...and build their character. As fore me, I have been faced with many obstacles in my life, but one in particular comes to mind: writing essays. For some people, writing is a chance to let their ideas and opinions flow on a piece of paper. Yet to others, like me, writing is difficult and I find it hard to let go and obtain a rhythm of words. As I write essays, I constantly stop to think of the best way to express my thoughts and use the right words to explain them; it doesn’t just come to me. That’s why when my English teacher, Ms. Poth, told us we’d be writing an in-class essay, I freaked. I immediately started to doubt myself and became frustrated because I told myself I wasn’t going to be able to do this. I kept thinking these thoughts until a few minutes later when I recognized how negative I was being. At that point, I decided to turn my attitude around and not give up that easily. I realized that with a positive mental attitude and some preparation for the task ahead of me, I could actually get through this essay with at least a B. After Ms. Poth had told us about our in-class essay, she explained to the class that she wouldn’t let us know the question on which we were to write about. However, she did give us some hints to what the topic would be about. She emphasized that we should review the stories of the Angle-Saxon Period and the Medieval Period. That was when the light bulb turned on in my head; I was going to review the literature of those time periods to better prepare...
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...number of times you interrupt in a day. Opportunistic Listening Look for Main and Supporting Points Sometimes it is appropriate to ask politely for the speaker’s thesis. E.g. “I’m trying to pull together what you’ve been telling me about the problems you’ve been, having meeting your quotas. Could you summarize for me?” At other times, however, it isn’t appropriate to ask the speaker outright. “Over all, then, would you say your division is losing its market share?” Take Notes You are unlikely to remember every deadline, every comment or even every topic in a meeting or conversation unless you jot it down. You don’t have to scribble every word in every setting, but when the topic is important, put it in writing. Repeat what you heard When it is not possible to take notes, repetition works well in these cases. Go over the important parts of the message as soon as possible. Re-state it aloud, to a co-worker or a...
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...Title: My Attitude Towards Writing By: Richard Bill Magee Date: 03/ 31/2010 My attitude towards writing is both positive and negative. I enjoy writing for many positive reasons. One reason is being able to effectively communicate with disabled people. Werther someone is death or blind using braille writing is a way we all can communicate with each other. Another positive reason is using free writing which is a good way to relax your mind. Writing gives you a outlet on paper when you don't have someone to speak with. Writing essays can be used to learn more about ones self. When you apply to a university or company you get a chance to write and show your abilities and what you can contribute to. Writing your answers essay form will let you state your case more fully than other sections of an application. It can provide the evaluator with better insight about you and how you differ from other applicants. What I like most about writing is that it is another good way to communicate. Negatively speaking on writing I have a hard time writing essays. I try to hard to remember what I have read about a topic. My essays usually end up sounding cliché from what I have read. I have a hard time putting what I have read into my own words. It's my good idea to read my essay's out loud when I'm done with it. I try to pick up some pattern or neat idea that i hadn't noticed hoping to change my cliché words around. Other times if I don't like the topic I end up losing focus and going off...
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...1 Stylistic Techniques from Read, Reason, Write by Dorothy Seyler WORD CHOICE In addition to responding to a writer's choice of connotative language, observe the kinds of words that are chosen, the level of diction used. Are the writer's words primarily typical of conversational language (that is, colloquial) or of a more formal style? Does the writer use slang words or technical words? Is the word choice concrete and vivid or abstract and intellectual? These differences help to shape tone and affect our response to what we read. For example, [. . .] Lincoln's word choice in "The Gettysburg Address" is formal and abstract. Lincoln writes: "on this continent" rather than "in this land," "we take increased devotion" rather than "we become more committed." The technical style is inherent to disciplines and fields of study. For example, nonscientists might not understand words related to experimentation. Or in English, we discuss metacognition, biases, marginalized communities, etc. Oftentimes, words are used to separate members of a community from non-members. Consider: What kind of effect can word choice have on your audience? What are some other examples of “words…used to separate members of a community from non-members”? One way to produce an informal style is to choose simple words: "use" instead of "exercise." To create greater informality (a colloquial style), a writer can use contractions: "can't" for "cannot," "we're" for "we are." [. . .] There are no...
