Reflection On My English 101 Experience

Throughout my whole life, I really struggled with writing. Every time the English teacher gave the class an assignment to write an essay, I was always felt terrified because I never saw any improvements in my writing whenever I got my essays back from the teacher. However, I wanted to change that this year. Writing 101 has been a very interesting class this year, especially since the theme of the class was “tai chi on paper”. In this class, I learned many techniques that helped me improve my writing like I learned how to take time and revise my writing a lot before I turned in my final draft to my professor.

It is essential to understand that classes taken in grade school do not give students a full understanding of each subject. With the topic of writing, there will always be a new lesson to learn, an aspect to improve, or a differing way to explain. Author Craig Vetter states in Bonehead Writing, “This is your enemy: a perfectly empty sheet of paper. Nothing will ever happen here except what you make happen.” Each story, essay, or response comes from a writer’s experiences. With each attempt at a new piece comes an underlying story of emotions the writer is facing. Each person’s writing is unique and the ideas people have are related to their past experiences and what they believe to be familiar with when deciding which writing style to use. As a high school student, I have learned many things about writing that helped me become the improved writer I am today, but the most essential advice I have received is practice makes perfect. Although there is no actual perfect way of writing, I have discovered that each essay I write, my writing improves. It is easier to spot mistakes, find areas to improve, and ponder elevated word choice to use.

This year in our English 1010 class, we covered many different genres and types of writing. We covered how to write personal narratives, how to respond to other students and other forms of writing, and how to professionally write essays. Briefly, we touched down on how to write argumentatively and were also required to create an infographic, wish was probably my favorite assignment. Although I never thought of myself as a strong writer, I believe that this class has greatly improved not only my writing skills, but my thinking skills as well. This was my first English class to be taken through dual enrollment and I believe that it went quite successfully while challenging me as a writer.

Whenever an assignment was given, I used to just write everything that I could think of, similar to a free write. After doing a free write in my scrap notebook, I would then go back and insert examples from the text to further prove my points. After taking this class, I learned that is the incorrect way to write academic papers and that the best way is to make an outline instead so that I can make sure that every point is proven, clear, accurate, and most importantly understandable. I was able to see the improvement of how outlines helped through my first essay. The essay was about picking out an image and explaining its means to the visual context and its impact on culture. My first draft I had learned that I needed to step back and see

As I look back on my English 101 experience, I have come to the conclusion that I have learned many new things that have improved my abilities as a writer. I have learned some new techniques that have improved my ways of approaching an essay. I learned all about the rhetorical appeals and how to apply them in my writing and how to look for them in a essay written by a author. I have also learned how to argue both sides of a argument, and how to look for reliable sources and to properly quote and site the author of the essay. I feel as if I have become a better writer and my improved writing skills are shown within each essay.

Writing is always a struggle. You have to analyze texts, search for sources, write multiple rough drafts, check for spelling and grammar issues, cite your sources, and support your statements with facts. The list goes even longer, but this is just enough to make anybody stressed. Everyone can relate to the struggles of writing, and personally, I have fallen victim to many of these struggles. However, even though writing is very difficult, you can gain experience on how to write successfully.

In my English 1010 class, I have learned to do a number of things through writing essays. I have written a Literacy Narrative, a Discourse Community Analysis, and a Writing Research essay. Firstly, I have learned to identify how an author’s purpose, audience, genre, and context determine effective writing. The purpose of the literacy narrative was to help me understand myself better as a writer (Jones 1). My teacher was the intended audience of the narrative. The genre of the narrative was non-fiction because it was about my experience as a writer. The context of writing made my writing more interesting and more effective. All those things make effective writing because you have to know what you need to write about and who is receiving your writing. I displayed these skills by going into detail of my experiences with reading and writing through my life. In the narrative I shared how fun and exciting it was when my second grade class got the opportunity to write a book, A Book of Future Astronauts (Writing is Good).

