Little Seagull Handbook

Throughout the progression of this course I learned countless things concerning my writing. {Simkin, M. G., Crews, J. M., & Groves, M. J. (2012). While it’s there’s a many amounts of things ‘ve learned throughout the course, there are several things I‘ve learned which include the step by step process, including the correct usage of grammar and properly proofreading my work before I turn it in. I found out i had a major problem with my punctuation usage and insufficient when it came my periods and commas. I’ve invested some time writing through grammarly and other helpful sites to improve my writing skills. I appreciate the assistance and help I received from Mrs. C

Because of this, I make mistakes structuring it correctly or even punctually. In high school, I took a college English class that would allow me to advance in my writing skills. However, the class only focused on using transition words, and nothing else. In this English 1001 class, I have learned to write my paper with fewer structure mistakes. However, I was never good at writing my paper that was punctually correct. In the past, I was told to never use the word I in any writing assignments. This often confused me when I was writing the research paper. Sometimes, I would not punctuate my sentences correctly after the signal phrase. In the essay, I wrote, “At one point, a professor said…”and I forgot the comma after the signal phrase very, said. Slowly, I was able to use this format and express my opinion on the research. Unfortunately, I still make those mistakes unintentionally and it often hurts my grade. In the first essay, I did well on expressing my ideas, but structurally, I did not do so well. By rewriting the essay, I hope to earn a better

Many students have struggled with essays for their English class. They have difficulties due to many issues, the least of which are poor writing skills. Each person has their own area of writing which gives them the most trouble. If this lack of skill is not addressed then a student can be certain that his or her grade will fall. Personally, I have the most difficulty with conclusions, transitions, and comma usage. To address these issues I conducted research and found three effective sources; The Little seagull Handbook, Smart-words.org, and grammar.ccc.commnet.edu. These three sources assisted me in improving each of my three skills, which I struggle with.

The checklist titled “Checklist for Revising and Editing”, in The Little Seagull Handbook, provided eight great tips for revision of a paper. The tips ranged from appealing to a specific audience to punctuation errors. The biggest issues I have with writing are sentence structure and punctuation and mechanics.

In the introduction to my first essay the 3rd sentence contains an easily remediable comma splice: “Not me, I live for this.” Later in the same paragraph I made the same mistake with “My operators think they are the ones who drive me into these situations – they’re wrong, I am the one who drags them into the belly of the beast.” Prior to ENC1101, I would never consider the preceding sentence wrong. After learning about the proper usage of commas and semicolons, I realized I have been creating comma splices all my life. Learning what independent clauses were and how to properly punctuate them has given my writing a greater sense of credibility. Replacing the comma with a semicolon, the punctuation used to separate 2 independent clauses, fixes them. Another error exposed during this course was my improper use of word forms. An example is shown here from my second essay “Seeing their demeanor switch from animosity to appreciative made me feel rewarded for my efforts”. Reading that sentence in my mine seems fine, but on closer inspection the words “animosity” and “appreciative” are not in same form. This course (specifically the SmartThinking program) has shown me that making word forms agree leads to more fluid writing. Correcting these errors leads to more mature writing and will make future professors respect my writing

Have you ever experienced the death of a beloved pet? If you have, I’m sure it was hard to get through, being so attached. For David Barry, his view is different - experiencing this can be an important lesson for kids. In many other disappointing circumstances, there’s always that one person who attempts - and sometimes succeeds - at being cheery through it. Similar to this type of person, Barry’s writing sheds light on the loss of a pet being an important lesson through humor that may improve the reader’s attitude towards their own loss. David Barry’s short story “I’ve Got A Few Peeves About Sea Creatures” is a high-level comedy that uses sarcasm and various types of comic language to convey the idea that the occurrence of losing a pet can be a teachable experience for a young owner if taken light-heartedly, with an open mind.

