she provided. Even when I received my first essay back, one that was clearly not to the best of my ability, she gave balanced feedback between ways to improve my writing while also providing supporting for future assignments. “It is not necessary to convert an entire scene, just the moments that are important. The inclusion of text in the last body paragraph is most appropriate, although there is still a bit too much of it. Good effort...” Even if I forget who said what in Romeo and Juliet, or the name of the main character in The Book of Lost Things,

Like transforming from a caterpillar to a butterfly, my writing style transformed from something mediocre to something quite exceptional. In high school, even when I took advanced placement English and Literature courses, I was never good at writing. My writing would lack structure, reasoning, syntax, and a well-defined thesis statement. My inadequate grades on writing assignments lowered my self-esteem, so I assumed I would never enjoy writing papers because I believed I could never improve. However, since attending a university my writing style has improved far beyond my expectation. My EN 101 course enhanced my understanding of the different ways I could approach my writing. Also, it enhanced my comprehension of outlines to complete assignments. Investing quality time into my writing made a substantial difference because I became a stronger writer. Through the late nights, constant revisions, and agonizing head traumas, I learned that my writing is truly spectacular whenever I incorporate well-defined thesis statements, provide sufficient supporting evidence, and maintain a clear focus in my assignments.

Writing in high school was difficult for me in that I had all gifted/ AP teachers expecting an “extra mile” style of writing that I did not completely grasp. While my writing consisted of strong ideas, they were not thoroughly explained, leaving them under developed and mildly incomprehensible. I am a fast paced thinker with new ideas constantly popping into my head; consequently, elaborating on ideas is a challenge because I often forget that although I am aware of how I have drawn a conclusion, the reader is not.

It is essential to understand that classes taken in grade school do not give students a full understanding of each subject. With the topic of writing, there will always be a new lesson to learn, an aspect to improve, or a differing way to explain. Author Craig Vetter states in Bonehead Writing, “This is your enemy: a perfectly empty sheet of paper. Nothing will ever happen here except what you make happen.” Each story, essay, or response comes from a writer’s experiences. With each attempt at a new piece comes an underlying story of emotions the writer is facing. Each person’s writing is unique and the ideas people have are related to their past experiences and what they believe to be familiar with when deciding which writing style to use. As a high school student, I have learned many things about writing that helped me become the improved writer I am today, but the most essential advice I have received is practice makes perfect. Although there is no actual perfect way of writing, I have discovered that each essay I write, my writing improves. It is easier to spot mistakes, find areas to improve, and ponder elevated word choice to use.

I immensely struggled when writing. Taking my scrambled thoughts and uncoordinated analysis and converting it into clean and understandable words on a page was arduous. I could not express my thoughts in proper academic format. I understood the importance of writing to every subject. It was essential that I learn to condense my ideas and feeling into coherent written word. After much debate, I decided that the best way to improve my writing skills was to take an advanced English course.

From elementary school to high school, I was taught that my writing had to be structured and follow strict criteria. After I arrived in Mr. Mukherjee’s ENG 102 class, I was given the opportunity to express my creative freedom through words and graphical pictures. It can often be difficult and challenging to improve upon my own writing abilities unless motived with an idea in mind. When looking back on my time at ASU, I thought about the goals that I wanted to address for myself and the course goals that my instructor had set for the class. These goals include ones that I had accomplished to the best of my ability and ones that I need to address as well as improve.

Before now, I use to write essays without taking into consideration the elements and rudiments that make an essay holistic and complete. I have always picked up a pen and paper and write without considering who will read my write-up and the structural development of my essay. Essay for me has always been nothing but pouring out my ideas on paper and ink. Until now, vagueness and ambiguity have been the major characteristic in my academic writings because I never thought the need for fluidity and coherency of my sentences. As such, I discovered that in some of my past write-ups, ideas are presented in choppy, ambiguous and frivolous manner which is one of the major reasons for my

English 101 and English 102 were both classes that greatly contributed to my writing abilities, and changed certain aspects of my approach to the writing process. The courses’ exposed my weaknesses as a student, and motivated me to persevere through academic obstacles and failures. English 101 and 102, also helped me improve the areas of writing that I was already proficient in, essentially giving me a desire to strive for academic excellence. Both of the classes contributed to my writing skills in their own unique ways, and helped establish more background in my essays. English 101 helped me in very specific components of my writing.

