Reflection Of Academic Writing

I came into Writing 150 under the assumption I was well prepared for college level writing by my wonderful high school English teachers. I could consistently write excellent timed essays in AP literature, and I managed to make it through college Composition 101 at a local college. Those things did help me a lot with grammar, transitions, and style, but Writing 150 challenged me to think much harder than anything could have prepared me for. By provoking deeper thought, Writing 150 has immensely strengthened my writing. It has taught me how to make arguments on my own, instead of letting someone else’s quotations do all the work. It also equipped me with many strategies that helped me boost my writing ability throughout the semester and I can now carry in my toolbox for the rest of my college career.

I have learned and improved many skills during my time in GSW 1110. Before I took this class I was very unconfident in my academic writing abilities; however, I have greatly improved them during this last semester. I have learned how to gather and organize credible information; write to audiences with opposing viewpoints; identify the audience I am writing to and cater my writing toward them; draft texts using personalized strategies; use grammar, punctuation, and mechanics to make my writing more interesting; and think critically to synthesize multiple points of view. I believe the skills I have learned and refined will allow me to move on to further college writing classes, as well as help me for the rest of my life at work and in the community.

I have made progress as a writer because I am stronger in two new genres. The memoir and the food profile have taught me how to write in a different style. I have had to write as if I was writing for a magazine or a blog, in a more casual way. This helped me learn that I have to write with details so that a broader audience understands. It is important to know how to write in a casual way and in a professional way because different situations require different writing.

My experience with my academic writing it comes from the past years in different classes, that I have taken here in Texas Tech University. I have taken some couple classes in the science department, a law class. In my law class I had to write an academic paper, explain the different types a law that will apply in a wind energy industry. This academic writing was done in the law class, but that was different from English class. The writing in the science class was little bit like the writing that was done in English 1301 at South Plains. My experience in the class was to compare and summaries article that was chosen by the professor. In this class, it helps me to improve my writing skills little bit more that my high school English. One of my weaknesses in writing is my grammar, that I will go in depth by going to the writing center and other helpful resources. In 1302 I will learn more in depth how to write a research paper, so that I can go more in depth on my work and can use all the different sources on an essay paper. Me intend to build my strength to get better on my grammar is to make sure that I read aloud for my research or argument paper that will be writing for this semester. My goal for this class is to finish with a good grade and learn a lot from the professor. Also, to make sure that I use all help that I get from the class that I will be attending during this semester.

All in all, the class has taught me more material on how to improve my writing one step at a time and the assignments I have produced

Room 307. What a number to remember, the first time entering that classroom was frightening mainly because I’ve heard rumors about that class such as all we do is write essays and we have homework every day. Mainly, I was frustrated because I strongly hated writing and homework. To add on when I first wrote my friendly letter essay I was confused because I didn’t know myself so it was difficult to talk about myself which resulted in a somewhat low grade and a low self-esteem. After that point, we began to learn about the rules of writing and the how to use it correctly and that helped me understand the basics of writing and how to use it correctly. In addition, I didn't realize I had multiple issues with my writing such as comma splices, run-ons, and what she calls it grrr these three issues killed my writing. After struggling multiple times attempting to fix my issues, the two essays that changed the way how I wrote were my “Conformity Vs Individuality” and my “Bystander Editorial” essays. How you ask, thanks for asking it changed how I think and wrote mainly because I got A- and that was an accomplishment at least for me and ever since that A- I used it as a template to get good grades on essays and that truly helped me self-improve and fix my errors. To conclude, I was the worst at writing now I'm better so I want you to take this into consideration Errors + Learning= Success just take it from me.

So far, being in English 1101 has taught me many things. First, I have learned to apply myself more into my work, and to stay on track of all my assignments. I used to be the student that would wait until the last day possible to do my assignment, but being in this class, I know that my very best work takes multiple days. Also, last year, I would turn my work in without revising, but now, before turning in a paper, I make sure that it is thought over thoroughly.

My entire highschool career English was taught incredibly different from how public schools teach the subject. Most of the time our classes would include group projects, powerpoints, and reading in and out of class. Throughout the four years we rarely ever worked on writing and how to properly formulate a paper. There was no instruction on how to draft or how often we are to revise our papers. I didn’t learn how to write argumentative, persuasive, or informative essays. We also were never taught how to properly cite sources, include quotations, and the difference between MLA and APA. College was a shock to me, my first ever college paper was APA and I had no clue what APA format even was. It was so intimidating that I dropped the course. Through the classes I have taken at COC I had a general idea of how to write but nothing near what I have learned in this class. Coming into this course my skills were dull and I was eager to learn. I have always really enjoyed writing, and one day I want to write a book. Throughout this semester I feel as if I’ve really grown in my writing skills. After two years at COC I finally feel prepared enough to move on to receive my bachelors.

