My high school years were not spectacular, nor were they terribly productive.I left high school without learning how to proficiently write an essay. However, CUNY's Borough of Manhattan Community College afforded me a desperately needed second chance. It was at BMCC that I sharpened many of the skills I should have mastered in high school. I was able to greatly improve my writing ability. I began college as a student who found writing a 2 page paper to be a terrifyingly daunting task, but due to practice and numerous resources offered by CUNY, I soon was able to compose papers consisting of 10-14 pages with confidence and efficiency.
At 11:15 on Monday, August 17, 2015, my first official college class, English 1101, began. In general, I had no idea what college classes would be like let alone how college English would be. Even though this class taught me a great deal in one semester, it took a large amount of time and effort to make the adjustment from high school. The simplistic writing style of high school was put to rest the moment the first college English class began. As a result, I learned quickly that college writing is complex and less systematic than high school writing. Five paragraph essays with three strict body paragraphs were no longer the norm for writing. Even though my professor helped guide my writing, I was no longer coddled through the whole writing
In L. Lennie Irvin’s “What Is ‘Academic’ Writing?” Irvin presents the reader’s with the necessary skills to probably compose a colligate level paper. Doing this, Irvin exposes common myths of writing. These myths include that writing is simply a trait that cannot be improved. He explains by stating if one wishes to improve their writing skills they must think about the way they present an idea rather than fretting about the grammar. Irvin also clarifies terms such as analyze and argument. While these are just some of the major points, Irvin thoroughly explains to students new to college how to compose a collegiate level essay.
Since beginning to write papers in English class, I have had countless successes and failures. While many of my English classes have taught me how to improve my writing, I have not learned very much in others. My most recent English class was last year, my sophomore year. My class was particularly undersized; therefore, it gave each student the opportunity to have additional individual attention. Throughout the class I experienced high points, weaknesses, and even difficulties that I never overcame. Overall, my writing skills improved, but only marginally.
Over the past year I had a chance to develop a deeper understanding of what it takes to develop successful paper. Taking English 1010 was a great experience because it prepares students on becoming better writers through college life. Even though this is my second year in college I was unable to take English 1010 the first year, but taking this class truly show me what college professors are looking for when we are ask to write a successful paper. College professors expect every student to be able to evaluate each topic and be descriptive in their essay.
As seniors about to embark on a journey into the adult world, it’s important to be prepared for what college professors expect in an essay. The article, What do College Professors Want from Incoming High School Graduates, was very insightful on how different the rules are. It states the different skills and mindsets an incoming freshmen must have to succeed in more advanced writing classes. It explains how high school and college writing differ, also how the two are similar. In order to be successful in school and in life one must become independent and open to change.
Thomas Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur,” and the Gawain Poet’s “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” are important works that should be considered when studying medieval literature. They both portray the style and structure of medieval romance. They also tackle the same topic of King Arthur and his knights, as well as share the same characters of King Arthur and Sir Gawain. In order to be able to go over these works and understand them, one must understand the aspects of literature of the time.
Heroic stories in English literature have unmatched fame because of the traits that the heroes exude. Both Sir Gawain, from “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” translated by Marie Borroff, and Beowulf, from Beowulf translated by Burton Raffel, serve as heroes in different times of Medieval English Literature. Many of the basic principles that describe heroes in Medieval Literature are seen in both of these characters even though they were written in different times. There are distinct similarities, differences, and also a progression of what the hero was in English literature, between Sir Gawain and Beowulf.
Higher-level writing is vital for my current standings as a college student and my future endeavors. In order to receive positive responses on any papers or discussions, I must be able to properly write on a college-level. I have continuously worked on my writing skills throughout English 101 and 102 and hope the skills I have gained in these courses will prepare me to write on an intellectual level. Looking back at previous discussion posts, assignments, papers, and feedback from peers and my instructor, I have achieved a large amount of insight to higher-level writing. This past semester I was required to create four major papers including Rhetorical Analysis Essay, Annotated Bibliography, Exploratory Essay, and the Researched Position Paper. Each of these papers entailed vigorous research and time. My writing has progressively improved throughout the semester in quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing source material, as well as choosing academic appropriate sources; however, I must strive to improve in general writing skills covering organization, style, diction, grammar, and mechanics.
Many beginning college students perform poorly on their essays due to the lack of discipline in diction and incorrect usage of words. The inadequacy to write a well written paper leaves a trail of disappointing grades and false confidence. Paul Roberts gives solutions to fix that very dilemma. These solutions contain advice that will enhance your level of writing.
My experience with English has changed drastically from middle school to college. Being in middle school I have really had to do much of a big paper, but as I progressed through college I’ve realized there much more that has to be added. I had always wondered why middle school was so easy but as years went on, I realized that advancing to college there’s a lot more requirements and importance to writing. In middle school, I was young and just starting to really realize what an essay was and after high school I really understood what an essay consists of. No matter how
There are many changes needed in high school’s English classes across the country to prepare students for college writing classes. The high school teachers need to start preparing their students for college level work from their freshman year in high school. However, they do not need to teach the things they already know otherwise they will have difficulties in college. In college students have hard times understanding the material because they understand something different then what their professor wants them to understand. There are many changes my former high school need to make versus my high school. The changes my former high school English classes needs to make are the vocabulary, sentence structure, and the important of Citation.
My life during the past two months, have been some of the most challenging. Since the start of my senior year, I have been frustrated, stressed, and crammed for time. Although I am going through this challenge, I am not doing it alone. As I try to get through each day I just try to remember that this will all benefit me in the future.
Medieval literature encompasses a diverse selection of European written works, starting from the 5th to the 15th century. Due to the Middle Ages’ extensive length, hundreds of tales were created, each with their own unique themes and plots. However, recurring ideas often came about-- for example, what defines heroism and villainy. Within a handful of literary works, such as in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by the Gawain Poet, often the difference between heroism and villainy is determined by an individual’s remorse, their desire for vengeance, and ability to learn from their mistakes.
As my senior year of high school started I was often excited about prom, a night of pure fun that's supposed to be right near the pinnacle of the senior experience, but I didn’t know how many problems it would end up bringing me. At the beginning of my senior year I met a new girl in my international relations class named Katherine, sitting only one seat diagonal from me. Most of the year we got along very well, and whenever we were assigned to the same group we would have a blast. We’d start off with the assigned discussion topic that would quickly devolve into something more interesting like our pristine cool sock collections. Though we seemed to get along really well, we never became the best of friends. Our main communication revolved around a couple day cycle with dabbles of small talk in the inbetween days. Though I didn’t know it at the time, this infrequent communication ultimately lead to the end of our relationship.