During the course of English Comp 1, I discovered my ultimate weakness: commas. Before I took the course, I did not realize how horrendous I was with punctuation in general, but more specifically, commas. After Mrs. Menetre graded my first paper, it soon became obvious that I needed to learn a great deal about commas in a short amount

I have shown a variety of both livestock and general projects in my ten years as a 4-H member. My first livestock project was Mallard ducks and since then my waterfowl project has expanded. I showed my Mallard ducks for five years. Unfortunately a mink killed my entire flock. After I lost my flock, I was given a set of Giant African Dewlaps from a family friend which I named Linus and Lola. A few years later the same family friend offered to give me his pair of Giant Toulouse Dewlap geese. He was having difficulty finding someone to take care of them when he traveled and felt they could have a better home with me. I have shown these geese at the Illinois State Fair and have won Best Heavyweight Goose and Gander and Reserve Best Heavyweight

Sea minks are now extinct but were once ranged from Casco Bay, Maine in the south to as far north as New Brunswick, Canada. Their main habitats are coastal regions. Sea minks are usually confused with the American mink, but the sea mink is bigger. Sea minks are on average 914mm but the American mink is 580-700mm, so there is a good difference in size. Also the male sea minks are larger in size compared to the females. Their fur is a reddish dark brown, and it is not known if their fur changes during the summer and winter.

Have you ever seen a Northern Harrier? Probably not because they are endangered. The Northern Harrier is on Maryland’s list of endangered species. This animal is ranged in most of North America, Asia, and Europe. This species scientific name is the Circus Cyaneus. Its common name that it is found by is the Northern Harrier and nick name is the Marsh Hawk. The Northern Harrier species is endangered because of destruction of their home, pollution of their home, development, sedimentation, and fragmentation.

Nature has a unique way of working, then the humankind comes and ruins it all. The California Sea Lion is feeding off a species on the endangered species list, The Salmon. The Salmon attempts to travel upstream thru the Bonneville Dam where the Sea Lion awaits them. The Sea lion then eat them not allowing them to travel upstream becoming a greater problem for the already endangered species.

There's a little bird endemic to the United States that's in big trouble, particularly in the East Coast. Scientists fear that the saltmarsh sparrow could go extinct in as little as five decades.

Steller sea lion pups possess thick rough coats with a mostly dark appearance. After the first molt, their color lightens. The complexion of female and male Steller sea lions is a golden-brown to a reddish brown. They have a somewhat darker shade in their chest and abdomen. Steller sea lions also display sexual dimorphism which means that the males are remarkably larger than females. Similar to all pinnipeds, the Steller sea lions have whiskers to sense prey. They also molt every year which parallels to other pinnipeds, and they are mainly insulated by blubber. In addition, they have flippers that are used for locomotion. Their sensory organs are accommodated to operate both underwater and in the air, but because they are mammals they have to come up to the surface in order to breathe.

Steller sea lions (Eumetiopias jubatus) are the only member of Eumetiopias and are one of the biggest of the eared seals. Steller sea lions feed mainly on fish, and sometimes even various types of shellfish. Many Steller sea lions can be found along the coast of Western Alaska. Generally, Western Alaska has relatively warm summers, cold winters, and mild temperatures during the spring and fall, with the highest amounts of rainfall during the summertime. Steller sea lions have recently come under the scope of many researchers because of their sudden and significant decline of population in recent times. In some places such as the Aleutian Islands, which is an island chain found in the Western part of Alaska, the population of Steller sea lions

An aspect that I often struggle with is proper punctuation. Truthfully, I do not know how to correctly use punctuation. When writing, I place punctuation by mimicking authors’ formats or by placing them where it feels right. This is present in all of my writing, but I am attempting to improve. Punctuation also plays a part in another weakness of mine, one that is most likely present within this essay. Since middle school, it was engrained in my mind that a good essay is a long essay, so I have a tendency for wordiness. To elongate an essay, I tend to add needless words and sentences. For example, in the rough draft of the Whole Process Essay, I added several unrelated occurrences to elongate the paragraphs. Although my essays were long and wordy, the professor commented on vagueness and unclearness within the whole process and practice essay. Sometimes, I disregard the fact that the reader might not know what it is I am writing about or the sentence makes perfect sense to me. The latter is the most common, I quickly read the sentence and it appears fine to me. Within the Whole Process Essay, another weakness was brought to my attention. I lack structure, a key element in effective writing. Within the same essay and a few others, I simply added what felt right, sometimes the result would be acceptable but in other instances, it was a long, jumbled mess.