I didn’t know what to expect when I started this class. “Advanced College Writing” is a vague title for a class and could have gone in any number of directions. I certainly didn’t expect to improve my writing by such a high degree. Usually, “advanced” classes are more of a review where the student uses tools that they already have. In contrast, I have learned more about writing in this class than in almost any of my other classes. This class has improved my grammar, writing style, and approach to writing altogether.

When I was in gradeschool, I was always fascinated by reading and writing. I always watched by mom write things down in for grocery lists, to do lists, and simply signing a permission slip for my brothers. I always wondered how one person could contain all of that information in their heads, for knowing how to spell thousands of words.

Before taking this course, I was, at best, a mediocre writer. I never fully understood what it took to not only produce an essay, but what it took to produce an effective one as well. I struggled with staying on topic, grammar usage, and many other things that I was ashamed of not knowing about. However, this changed drastically throughout the course of this quarter. I feel like I gained more knowledge then I thought I would while having a good time doing so. First of all, I learned how to never stray from my topic. I learned how to organize my paper in multiple ways whether it be the least important point to most important, the opposite, or even mixing the level of importance up throughout the body of the essay. I learned how to create such an effective title/hook which has given me the ability to draw any reader in. Organization also taught me the understanding of the different processes of writing.

Prior to this English Composition course, writing papers had been the same consistent methods used throughout middle to high school which made my writing mediocre or average. This also stemmed from my overzealous confidence in my writing abilities, because the teachers I had prior had not interjected with comments of improvement, asides grammar mistakes. They did not prompted me to analyze further or not to use unnecessary “fluff”, in fact they wanted me to use “fluff”. The whole objective of a writing assignment was to fill the page requirements, it focused primarily on page numbers than the content within the essay. However, the method I use to write an essay through the guide, “How To Write a Paper” that has acted as a foundation for my gradual improvement. Professor Delloiacono did not hold back on constructive criticism that has molded by attitude towards any assignment, the underlying message of: to never be too satisfied because there are room for improvements. The constructive criticism has also pointed out two major flaws I had within my papers, the use of narration instead of analyzing/referencing the work, as well as my difficulties with forming a thesis and topic sentences due to lack of grasping/comprehending the text.

Ever since I was younger I loved writing and reading. I would write short stories when I was younger, and you could always find me with a book in my hand. But as I was growing up that love faded because I soon found grammar and spelling hard to get correct. Also, when I would read out loud some words I could not pronounce so there were times when my peers would make fun of me. These experiences have turned me away from writing and reading, but I believe that this class had helped me get some of that love back. This class made me like reading and writing again because it has helped me improve my grammar, thought process, and critical thinking.

English 220 helped expand my ideas on what good writing is, and has helped me embrace certain stylistic choices to help add personality and intrigue to my writing. Reading and discussing Chapter 9 of They Say, I Say helped me identify and tweak my voice in later writing assignments, including MWA 2, and now I feel more comfortable deciding to use informalities and voice changes in my writing when it is necessary to better fit the prompt. In addition, our in-class discussions helped me become more comfortable with my sharing my own ideas about things and engaging in discussion about them, which allowed me to analyze the novels we read on a deeper level. Sometimes, voicing opinions in a classroom setting can be a little intimidating, but the welcoming atmosphere of the course helped take some of the pressure off and was very conducive to constructive discussion which gave me the opportunity to practice quick, critical thinking and finding document-based proof in a time-sensitive setting.

In elementary school, I learned to write sentences. As time went on I learned to put those sentences in a paragraph which was three to five sentences. When I finally entered high school I learned to put those paragraph together which made the essay. When I was in English composition one writing had so much more than just having five paragraph. The writing was a way of expressing your creativity, idea, values, and emotion. It is not focusing on making five paragraph you could do what made you happy as a writer. There are countless abilities that writing has. The most powerful thing writing can do is change the opinion of thousands. But what is exactly English 1100? It is about improving your writing, reading and thinking skills or improve them. There are seven learning outcomes students that can get from this class, for example, communicate effectively, demonstrate rhetorical knowledge, engage in critical thinking, writing and reading, develop effective composing processes, collaborate during the writing process in a social setting, use appropriate convention for format, documentation, and editing, Adapt composing process to electronic environment. By end of this course, all student should able to demonstrate those learning goals as stated in the packet.