Douglas C. Baynton: Article Analysis

The challenging component this semester was the transition from high school English reading and writing level to college level. It is mainly because High school writing did not have many expectations from students, its main focus was on the ideal five-paragraph essays. As compared to college, writing is mainly geared and focused on one’s ability to thoroughly answer the assigned prompt. Initially, I was not sure if I was capable of handling a fast-paced course, however, I quickly adjusted to the change and I am glad that I chose to stay. In English 10, I have learned many valuable elements that I can incorporate into my everyday writing. I have included my writing from project 2 a rhetorical analysis on, “Black Lives Matter”, which effectively demonstrates my growth as a reader, thinker, and writer.

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.

While attending writing class, I learned about the 4 steps in writing, bases for revising, organizing, and connecting specific information, and I also learned about the different types of essays such as descriptive, narrative, process, cause and effect and argumentative essay. I have been a student at Milwaukee Area Technical College for 1 semester, and over the course of my enrollment I have grown and learned more that I knew prior to attending this writing course. Participating in this writing class has taught me so much more than stuff about literature and language, it has taught me another way of expressing myself. I have learned here how to write and express myself, how to think for myself, and how to find the answers to the things that I don 't know. Most importantly I have learned how important technique, outlines and organization are. My goal in this paper is to inform writers about how my writing skills have improved.

In the duration of this English class we have read multiple essays. The essays include a short story, “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros whose main idea is that there is not a correlation between age and emotional evolution. “College Pressures” by William Zinsser argues that college students are under excessive stress to plan their future and succeed. The narrative, “Mother Tongue”, by Amy Tan focuses on the variants in the universal English dialect which is based on one’s background. “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexies main purpose is to help readers understand the immense impact racism has on Native Americans. Each story had a different purpose but the common theme the essays shared was an educational setting.

The blinds on the windows are shut, it feels like a prison cell as I sit under the spotlight. The darkness outside makes me feel somber and alone. I stare at the glowing screen and think to myself, “It’s just me and this paper.” In December of my junior year in high school, I was assigned a persuasive essay on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter; it was my first academic essay of the year. My previous experiences with academic writing were both stressful and unfulfilling; when the essay topic was announced, I felt only resentment and anger, I remembered my past tribulations. With my mother’s help, this essay was different; after I submitted it to the teacher, I possessed a new perspective on academic writing. From my experience, I learned that strong writing skills are vital to communication, critical thinking, and life outside of the classroom.

When we did peer reviews, then I notice that the teacher was not the only one making remarks in my paper. My classmate had difficult times to understand what I was writing. When I was asked to read my work aloud for others to follow, I noticed several grammatical errors. For the past four months, I learned several

Without having someone else to look over your work, it is hard to realize what you are doing wrong. When someone else reads your paper, especially having not read it before, they can easily identify your mistakes, whether it be punctuation or spelling errors. I strongly believe that when peer review is taken advantage of and used correctly, peer reviews are extremely helpful, but, unfortunately not everyone takes it serious and gives you the feedback that can really help you fix your essay.

This course offers numerous opportunities to improve our writing. In this class, I not only enhanced the skills I already had, but also learned new writing concepts. Before I took this class, I knew that my writing is poor, and I have always wanted to improve it; however, I did not know how and what aspects of writing to improve. So, I came into this class with the ambition to improve my writing, and I have accomplished my goal although there is still room for improvement. At this point of this course, I have learned the elements that successful writing is composed of, and I am now able to categorize the various techniques that can work together to define strong

From the early beginning of the school year to the current day, my writing skills and knowledge have improved and broadened over time. If not drastic, the change is noticeable nevertheless. For almost an entirety of eighth grade, assignments of varying difficulty challenged me to a degree. To be frank, some seemed as though they were beyond my comprehension and ability. However, determination amalgamated with knowledge obtained in advance helped me to overcome my doubts, for I exceeded my expectations; surprisingly good grades and comments are a delight, owing to the fact of that I don’t tend to think of myself as being proficient at writing. Consequently, the assignments given to me this school year shaped me into who I am as a writer.

