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.
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.
Over the summer, we were asked to write a rhetorical analysis essay. I vividly remember reading the prompt and having no idea what to do. At the time, I had only a limited understanding of the words ethos, pathos, and logos, but somehow I managed to write a three page essay on the rhetoric of Cesar Chavez’s article. When we got back from summer vacation, we learned more about how to write a rhetorical analysis. We learned about SOAPStone, which stands for speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone. I applied my knowledge of SOAPStone to analyzing “Two Ways of Seeing a River” and “To My Old Master”. Through SOAPStone, I was able to easily develop an introduction to my rhetorical analysis essays. Next up was learning how to identify rhetorical devices. Through reading Robert F. Kennedy’s
The life pursuits and subjective judgments of many contemporary young people indicate that the transition to adult roles has become so delayed and prolonged that it has spawned a new transitional period extending from the late teens to the mid-to late-twenties, called emerging adulthood. During the college years, young people often refine their approach to forming their own identity. In these years, young people have left adolescence, but most have not yet assumed adult responsibilities. Many have dreams and those are what guides them in their decision making. In the video, 22 year old Casey describes her dream and comments on her identity development. Casey says that she became interested in Psychology in high school during her junior year when she took a psych course. She knew from then on that was what she wanted to do, but she hadn't picked a career yet. Casey said that she picked a career during her first year of graduate school, when she decided on gerontology. She said her happy and active grandparents had a lot to do with picking a career and wanting to work with the population. Casey thinks her identity was a gradual process and it's only really formed since last year. She feels her parents helped shape her morals and beliefs, but in between her senior year and her first year of graduate school, she started to form her own and integrated some of her own ideas. 24 year old Elizabeth and 25 year old Joel are shown discussing
While the authors of these essays execute remarkable examples of rhetorical analyses, I myself could definitely improve on my own essays. For instance, my writing can be vague, especially when explaining how the rhetorical
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.
Prior to entering class, I thought that I was a competent writer. However, I quickly learned that my writing was conversational and that I had little experience in academic writing. I became aware that much of my poor writing was like an old habit that I found humbling to admit and hard to correct. Passive voice, unneeded words, long sentences, were just a few of the obstacles that resulted in ineffectual writing. However, using peer reviews and an editing checklist I slowly began the journey to better writing. I also found that reading about writing provided supplementary methods to improve my writing. Implementing these new techniques, I slowly began to understand what scholarly writing entailed. As I learned through giving criticism
Writing is a skill that is used on a daily basis in different mediums: emails, texts, academic papers, and social media platforms. While some mediums are more formal than others, writing in a proper way is still critical. For some, writing is second nature while others face difficulties constructing the perfect message. Growing up, the concept of writing was much more enjoyable than physically putting pen to paper. I found value in the idea of being able to express myself through my writing, yet when it came to academic papers, I froze. This was due to the fact that my writing was being judged, and that elicited fear which, in turn, made me second guess my writing abilities. While attending community college, I was required to take an
Prior to entering class, I deemed myself a competent writer. However, I quickly discovered that my writing involved mediocre writing precepts. In contrast to the principles of scholarly discourse, my writing held the tenets of conversational writing and failed to meet academic standards. Furthermore, much of my poor writing was akin to a deep-rooted habit that I found humbling to admit and challenging to correct. Passive voice, unneeded words, long sentences, were a few of the obstacles that impeded my journey to effective writing. However, using peer reviews and an editing checklist I slowly began improving my skills as a competent writer. I also found that reading concerning writing provided supplementary methods to improve my skills as a scholarly writer. Implementing these innovative techniques, I slowly began to
Before entering class, I deemed myself a competent writer. However, I quickly discovered that my writing involved mediocre writing precepts. In contrast to the principles of scholarly discourse, my writing held the tenets of conversational writing and did not meet academic standards. Furthermore, much of my poor writing involved deep-rooted habits that were humbling and challenging. Passive voice, unneeded words, long sentences, were a few of the obstacles that impeded my journey toward effective writing. However, using peer reviews and an editing checklist I slowly began improving my skills as a competent writer. I also found that reading concerning writing provided supplementary methods in improving my skills as a scholarly writer.
While reading over the prompt for this writing assignment, before I actually even sat down and gave it good thought, I had an epiphany! My favorite quote seemed to fit into my life a little bit more- through my English! A wises man known as Joel Osteen once said, “You can change your world by changing your words.. Remember, death and life are all power of the tongue.” Meanwhile giving thought into “who I am as a writer,” something finally dawned onto me. I often find it difficult to express myself or to even find the right words to begin to. I try my hardest to put interest into all of my writing, for I feel as if that is when I do my best work. But, overall, I truthfully find writing very strenuous. What intrigues me is that I was not always this way. During my sixth grade year I found a love for writing poetry, (I will forever thank Mrs. Shaffer for the simple “Simile Poem” assignment). Somewhere between the summer before seventh grade, and mid year I had lost interest. May it be due to the exhausting poetry unit we endeavored that year, or just simply I developed this so called “writers block,” I have yet to find out.
Middle adulthood takes place during forty and sixty years of age. During middle adulthood, multiple changes occur to one’s body and social life during this time. Each individual progresses through this stage differently; they could develop health problems and family problems. This week’s interview with my grandfather, we had talked about his health during middle adulthood. During this time in my grandfather’s life, he had discovered some serious health issues.
Key Findings The documents reveals that the results point to a significant association between discrimination and ethnic identity among adolescents. The information in the document shows. It also mentions that this will affect them into their adulthood and possibly affect them for life. It slows there socialisation with people that are not from their ethnic background because they don’t feel comfortable associating with them. They may feel that because they have experienced discriminated before from other people that it may happen again if that person is not from their ethnic background. Although
The development of identity in adolescents was described by Erikson’s stage of cognitive development, identity versus role confusion. This stage is further broken down by James Marcia and his four stages of identity development. This stage is best described by the phrase, ‘Who am I?’. The development of identity in adolescents is impacted by peers, parenting, and other social factors such as media.
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