What Is Crafting Defeat

Everyone on the planet has a goal set in life, but only a handful attempt to improve to obtain their goal by studying the subject their goal is in. In my English class, English 101 this quarter I was astonished by how much I had progressed as a writer sharpening my writing skills and also learned a lot about writing that I hadn’t learned before. In my writing portfolio for this quarter I had to write an autobiography essay, a research essay, and this reflection essay to develop my writing skills better. The writing assignments were fun to do because it challenged me to work on essays of different styles that were new to me. The essay assignments helped me grow as a better writer that gave me the self-confidence and skills to take on the world on my own.

At the start of this course, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had a goal for myself to improve and learn skills that would make writing less daunting for me. I have learned so many things about my writing that I didn’t think much about before. Another goal I had was to break the cookie-cutter mold that was set upon me throughout high school. During the process of revision, I discovered many things about myself as a writer and techniques that have been effective for me in the writing process.

There comes a time in life where we see an impossible obstacle, and do the best that we can to overcome it. For me, this was my AP English Language class in high school during senior year. The time was now, summer is nearly over. I analyzed my strengths and weaknesses, giving a full re-evaluation of myself. In the end, I consider myself an average writer. There have been times in the past when I’ve written letters or personal stories. However, those have never been my strongest set of skills. While I have been serious with my writing, I never recognized the unbelievable advantages that good writing has. Therefore, I’ve made it my goal to improve my literal skills and become a great writer. Maybe this new class will assist me in becoming that

Over the past four months, I have made great strides as a writer. The area where I have seen the most growth is in my use of the writing process. Prior to my enrollment in this course, I would sit down and write all my papers in one sitting. This class has taught me how to lay out a plan for my papers. I have learned how to effectively brainstorm/research, draft, and revise my writings before I complete them. Also I have learned to not just stop there, instead I am now going back and reflecting on my work after I complete it. This allows me to identify where I prospered and also where my downfalls may have been. With this information, I am able to apply this to future writings of mine; lessons that will stay with me forever.

To begin, I am eager to receive critique and assistance regarding my writing. My hope is to develop into the best writer I can be. Having said that, fearful struck me the moment I registered for this course. Fearing that I would be expected to write essays, papers and that I would fall short in my abilities. Writing a narrative essay, reflective essay, or researching material for a persuasive essay is not something I had done. Fortunately, soon realizing that this is why I am returning to college. English Composition specifically, will guide me through the information that I need to study to become the best writer I can be. Receiving guidance is a necessary part of life, and in college, if I want to develop my skills, receiving analyzes and assistance is essential to my growth. Falling short is an opportunity to fix what is wrong. So my enthusiasm is in learning everything I possibly can to aid in my success.

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.

The assignments in this class have shown me that I’m a better writer than I initially thought. The assignments have where I have improved, areas where I still need to improve, and how skills developed here can transfer into other courses.

I can still remember my heart pounding out of my chest. It was my first time in Writing 1, and my nerves were mostly the result of a friend’s advice. Winter quarter, my friend told me about her struggles in her writing class and she advised me not to take Professor Bernstein for Writing because as she said “he is really tough and a very hard grader.” However, I had no other option but to take writing with Professor Bernstein because all the other writing 1 classes conflicted with my schedule. Nevertheless, nine weeks have past since I first stepped foot in Writing 1, and I can certainly say that I have learned more than I ever expected. Yes, it is true, this class has been a challenge like no other, especially for me, being that English is

I have learnt how to come up with a good story and develop characters that the audience will care about. Through this class, I have improved my writing style and been inspired to build on my portfolio of creative

I took this class in order to learn how to write creatively. I have always been writing, because I enjoyed it, but I did not know if I was doing it ‘correctly.’ I did not know how to shape my ideas and thoughts into the form of a story. Also, I thought what I wrote had to be perfect on the first attempt, but I have learned from this class otherwise. Never having the opportunity to take writing classes or art classes in my youth, I thought that if what I created was not perfect, I just did not have the talent for it. My ideas entirely contrast with those of the younger version of me. I took this class because I could learn and work at it. I enjoyed the short story collection Shadow Show written by numerous writers in honor and in celebration of Ray Bradbury. In one of the writer’s

Dear Eva, this course gave me more structure I need with your gentle encouragement and guide. I have been writing my life stories on and off for last three years. Now, after taking this course I feel I can tackle to revise my stories and edit them myself as much as I can. After that I will look around to find the editor.

As a writer, I develop more every time I step foot into the classroom. Over the years of learning how to write, I was not always confident. In fact, as of this current year of 2015 I am the most confident as a writer than I have ever been. This year I began college, where I am taking English 1101 with Professor Ricky Weaver. I have learned many different writing strategies in this class, ways to brainstorm, grammar rules, tips to avoid writers block, and so much more. Although I will continue to develop, I am proud of myself for reaching contentment in my writing ability.

I aspire to attend college and earn a degree in English with the intention to become a book editor. Accordingly, throughout junior high and high school, I took the highest level English courses available to me and ultimately earned an A every year. Although it felt nice to achieve terrific grades, I knew that these English classes were not challenging me to become a better writer; this pattern of easy courses continued until my junior year of high school when I decided to take college Composition 1. In contrast to other English classes, Composition was capable of teaching me valuable skills such as how to manage my time and work with others, along with other aspects of writing such as grammar and organization, and thus has effectively challenged me to grow as a writer from passable to remarkable, which will enable me to become an English major in the near future as opposed to other English courses that merely maintain my knowledge of writing.

Writing is a process that I have struggled with throughout my entire life. Last semester in ENGL 1101, I slowly began to understand the writing process. However, I still struggled with developing my essays. One aspect of writing effectively, that I feel I lack, is confidence. Last semester, I was slowly becoming more confident, but as the due date for this semester’s first essay approached, that little confidence seemed to disappear. The structure of the course, however, helped in gaining my confidence back. My first official writing was a biography for the portfolio. This allowed me to introduce myself for my professor. In less than a week, the major writing assignments started. As I finished one essay and began the next, I slowly gained confidence as my teacher encouraged my writing ability. One aspect of the writing process that was extremely helpful for building my confidence was the revision stage. Although personal revisions were helpful, the peer revisions were the most helpful for me. After the final essay, I felt much more confident in my ability to write. I believe I have become a much more effective writer, and through the structure of my portfolio, this will become evident.

It is my belief that through this class and the tools provided, that my growth as a writer has grown through leaps and bounds I would never have assumed possible. It is not so much the skill I refer to, although I would think skill has gone up in some levels as well, but more so the appreciation for the craft of writing itself. Intially, at the start of this class my sole goal was to further my understanding and appreciation of the writer's and books that I so love to read. Through further evaluation within the first week, a few other goals came to mind, of which were, making writing a habit, finishing what I start, stop second guess my writing skills and making effective use of detail and description. Through the use of the many articles, various reading materials, whether poems or short stories, and especially through the workshop, I feel I was able to really push myself to accomplishing these goals. I have thus far learned how important it is not to be skilled at writing per say, but to have the will to write, that poetry is as much about it's sound as it is about it's subject, just how important character development is, how the narration and point of view of a story is essential to the way the story is told, and just how much of a difference peer's critiques can make to your writing.