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...------------------------------------------------- LO1. Be able to critically assess own beliefs, attitudes and value systems 1.1. ------------------------------------------------- Explain the difference between beliefs, attitudes and values ------------------------------------------------- Beliefs ------------------------------------------------- A belief is an idea that a person thinks is true. It is an internal feeling and can come from different sources such as individual experiences, the influence of others or the acceptance of societal or cultural norms. Beliefs are often held true by a person without any actual proof, evidence or rationality, although a person may seek reasons for their potential beliefs in their own way. It is possible for beliefs to change and/or grow over time depending on what a person sees, hears, experiences, reads or thinks about. Beliefs may by influenced by other people and this may also result in beliefs changing or developing as a person meets new people, reaches adulthood, gets married, has children or changes jobs for example. Throughout the course of a person’s life, their beliefs will change but their stable, long lasting beliefs will develop and stem into their values. ------------------------------------------------- Values ------------------------------------------------- Values are the beliefs by which a person chooses to order their lives and make their personal choices. A value is a belief that a person has...
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...After reflecting on the past six weeks, I’ve noticed that my writing has improved tremendously. Being a member of Eng091 has taught me many things. I have learned all the different methods of pre-writing and I have used each one, I find that clustering is more effective for me and my writing. Before I enrolled into this class, I wasn’t as familiar with transitional words as I thought I was. After reading chapter five of the Wordsmith book, I now feel confident in using transitional words and phrases and I understand that they are an important step to writing. Also, recognizing the correct verbs to use in sentences has always been difficult for me, now I have been able to edit my writing and use the correct words. I now have a strong interest in writing, and I enjoy doing all of the assignments in this class. The instructor feedback has been very helpful for me too, I have been able to correct my grammar errors in my writing and learn from the mistakes in my writing. Because of this class my attitude toward writing has matured, and I have an understanding of what it takes to be a good writer. I am very happy that i have the opportunity to take Eng091, I see it as so much more than a requirement for my program. Because of this class I have developed a sense of respect for writing, and my progress has been a success. Now I enjoy composing interesting and fun paragraphs, and I am confident when I write and I never thought I would...
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...Centre for Language Studies National University of Singapore Effects of Using Facebook as a Medium for Discussions of English Grammar and Writing of Low-Intermediate EFL Students Thanawan Suthiwartnarueput (noiloveshome@gmail.com) Chulalongkorn University, Thailand Punchalee Wasanasomsithi (punchalee.w@chula.ac.th) Chulalongkorn University, Thailand Abstract The present study explored the effects of using Facebook as a medium for grammar and writing discussions of low-intermediate EFL students. The data were collected from the students’ utterances asking for explana-tions about English grammar and writing that were posted on Facebook, their gain scores in the pre-test and post-test, and interview responses. The findings showed a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the pre-test and the post-test (t = 6.65, p = 0.00). Most common topics of discussion involved sentence structures, followed by word meanings, parts of speech and then relative clauses. It was found that English grammar was worth promoting for discussions on Facebook because there were correlations between the gain scores in the grammar and writing parts at the significant levels (r = 0.399 in the pre-test and r = 0.859 in the post-test). The students also had positive attitudes toward using Facebook as a means of learning grammar and writing. As an alternative learning tool, Facebook provided them a convenient and attractive means to engage in discussions with the teacher and other...