Part 1: My writing process itself is pretty simple. I do not follow the normal writing process. I start off by stringing random thoughts together. I then write a draft of my thoughts, and my draft usually ends up to be the size of my essay. Next, I do not revise too much, I just make sure that I stay on topic, and that everything makes sense. Finally, I edit and proofread my essay making sure that I did not miss anything in previous steps. I did not face many issues while writing, but there were a few. My first issue was using transitional words. I feel as if I am always searching for transition words. Another difficult part to writing my essay was vocabulary. Sometimes, I feel myself not using enough intricate words. Also, I have a problem with grammar. I do not always catch grammar mistakes while I am writing. I often have to read my passage three or more times just to get my grammar mostly correct. Although I try my hardest to get better, these are some of my downfalls. Now, I can reflect on the easiest part of my essay. The easiest part for me is finding something to write about. I try to pick topics that I know a lot about, and I try to pick topics that

One of the areas in which we must all strive to improve to the best of our abilities is the potential to effectively articulate thoughts and ideas into our writing pieces. Improving my writing capability has been one of the most gratifying accomplishment because I have always been one to feel insecure about my assets as a writer. This insecurity spawns from self-awareness and knowing that writing can place you in a vulnerable state, as you allow others to perceive you personal notions and mental process. Some the most intimidating experience as a writer was having to write three essays within a short period of time because this type of task can demonstrate one’s genuine ability to both write coherently and rapidly. Due to these timed write,

A learner’s ability to communicate effectively through writing to his/her target audiences is a major prerequisite for academic success. It is also a major pillar of success in one’s career across all areas of practice. Even though, writing clearly is critical to one’s academic and career success, I have not always loved writing. In fact, for a long time I despised writing. At one point, I had a feeling that my writings skills were bound to remain stagnated throughout my life. However, time has proven that I was wrong. My attitude and outlook towards virtually all genres of writing has changed positively. The various helpful methods I have been exposed to by my English teachers through different grades have helped me

Throughout my school education, my writing process have improved but, not to the point where I’m proud of my writing skills. Although I always have difficulties when it comes to writing, I also like what I write specially when the topic relates to your personal life. One main thing that I do like about my writing is that I’m straightforward and clear to what I’m trying to explain. Many of my english teachers especially during high school, they have always told me that my writing is understandable but, is really hard for me to organize my ideas. Organizing my ideas into an essay is a challenge for me because I have always struggle with that and I would like to improve it because is a really important step in the writing process. When it comes

Over the first and second quarters of Dual Enrollment English at Brooke Point High School, I have grown immensely as a writer. I learned a great deal about how to write a paper, as well as, about myself. In the beginning of this course, I felt as if my assignments were going to overwhelm me; I also felt apathetic about completing them. This led me to create my own personal agenda as to how I would complete my assignments. My plan was to overcome my weaknesses and enhance my strengths within the construction my essays, depth of paragraphs and overall assignments.

In regards to writing, I have always struggled to meet all of the requirements for a perfect paper that includes a well-organized text filled with rich analytical sentences. In the beginning of the semester I constantly worried about the structure of my writing and its overall material. In high school it was important for me to complete my essays by answering the questions that I was given, but in college, students go more into depth. College students are required to focus on grammar, and well-structured ideas that flow along with rich analytical content. After I was given my first assignment I was pressured to improve my overall work by focusing on structure and developing analytical content. Assignments such as the weekly readings and writing assignments helped me improve my overall work. Through the narrative essay, artist research essay and Storify project I focused on many aspects that improved my writing. For all of my assignments, it was useful to use techniques, such as, reading out loud to revise the structure of my work and going into depth with description.