Throughout my years in school, I did not feel that I was the best writer, my writing seemed terrible and to make it feel better, it showed in my writing. I did not begin to see major improvement in my writing until I took Advanced Placement English & Composition this last year. Before, I received little to no feedback from my instructors concerning my writing. My previous teachers would stamp my papers with a grade without letting me know what I needed to work on to be an excellent writer. When I found out that I would be taking English Composition, I immediately thought that I would not receive any feedback from my instructor. I thought that if I struggled with not receiving feedback from a teacher that I would see every day, then I should not expect to receive much from a college professor in my online class. I desired to be a strong writer. I feel that writing will be a part of me for the rest of my life, so why not try to be decent at it. Applying these skills helps me build a firm foundation for writing essentials. Evidence from three of my ENG 1113 papers this semester suggest that I have made great progress in using quotations correctly, creating a vivid style, and better understanding transitions between paragraphs and sentences in my writing. Reading through these papers, though, it is clear I am still working on improving punctuation, especially with commas.
I did not know how to use quotations correctly, nor did I know how to cite authors’ work. This class
As a writer, I find myself getting lost. Typically, when I go to start writing I hit a brick wall. It’s as if all my thoughts suddenly escape my mind and I draw a blank. It takes me forever to conjure up some form of a thesis and then takes even longer to figure out what I should write to support it in a way that makes sense. Then, attempting to find a way to organize my ideas and put them together in cohesive paragraphs seems like an impossible task in the moment. It is not uncommon for me to get flustered and just throw something down on the paper because I get anxious seeing how much work is left to do. If I end up going back to read it over prior to submission,
People have many ways that they write. Some do a process of doing drafts so they can look through, edit and make the paper better. Others will just write a paper and turn it in. My process consist of starting with making a thesis. Then from the thesis I create the topic sentences for the topic at hand. The best way to write the essay in a good format and have good detail in the writing I would write a paragraph a day. By doing that process it allows me to get what is needed out on the paper so none of the paragraphs are mixing content and making the paragraphs less structured. This process not only makes writing essays less stressful while also getting the paper done quickly.
Olympian, Kim Collins said, “Strive for continuous improvement, instead of perfection.” This quote can also apply to students in school in many different ways. Students always want the best project or writing grade that they can possibly get. While that is a worthy goal it is not realistic because students are not perfect and they are still learning, and developing important skills. In my personal essays throughout the year I did strive for perfection, but I learned that I could not do it. I had to make slight improvements to better my writing for the next essay.
I have trouble writing because my writing seems to be a little “tongue-in-cheek” as my AP English teacher said. (I have a couple unfinished examples that I will attach). I tend to not know exactly what I am trying to say in my essays. It is not that I am a poor writer per se; I just have an issue focusing my writing. I enjoy writing; however, I become engrossed in the way I want to present my ideas. Perhaps it is that I do not know the audience to whom I am writing. I usually use proper grammar and mechanics but that is definitely not enough to write an exceptional essay. In this course, I feel strongly that I will develop these skills. Another concern I have with writing is when it is timed. I have never performed well in a timed writing assignment;
As a recent Egyptian immigrant to the United States, writing is the most difficult subject. In 7th grade, my writing process started to develop with the help of an amazing teacher. Ever since 7th grade I have been practicing wiring to be close to the high school writing slandered. I reached my goal last year when my act writing score is 6 point which places me in English 101. I doubted myself so, I took the Accuplacer test which also, placed me in English 101. I was scared when I saw the results that I’m going to fail this course. After taking this course, it made me more confident in writing and showed me my writing level which needs more practice. This class helped me improve my writing skills, by getting great feedback from my instructor
To effectively revise and edit my research paper, I read it carefully, as I played the reader`s role instead of that of a writer. In addition, I used a number of strategies to effectively revise and edit my research paper. First, I read my paper aloud as I listened for errors. After carefully listening, I was able to identify and correct errors in my writing, including grammar, incorrect sentence structure, incomplete ideas, and incorrect punctuation. While reading, I could stop and rectify the mistake at the point where I could note it. In addition, I read each sentence at a time so that I could digest the structure and identify any error. Prior to the reading, I noted down the common errors I usually commit while writing such as the omission
For my first semester on an actual college campus as a sixteen year old high school student, I embarked upon many new things. Making my own schedule, having more accountability for my grades and simply taking the first few steps into adulthood. As I spend more time on campus everything that seems hard and confusing will only become more adaptable with time. Everything gets better with time. I know this because throughout my experience in English Composition 1101 I have seen a proliferation in my writing process and skills.
Looking back in this class, I have realized just how much my writing has improved since the beginning
Writing never really was my strong suit. I enjoyed doing math and science but when it came to writing, I wasn’t a fan of it. I would finish papers just to turn them in and get a grade. Once I got the grade back, I would just stash the paper away and not look at it anymore because I didn’t feel confident in them. There was only a few that made me feel amazing when I finished them.
Throughout my years in writing and taking English courses I have always been a faulty writer and never have been strong in this aspect. Truthfully my writing was the same until I came to college and took English 104 with Professor Horjus. Horjus had taught me things about myself and my writing that I never gave my full attention too and explaining my thoughts. Professor Horjus had started off class on making us say things we could work on after turning in an essay and feel we lacked or felt very strongly about. Being able to talk about the lack of my writing skill or even the strong aspects in my writing let me see that everything teachers have taught me in the past has honestly not really helped. College English has defiantly shined a new light on writing for me.
While I was starting the process of writing the connection narrative I felt that my writing was going in the right direction. When I finished my rough draft, I knew more work was required in order for me to get a high grade which I would eventually work on. Going into the peer review I felt nervous because I received low scores on my previous papers by my peers. When I got back both of my reviewed papers I was surprised, to say the least. I thought I understood the purpose of the prompt better. I lacked details on how the issue connected to me which discouraged me to keep writing. I felt embarrassed that my peers had reviewed my work. It was hard to accept that I don’t always have strong writing. I do appreciate the feedback they gave me which allowed me to rewrite everything in a way that would address the prompt and would be better understood.
This year, I was challenged as a writer to graduate from childlike formulaic writing. In Composition I, the first week of class resulted in unnerving changes. We were rid of the impeding constraints of a formula and were never assigned topics. I’ll admit at first it was a little difficult having neither a formula nor assigned topic, but it was also freeing. Being able to freely write has allowed me to grow and not limit my flourishing abilities.
Writing has to actually make sense. Would it be wise to throw words or thoughts together without direction and confidently expect your reader to understand? The most interesting things I’ve learned so far in this course was how to formulate a three paragraph essay. This method is broken down in three parts called an introductory paragraph, body paragraph, and summary paragraph. Learning this method more than simplified what direction my writing should go.
What I learned while completing this project is that there is so many ways you can learn about different crafts. One, of the things that made me really look deeper into the words or phrases of a book was paying attention and re-reading the sentences of books, until i understood what the author was trying to describe weather igt was a time of day or a place. It was really interesting to see all the different ways authors have to incorporate crafts like the one I choose and the ones I got to see from my classmates when we presented our craft. It was very fascinating to find all this crafts that are possible, because now that I have the knowledge I am able to incorporate this into my own writing, and one day when I have a classroom of my own as
During this semester, I have learned a great deal about my own writing, and writing in general. One of the main takeaways from this course for me was how to break down the intricate process of writing papers. In addition, I developed viable skills regarding going into more in-depth detail during each step of the writing process. I enjoyed having the freedom to write about a topic that I was able to choose. This allowed me to research and write about something that actually interested me immensely. Having to work with one topic for the entire semester taught me how to find reliable resources and how to pick out the essential research from each article.