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...April 2014 Process of Writing Looking back to when I learned how to write, so much has changed. How I read a piece of writing, to how I set up my own writing. Writing is a very beautiful thing and amazing way to express yourself. My favorite type of writing would be freestyle, mainly because I express my feelings the best this way. I learn something different each year while taking English. English is a very important subject to be educated in. Taking English 101 is my first English college class. I love it, I have already learned so much in the past couple weeks. Writing has a very structural process. I’ve learned that it is very easy to get lost in your words, while writing a piece. I have been told by my peers and also my professor to add more detail. I try to emphasize to the best of my abilities. I can already tell I’m having an easier time starting off my papers. I’ve never really been a strong writer and I hope to improve that in this class. I have learned that hooking the reader and keeping them hooked is the hardest thing. Different readers have different interested so you have to be proficient on the topic. I have learned a lot just by reading flowers passage. I am glad I read her entry on “writing for an audience”. I learned a lot reading this. She does a really well way of explaining how to connect with the reader. Knowledge, needs and attitude are the most important details when writing a piece. “A good piece of writing closes the gap between...
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...There are many similarities and differences between writing skills in the book Exploring Language. By examining some of the authors in the book, Linda Flowers and Anne Lamott are the authors that connected best with improving my writing skills. Anne Lamott a graduate from Drew School, tells all her new students on the first day of a workshop that good writing is about telling the truth. Telling the truth in an interesting way is not as easy as it seems. Most lose faith. Their sense of self and story shatters in crumbles to the ground. Commonly her students will show up for the first day of the workshop looking like bright ducklings who will follow her anywhere, but by the time the second class rolls around, they look at her as if the relationship is definitely off (Lamott 95). Lamott tips on writing what is real will help me stay focused on writing about my own true stories, because the work won’t have be made up. You don’t have to keep digging and digging trying to make your fake story real, real stories sometimes may sound fake but they real and more interesting then your fake stories. My senior year of high school my English Teacher gave the class a writing assignment to write about a true story in your life. I wanted my story to sound the best, so I made my story up. The story was about a ghost encounter in Colorado, it...
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...point in my life I find myself in an interesting predicament regarding my attitudes toward reading and writing; more so towards reading. Years ago I used to love reading books for pleasure but nowadays I find myself reading things that little to no effort to digest. This includes the very basic posts on facebook expressing one’s opinion on something or articles and threads on reddit discussing topics I find intriguing. Perhaps it’s the severe senioritis that has overcome me as I enter my last semester at Chapman University. As I’ve gotten lazier I can see it start to reflect in my everyday life. Deep down I still love to read but I rarely find myself getting truly invested into the action unless it relates to something I am very passionate about. My passion for reading began back as second and third grader in Elementary school. One thing I remember is I always got excited when the teachers would pass out the booklets advertising all the scholastic books you could choose from for that month. I would be very meticulous in my process of picking books based on the pictures and description as I only wanted to get ones I thought were best. There was no better feeling walking into class and seeing the piles of books at the front of the room. I would sometimes sneak a peek to see which kid had the biggest stack for that month. Once I got my books I would treat the books with the utmost care, as if they were precious treasure. And to me that’s really what they were, my own valued...
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...remember 1. Work Habits One of the most important things that I’ve learned during my stay in southville is the 5c’s this includes the commitment to achieve. This word is just simple but has a lot of meaning if you ask other people’s opinion. Once we graduate and get a job we all want to do well and improve our careers and be able to be successful. With the guidance of the 5c’s we can make this happen. I learned how to be disciplined and to persevere in order to excel academics. SISC’s curriculum also trained me to become responsible and to be equipped with the 5C's—Competence, Character, Creativity, Collaboration, and Commitment to Achieve - qualities that empowered me to become a leader in my chosen field." Communication Skills: Southville is an English speaking campus from grade school up to college they all speak in English because of competitiveness. Not in a bad way but having an advantage to other people when it comes in speaking or in other words you are bilingual. As we graduated we will always bring our 5c’s with us because like our mother she will always repeat what she said until you can’t get it right or it is not getting in your mind. 2. Attitude You can't build anything without a solid foundation. The "A" is for Attitude - the foundation sustaining all successful people. Attitude is the "advance man" of our true selves. Southville allowed me to learn things pivotal in my field of study while at the same time encouraging me to pursue the things that I’m...
