English Course Reflection

At the outset I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to my distinguished professor for her efforts with me and wish her more health and success.

Proficient writing is an essential skill in all aspects of academic and professional achievement. English 101, Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric, provided the framework to good writing, teaching me composition and rhetoric fundamentals, polishing up my grammar and style, and expressing a clear message. English 102, Composition, Rhetoric, and Research, continued to build on the skills I learned in English 101, focusing on the subject matter research process and employing various rhetorical and literary devices to better express a clear message to the reader. The course also improved my critical thinking capacity, allowing me to culturally evaluate my target audience, present logically flowing arguments using appropriate language and structure, and critically reviewing my writing projects for content and expression. Every writer inherently knows there’s always room to improve and I hold fast to this mindset in all academic, professional, and personal writing projects. English 102 has both challenged and inspired me to grow into a much better writer than before I began the class, providing the necessary skills to be not just a good writer, but a great writer.

During this class I expressed the use of rhetoric in the four major essays I wrote, including the Narrative Essay, Rhetorical Mode Essay, Argumentative Essay, and Research Essay. Being able to think critically is a crucial part of success when it comes to writing these essays. At the beginning of this class, I had a much less understanding of this particular area. I struggled with being able to use research effectively to persuade others of a certain argument. I also had difficulty with grammar issues, and paying attention to my overall “voice” of an essay. I believe that I improved significantly in all of those areas because in each essay I have learned to put myself in the audience’s position and view the piece of writing in the reader’s point of

It's hard to believe that it’s already time for Midterms in my English 101 class. The adventure has been a lot easier than I at first anticipated. In any case, I am happy that I am taking the class and learning from it. In the beginning it appeared somewhat hard however I was resolved to compel my way through this class regardless of what difficulties I needed to persevere.

I have several expectations for success in English 101, from my teacher, from my classmates, and from myself. In this course I expect my teacher, Mrs. Carroll, to demonstrate how to properly compose interviews, essays, and research papers. I also hope to learn how to write the papers in the correct formats. Additionally, I expect my classmates to be courteous, to avoid being disruptive, and to be respectful. Furthermore, I expect myself to strive for greatness, to never give up, and to improve daily. I expect many different things from many individuals, but I realize that is the only way to be successful in life and in English 101.

First off, I want to thank you for making this year and my first honors English experience fun for me! Though this year was challenging for me, it has also been extremely knowledgeable. From my freshman year to sophomore year, I can definitely notice the difference in my writing and reading. I can definitely see how much I have grown, and I am sure you could see these improvements too. Last year, I was in regular English and jumping from regular to honors was a huge step for me, which at first, I was not fully comfortable with. But as I got to know this year’s class and of course you, Mrs. Walker, I felt like I belonged here, in an honors English class. Throughout this year, I have learnt and improved at my skills of properly annotating texts, writing a proper claim, analyzing author’s style, and also analyzing rhetorical situations.

Before taking this class I never liked my English classes more specifically writing essays for them. I didn’t understand much of how to use strategies while writing essays and focuses little on learning it. By taking this class and using the strategies that I was provided with it made taking this class easy and enjoyable while writing analytical essays. I was willing to put in the effort and do my part in order to get a good grade in this English class and it worked. I feel that my performance in an English class has improved significantly.

When it comes to critical thinking, reading and writing are two factors that deal with the critical thinking process. A few key aspects of critical reading and writing are identifying the tone in ones writing, how to throughly read and annotate a text, and the revision process. In the essay, “The Maker’s Eye”, Donald Murray explains how the attitude of a writer, listening to what readers have to say and how to edit your own writing makes your work better when critically thinking in college. These aspects of critical thinking, reading and writing make will keep the reader interested and make the writing easier to translate when read.

The beginning of my junior year seems like it was such a long time ago. This may be because of how much I have grown since the start of the year. When I began AP English, my writing skills needed improvement. For instance, I often used incorrect grammar and struggled with staying on topic. In just one semester, my writing has improved immensely. The more than I write, the more I learn about how to craft a good paper. I have worked on improving my grammar, using rhetoric, addressing my subject, and many more elements of writing. In addition to improving my writing, I have gained many skills to become a better student. I have learned about effective study techniques and time-management skills that allow me to be the most successful. Since I always try my best, I know that over time I will continue to grow in my studies. This year I have gained countless skills that will help me succeed in English in the future.

Advancing in my critical thinking skills is as important as my writing skills. I have to take the appropriate steps in continuing to engage the readers throughout the writing process. Writing is crucial as a student and everyday life because it is a form of communication. I will utilize the necessary resources to assist me in applying the lessons being instructed for completion of each assignment in accordance with the University guidelines. Allowing myself to create an outline for the topic before the rough draft is setting

Additionally, students will learn how to: “read texts critically,” analyze writing, respond in a constructive and professional manner, and “evaluate sources and integrate the ideas of others into their own writing” (Rhetorical Choices 2-3).

“Finally!” I thought to myself as summer is slowly approaching, “I am done with this high school forever.” I honestly am so excited for summer that each day I count down the number days I have for school. Moreover, I constantly think of the activities that I will do during the summer that sound a lot better than school. Despite being overjoyed of leaving high school, I certainly would not deny that I have tremendously improved as a writer. True, as mentioned in all of my previous reflective essays, I still despise English; however, I have to grudgingly admit College Credit Plus English 1010 refined my writing skills from my junior year in AP English class. My classmates and teacher pointed out some ways that I could brush up my essays, which

As the semester was coming to a beginning I honestly thought I was ready for this course. I say this because senior year high school I took an advanced placement English class. I also, say I was ready to start this course because I have had practice with English and writing essays during my summer before beginning Fall year. I would get good grades on my essays both my AP English class and my Summer English class. So with that being said I thought I was going to do good in this course. As I began this course and saw that we were only going to be doing three essays and a portfolio for the whole year, I thought I was so ready for the semester. I thought this class was going to be one of my easiest class. As assignments were coming up I thought

Before I enrolled in English 101 my ability to write specific types of papers (argumentative, rhetoric, narrative, etc) were mediocre at best. However, from reading The Norton Field Guide to Writing and They Say, I Say I gained a deeper understanding on how to better argue a point or write a narrative with a clear theme. Moreover, from my time of being in English 101 I have improved tremendously in the given areas: Rhetoric, Technology, Research, and Collaboration.

After reading through the class syllabus a few times, I get the impression that AP English will be a significant departure from my previous english classes, especially in workload and our power to determine our essay and discussion. Prior to this class, I have taken honors English 9, 10, and 11, with Derry, Armstrong, and Brewer, respectively. Though the specific focus of each class varied, all three, English 9 and 10 particularly, followed a similar pattern of reading, guided analysis and discussion, essay writing, and assessment. Almost all of this was very structured, such that I felt that our essays were pretty formulaic. Additionally, much of the class discussion seemed superficial in places, often discussion time was cut very short,