During the 20th century, many people were given privileges and treated with more respect, due to prejudice and bias against a particular ethnicity, race, and gender. To Kill a Mockingbird and a Raisin in the Sun were two very prominent meaningful works that reflected upon the years of racism and discrimination in the 1900s. By putting the audience and readers in perspective of African- Americans, Lorraine Hansberry and Harper Lee showcase the obstacles and challenges Africans-Americans had to face when in pursuit of a goal or ideal. They showcased the constant critical ``marginalization`` of African-Americans, and what impact the racial stereotypes had on an African-American and their dreams and aspirations. Characters are continuously challenged

Imagine a world today in which discrimination does not exist and all men actually are equal. Perhaps this actually has been occurring since the times of Scout Finch, the protagonist, in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, as well as Skeeter Phelan, the main character in “The Help”, by Tate Taylor. Both Scout and Skeeter, the main characters, are intelligent, open minded and curious characters, whose comparable traits result in similar transformations of their previous beliefs about discrimination. To begin, both Scout and Skeeter live in towns where discrimination is the norm, but since both of them are open-minded, they become aware that it is harmful. As Scout is addressing her brother Jem, she refers to the fact that the

Speaking about, the article, "Everything Now", McKevitt informs and explains to the reader how in today's society we live in a more competently environment. That is to say, we individuals should be happier, but we are less happy. Also, how we individuals are persuaded into buying one product towards the other one, when it is the same identical product. However, it might be just be a different brand and advertise differently. "Visit your local supermarket and you'll find around 120 different brands of toothpaste to choose from. Some promise fresher breath,others whiter teeth, for people with fillings or cavities,there will be gels,pastes and powders, but despite this welter of options,each and everyone will be virtually identical chemically;essentially

In Harrington’s article, she mentioned a few key elements in resilience, and stated that “having a vision gives a sense of purpose and direction to one’s life” (Harrington, 2012, p.2). As I reflect upon that statement, I thought about my own life. I thought about when I was a little girl, how I just knew I wanted to be a police officer. As I grew older, I had many obstacles thrown my way and questioned myself on many occasions if I still wanted to follow my dream or was it just a phase because I was so fascinated with officers. I have had so many visions and accomplished many of my goals because I had a purpose in life and I knew where I wanted to go. Once I had my mind set and focused on many of my visions in life, I felt my purpose in life.

I simply wrote one draft without using any feedback from adults or peers. If I decided to use feedback on my piece, I know it would have been more beneficial to my development as a writer. On this piece I earned an 85%, in which I wasn’t satisfied with. From this, I was allowed to revise my piece, allowing me to go in depth into my writing to earn a better grade. Also, before submitting my revised essay, I asked my mom to read over my work to see if it would raise my grade. She gave me a few valuable pieces of advice that helped raise the grade on my essay to a 90%. From the Thematic Unit, I learned to improve my writing process to prepare myself for the future. At the end of the year, I was told to write my own essay about William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night novel, using my own writing process to be successful. My effective writing process included writing a first draft and completing self-assessment afterwards. The first step of my process helped me understand how my writing could develop into a stronger piece. After self-assessment, I wrote a second draft and had a peer review my work. Finally, I made a third and final draft in order to present the best version of my writing. As shown from the Soliloquy Essay, my writing process is

Over the course of this past semester, my ability to write has improved tremendously. Prior to undertaking this course, my expertise in writing was not as fine-tuned as it should have been. I had never previously been enrolled in a class specifically tailored to writing-- which was quite clear. Upon reading my past works, it becomes apparent that my writing style consisted of fluff, small words, and inconsistently structured sentences. These problems have, for the most part, been remedied with the coursework I have tackled in College Writing. Rather than long, drawn out papers that take an eternity to reach the primary point, my recent work is much nicer in terms of composition and grammar. I credit these improvements to the three primary