Freshman Composition Analysis

The first few years of college student’s lives are not necessarily the most enjoyable time, having to take the basic core classes. Unless someone is planning on getting their degree in something that involves the basic core classes like; Math, Psychology, any Humanities, or English. English has not been my strong suit and I know that I still have work that needs to be done to make me a better writer, but I believe that I was able to meet and achieve the goals and requirements of this Composition two class.

Currently, I am crossing a huge bridge from high school writing to college writing. Which means there is going to be plenty of room for my writing skills to progress in various ways. After putting thought into where my weaknesses may be in my writing I have arrived to a conclusion of 5 personal goals to improve my essays. My 5 goals will be the pillars that keep my bridge up and from collapsing, by the use of these 5 goals I will easily transition from high school writing to college writing.

Everyone on the planet has a goal set in life, but only a handful attempt to improve to obtain their goal by studying the subject their goal is in. In my English class, English 101 this quarter I was astonished by how much I had progressed as a writer sharpening my writing skills and also learned a lot about writing that I hadn’t learned before. In my writing portfolio for this quarter I had to write an autobiography essay, a research essay, and this reflection essay to develop my writing skills better. The writing assignments were fun to do because it challenged me to work on essays of different styles that were new to me. The essay assignments helped me grow as a better writer that gave me the self-confidence and skills to take on the world on my own.

English class has never been my strong suite. I always had to work twice as hard in English then I did in any other class. Writing paper always had me stressed and overwhelmed, I felt discouraged in my work. l never seemed to be able to get to the level I wanted to. I would try my hardest and paid attention in class, but when it came to writing the paper none of that seemed to help. I think that my experience in English Composition 1 has helped gain and grow in some areas, but I don’t think that it highlights a well-written college essay. Some elements that I worked to improving was introduction paragraphs, tone, style, and thesis statements.

“The Novice as Expert: Writing the Freshman Year” reflected my writing experience while I transitioned from elementary writer to a critical writer. Sommers and Saltz write, “freshmen need to see themselves as novice in a world that demands ‘something more and deeper’ from their writing than high school” (Sommers and Saltz 134). This line highlights the hardship that most students face when trying to write successfully. My earlier written works were much weaker than my current pieces because I often wrote for the sake of passing the class. While developing my writing, I focused on the new ideas that were introduced rather than limiting my argument to familiar techniques and ideas. Because of my new attitude towards writing, I began to demand

Completing freshman composition is one of the greatest accomplishments I have achieved throughout my high school career. I have experienced an immense amount of improvement on my writing as well as a huge deal of stress throughout the semester. In the past, writing was never one of my strong suits; however, I have learned quite a bit, for example, how to use semicolons, write with metacognition, and how to correctly do a works cited. During my time in this class, I have: reflected, set goals, learned the writing process, tracked my progress, and learned a huge deal about myself, life and college.

As I look back, College Composition has improved my writing techniques and skills by directing me through tons of practice with writing, readings, and examples from the textbook, in-class discussions and helped me notice my strengths and weaknesses as an English student. Some of my strengths that can be shown in my previous essays are: my ability to free-write with lots of detail, structuring an essay correctly, constructing a very well organized and detailed essay, and manage time and use it to construct a well- thoughtful essay, my thesis statements in all four of my essays were structured correctly, and also, it can take me less time to come up with a debatable topic for my essay than it did at the beginning of the semester; therefore, I have quite a bunch of weaknesses, it can take me a while to start an essay, still to this day, and I can’t begin to write an essay without completing the introduction paragraph first, every now and then the structure of my sentences can cause a problem and a hard time for the reader to understand what I’m really trying to say, and trying to get my point to come across clearly may be a challenge for me as well; also, I’ve noticed that in my previous essays I had put a few commas in the wrong places or missed some commas in a sentence, I have also misused semi-colons, sometimes I have used the wrong word or phrase in a sentence which has made my sentences really unclear and ending an essay with a conclusion paragraph can take me some time

Throughout this semester we have had to write many types of essays. Although this is a college English class there is still room for improvement. I made much improvement during the semester of the class. I was able to identify my weaknesses. I learned how to make improvements to the areas I was having problems in. Although each essay we did was different I was able to begin with one essay and throughout the semester turn it into two other essays. I was able to change my style of writing to fit the type of audience I was working with. I will continue to work on my writing and keep improving it.