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...Shaping Content Writing Paragraphs 1. PURPOSE, AUDIENCE, TONE, AND CONTENT L E A R N I N G 1. 2. 3. 4. 6 O B J E C T I V E S Identify the differences between summary, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation paragraphs Identify the content in writing paragraphs Demonstrate how audience and tone influence content Apply purpose, audience, tone, and content to a specific assignment Imagine reading a poorly written review of a movie that you would like to see this weekend. You cannot follow the characters, action, or conflict because the author of the review rambles on and on. Without clear paragraphs, this review will likely lose your interest, and you may skip the movie altogether! When you are the writer, it is helpful to position yourself as a reader. Ask yourself whether you can focus easily on each point you make. Effective writers use a single paragraph for each new idea they introduce. Paragraphs separate ideas into logical, manageable, and distinct units. Each paragraph focuses on only one main idea and presents coherent sentences to support that single point. Because all the sentences in one paragraph support the same point, a paragraph may stand on its own. Each paragraph is shaped by Purpose: the reason why the writer composes the paragraph. < Tone: the attitude the writer conveys about the paragraph’s subject. < Audience: the individual or group whom the writer intends to address. < Content: the written material in the paragraph. < 174 WRITING FOR SUCCESS ...
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...responsibility holds accountable for a group and my [Avoid use of the first person (I, me, my) in academic writing unless writing about a personal experience. First person use may be allowed by the instructor. ] actions affects the group whether good or bad. One part of responsibility as it relates to college success being committed to a higher degree than high school such as: core curriculum which [Use "that" for a restrictive phrase (or place a comma before "which")] requires great [Writing suggestion: "great" is an overworked word, too frequently seen, and too vague. It has too many meanings: huge, superior, numerous, etc. Use a more specific adjective] study habits, more active participation, team work [Misspelling--"teamwork" is one word] and [Insert a comma before this word if this is the last in a list of more than two -- or if it begins a new clause] [in academic writing, if this is a series, place a comma before the final conjunction (and)] higher accountability. Having ["having" as a transitive verb is vague. Reconsider the sentence using "possessing," "acquiring," "developing," etc. Often "having" can be deleted] a high school diploma has few advantage one is it allows you [second person] to further your [second person] education and [Grammar: A run-on sentence requires a comma before "and" (or other conjunction) linking main clauses] a disadvantage is lack of skills and pay. On the other hand, a college degree allows you [second person] to gain a higher...
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...My attitude towards writing is both positive and negative. I enjoy writing for many positive reasons. One reason is being able to effectively communicate with disabled people. Werther someone is death or blind using braille writing is a way we all can communicate with each other. Another positive reason is using free writing which is a good way to relax your mind. Writing gives you a outlet on paper when you don't have someone to speak with. Writing essays can be used to learn more about ones self. When you apply to a university or company you get a chance to write and show your abilities and what you can contribute to. Writing your answers essay form will let you state your case more fully than other sections of an application. It can provide the evaluator with better insight about you and how you differ from other applicants. What I like most about writing is that it is another good way to communicate. Negatively speaking on writing I have a hard time writing essays. I try to hard to remember what I have read about a topic. My essays usually end up sounding cliché from what I have read. I have a hard time putting what I have read into my own words. It's my good idea to read my essay's out loud when I'm done with it. I try to pick up some pattern or neat idea that i hadn't noticed hoping to change my cliché words around. Other times if I don't like the topic I end up losing focus and going off topic. Maintaining the status quo from other great literature works of art is...
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...his or her attitude towards reading and writing throughout life. Because of the impact on students, it is important for teachers to consider different modes of literacy instruction and the effects they have on students. I have examined my own experiences as an early reader as well as the DeFord Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP) to develop my own emerging philosophy of reading. First, I explore my personal experiences as an early reader. My earliest experiences began before I even entered school. My parents often read aloud to me as a child. I remember my mother stopping to point out words, the letters in them, and what sound each one made. As I entered Kindergarten,...
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