Welcome to an exciting English 101 course! In this composition course, you are expected to help each other develop a unique writing style that is appropriate for college. This development will be done through a series of in-class writings, revisions, peer editing, and grammar, writing, and reading exercises. In order to write effectively, we will write on a regular basis and read and discuss engaging topics revolving around the theme of the individual and social response to dystopian conditions. We will also explore the questions: Is there a glimmer of hope under these dehumanizing conditions? How does that hope impact the characters and dystopian conditions? In particular, we will study works that addresses race, class, and gender oppression. The primary texts will include contemporary novels, films, and critical works from mainstream and non-mainstream publications. As a community of learners, my goal is that you will interact actively to enrich each other’s writing and understanding of these topics. (Prerequisites: Eligibility for English 101 based on prior coursework or COMPASS, ACT, or SAT test scores, or Consent of Department Chairperson. 150 minutes per week. 3 credit-hours. 16 week-long semester. IAI Approved, Number C1 900.)

English is a hard language to learn, for there are numerous elements of effective usage and writing. Many people, including me, struggle in writing because of a lack of knowledge. Since middle school, English was not a strong suit of mine. I struggled with the simplest of tasks often taking a considerably longer time to complete a task than the other students. Unmotivated teachers and a lack of interest resulted in remedial writing skills. To put it simply, I had little confidence in my writing and I dreaded taking the class because of the writing involved. In spite of my fears, I took the course and I was able to perfect and challenge my mediocre writing skills.

The first tactic I was taught in writing was the process. It starts with planning and leads to several drafts. Assignments and standardized tests tend to give cute, little diagrams with innovative ways to plan. I discovered as long as I plan, it does not matter how I plan. I function best writing out key points on paper and turning them into a first draft. Planning is a step I find essential to the writing process.

I used to consider writing as tumble words from your mind, write, read it through, fix minor mistakes, and done. However, you rarely get successful. The truth is many students, including myself, struggle with starting to write a word, or getting stack in the middle without knowing the main point of the writing. After completing English 101, I can explain the writing process, evaluate the strengths of my essay, and identify my weaknesses.

Growth, I believe, is inevitable when one is compelled to learn and apply that knowledge which has been presented to them. This semester has proved to be a time of development, change, and substantial growth. During my time in English 101 I have had the chance to really explore new genres of writing such as memoirs, rhetorical analyses, and persuasive essays. In this class I have been able to build upon old writing skills and cultivate new ones; and I have also come to recognize what I like and dislike writing about through the completion of the assignments we were charged with. Through this semester in English 101 I feel as though I have had the opportunity to enhance my ability to apply the rules of rhetoric to my work, convey my thoughts and ideas with greater clarity, and recognize the places where I can improve my work through the revising process.

Writing an essay in its entirety is challenging to some and to others it may not be. The key is to learn the dos and do nots when writing an essay. Today, there is still confusion on what English writers should say to get their point across and do it effectively without any problems. The usual English 101 writer has difficulty with 3 techniques. They include taking the most common side, the use of pat expressions, and the use of colorless words.

Have I improved from when the class started to now? Or have I remained the same or worse have I become a worse writer and reader? These are questions that need to be answered by a self-reflection and evaluation. One must always set goals and analyze their growth or the lack thereof. The analysis of progress helps show how far one has come, and it also helps the rate of improvement accelerate. Throughout this semester, I have improved my writing, reading, and critical thinking skills. I have accomplished this by effectively taking advantage of an opportunity to become a learner. All in all, I have completed with the learning outcomes of this class by improving the

I believe I have achieved most of the course learning objectives as I pass this class with a c or higher. I undertook the writing process we learned in class and it has helped me become a better writer. Before I entered my freshman year of college I didn’t know how to write. But as I undertook the writing process I was taught in class I now know how to write. First when it came to writing my assignment papers for my class I grabbed a notebook and did prewriting . I brainstormed a list of ideas for my papers. I then had a plan on everything I was going to write about. I then sit down and write my first draft. I make sure my first paragraph is a strong