Have you ever wondered whether a writer’s voice and the standard rules of academic writing can exist on the same page? According to Dr. Debra Pena, English Professor, University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Mathew Teorey, English Professor, University of New Mexico and the author of "Using Freshman Composition to Analyze What Students Really Know about Grammar" a writer’s voice and the process of academic writing can exist on the same page (Personal Communications February 13, 2017, Teorey 2). However, my first essay In Freshman Composition II titled, “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE): Is it the New Death Sentence for Future Athletes Playing Sports in America?” where I lost the power of my voice to the process of academic writing.

Throughout the course of freshmen year I have developed different skills and opinions on writing. I feel I have created a more mature style of writing and a better understanding of literature. I have changed my view of writing over this semester and acquired a strong liking for it. The importance of writing has become more visible throughout the past few months. Writing is crucial in many aspects of a person’s life. I have grown to be a more powerful and well built writer throughout this course.

Coming into the 3D program, I was none too excited about taking any general studies classes, including freshman composition. English class has always been the one class I have always had a disdain for. In high school, English was all about reading literature and being told to write several pages on a topic seemingly unrelated without any direction to guide us. Upon coming to Freshman Composition, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the class was nothing like those classes. I feel as if I have learned many things and developed greatly as a writer throughout these last months shown in this portfolio. The main improvements of mine consist of my ability to manage time, my ability to structure paragraphs, and my ability to improve my papers through my own writing process.

The majority of people in my composition class have jobs--to be exact, seventeen out of twenty-three. The three students who make up my interview group, Jessica, Michanda, and Connor, are part of that statistic. Connor is a lifeguard at Kelly Rec Center and states, "I like it because it's really easy." Jessica also enjoys her job waiting tables at Fish City Grille. When asked why she likes it, she replied, "I love talking to the old people." Jessica highlighted other reasons why she "loves" her job, such as getting half off the food, interesting coworkers, and the simplicity of it. Michanda's job as a customer service representative at Syke's requires her to talk to people too, except over the phone. Since she speaks English, French, and Creole, Michanda assists a variety of callers. French-speaking customers are her favorite because "they just want to know their account balance." Although Connor and Jessica like their jobs, Michanda doesn't care much for hers. She doesn't like dealing with angry customers who "only call to scream at you."

Starting off with what I have learned, how I think the class will be and what goals it will take to have success during freshmen composition. First day of class what I have learned is using the correct format of MLA writing style, what goes into each sentence in a paragraph. Expanding my vocabulary learning what the word metacognition means to think about writing. The 9 steps it takes to follow the correct format of having a successful paper. Freshmen composition I expect the class to be very challenging and difficult for me. Writing papers and reading everyday is something I do not excel during my normal days which leads freshmen composition being difficult and challenging for me. I do expect me becoming a better reading and writing during

During this semester, I have strengthened my writing by trying new writing techniques, learning about purpose, and finding new ways of combating writers block. My first essay in this class was less focused then the essays I wrote later in

“Welcome Class to Composition one.” Those words were voiced by my professor, Mrs. Robinson, on the first day of school. Initially, I thought to myself, do I even belong in this college course class. Before school had even begun, the stress over the summer about my English skills was eating me alive. Why? Well, in my past English classes I received A’s on all of my essays, but this college class did not seem so easy. Also, I was always fascinated by all the arts and sciences, but English never struck interest in me. I never thought that I could write any decent essays. The reason I insecure about my writing skills was because of the ACT. Since the ACT is the talk about how smart an individual is, my ACT score was not very high. As the course continued, the first essay approached quickly. I remember being stressed about this essay because of my writing insecurities. Although I managed to acquire a decent grade, I promised myself to strive to make myself a better writer. I started to read Norton Field Guide to Writing handbook also known as the yellow book, and slowly but surely started to develop knowledge of good writing skills and tips to improve my essays. This allowed me to grow as a writer and slowly my insecurities started to dwindle, and I began to gain confidence in myself. I never would've thought that the next time I took the ACT that my English score would be my highest. When getting my score back and realizing that I had improved so much, I began to wonder how I