This year, in my English 1302 class, I have learned writing skills that I will utilize for the rest of my college career. Communication through text is a critical skill of modern day society and should rightfully take place as required curricula. I have grown through my efforts as a writer and my increasingly practical knowledge of essay construction, source integration as well as an understanding of the importance of this course.
In my post-diagnostic examination, I received 56 out of 74. This was four questions less than my pre-diagnostic examination in which I received 60 out of 74. I feel I have grown as a writer further than just correcting the last minute grammatical and spelling errors in order to complete my final drafts. Instead, I have also blossomed in the skill of communication through my writing. I have learned the required structure of an essay, and how to construct a literature review as well as a researched argument. I still require practice in some areas of grammatical structure, such as comma splicing, as this was a recurring problem and an area of weakness for me.
I have learned that a properly formed essay requires an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion. In the introduction, the thesis should be clear and is normally located at the end of the introduction. I learned the introduction requires an exigency describing why my topic is significant. In the body paragraphs, topic sentences are crucial. They should point back to the thesis and explain what the paragraph will talk about. There needs to be supporting evidence in these paragraphs and an aversion to excess summary. Finally, the body paragraphs require an outcome statement that encompasses what the paragraph was about. The conclusion should restate the thesis and the exigency. In order to create an effective argument essay, I had to, most crucially, consider the audience. They are