...Coming into this semester I was nervous about Writing 001 because I knew I would struggle and face many challenges. I was right to be scared, but there were so many moments during this course that makes me happy and glad I took this course in particular. Previous to taking this class I had pretty terrible experiences with my English teachers which made me dread going up to the instructor and asking for help. I would rather struggle in silence than to just simply go up and ask for help. This has hindered me from succeeding in classroom settings and negatively affected me in assignments. I would feel alone and if I felt lost there was really no one I could ask for help. I would like to think that I saw some type of a breakthrough with my lack of confidence in...
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...honest, I do not enjoy writing. I find it tiring, frustrating and immensely difficult. I struggle with fully conveying what I am trying to say, and find all the little rules infuriating. I get why this class is important though. As someone who struggles with writing, it is important that I develop the skills to properly make an argument, research, or form a proper paragraph. And I legitimately think this class has taught me a number of valuable lessons when it comes to writing. The first thing is clarity. Before this class, I had the bad habit of artificially extending my essays by using fancy-sounding convoluted language. This worked in high school, I was able to get away with this method in order to artificially extend the length of my paper and make myself seem more intelligent than I actually was. When I started this class, I quickly learned that doing that was a bad idea. Over the course of the quarter, I have tried to be much more concise and to the point with my writing. This can be seen especially well in my research essay, where I try to avoid unnecessarily repeating myself and get right to the point after bringing in data. While I still do fluff out my...
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...entering writing seminar my expectations were that I would only have to write my college essays. Even more, I came into the class expecting to make my college essay the best it could be and that was it. I didn’t expect to have write any other essays, but in the end it worked out for the better. Throughout the semester, I was able to develop and nurture my writing skills. Not only was I writing to get into college, but also to prepare for college. However, my overall approach to writing has changed for the better since first beginning Writing Seminar. At first, I based my writing on the basic 5 paragraph technique, but as I progressed through the year, I realized that writing doesn’t really have a specific technique, but instead revolves around the idea of being able to flow. After basing my writing on flow instead of...
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...There aren't many skills in this course I could bring into this class but the ones I could bring are my independent skills, my hard-working, and my enjoyment of writing. I’ve always worked hard during this course, always trying my best and not giving up. I've fairly enjoyed this class because I get to express my own opinions and thoughts and there's no such thing called the wrong answer. Independent work is what suits me the best when it comes to writing, I liked always being in charge of my own work and being able to know what mistakes I made as an individual.I personally know I'm not the best writer in the whole world but I also know I'm not the worst ,.. well hopefully... The stuff I need to work on in this class is my public speaking skills,...
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...of 2017 I have used my time to focus on bringing my writing skills up. My skills have gotten better in the aspect of morale, explaining, and focus. My last writing class was over a year ago and that was more of a research paper more than an actual focus on my writing skills. What I mean by that is I wasn’t just writing down just an explanation from a book but instead I was using this chance to experience a different in writing assignments. My first week back in writing wasn’t my best week due to my lack in practicing my skills but with just a week or two it came back to me. I started to remember to write out the end plan instead of writing what just comes to mind; which usually got me lost halfway through. The class was also a...
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...This class wasn’t exactly what I expected, I was not ready and misjudged myself. The way I write isn’t any different, in my opinion, besides the fact I think more about what I’m writing if it's good, and having someone proofread it. This class showed me that I am not a writer, and don’t want to be one. I did not grow as much as expected as a writer, I thought I was going to get better with comma splices, but no improvement. I could improve more on my sentence structure, paragraph transitions, word choice, and my ideas could be more organized. I don’t know how I will compensate for this in the future, I honestly don’t. I guess when I have someone check it, to go over it with me on what I’m struggling with. From what I did learn, it would...
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...When I began this course, I had no idea what college writing would be like. All throughout my high school experience I was taught to write in a specific format, but all of that prior knowledge was extracted upon entering this class. I had never struggled with writing previously, but when this class began, I knew I was going to be challenged. I did not know what to expect from this course. I think I was just hoping that there would not be a drastic change. Even though there was a tremendous amount of change, this class had benefitted me the most out of all of my classes my senior year. Throughout this entire course I had learned many useful skills when it comes to writing a college level essay. I think one of the most helpful tools that I was introduced to during this semester was the website PaperRater. In previous years I just had to rely on peer editing which was not always the best method of editing. After using PaperRater I believe that my papers have advanced in vocabulary and sentence structure. Another useful tool that we were instructed to use was Noodletools. I had used this program during my freshman year, but I did not really understand how to properly use it. It has helped me keep my citations and information for my essays organized. The skill that I used most frequently was metacognition. The term metacognition refers to “the processes...
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...Reflective Essay When I first started in English 1101, I expected this class to be very challenging, very difficult and very demanding. My experiences have been very challenging with learning to research topics through different resources such as the internet for online books, journals, newspapers, and handbooks. Now I think about the correct organization of my paper, using correct grammar, and making sure that my formatting style meets the criteria that the Professor has requested per MLA or APA guidelines. I learned what you have to consider about the rhetorical situations such as the purpose, the audience, the stance, the genre, and the media/design. I learned this by thinking about what I believe concerning certain things and how I expressed my emotionally views. Through persuasive writing, my focus was to persuade my readers or audience to believe as I believe. In the future, I can apply it to other essays and research papers by remembering all the rhetorical situations. I have learned to remember when I am writing that my focus should be about writing for an academic audience. I learned this by understanding that when I write papers for academic reasons, my audience is my Professor. In the future, I can apply it to any research and essays that I write by remembering the different styles of writing for my audience....
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...Reflecting on this past semester in CWP 102, I can honestly say I have seen growth but I still have flaws that I need to work on. Coming into this class I felt that my strong writing skills would help me easily get through this class. But after the first week my mind was changed. I quickly realized that this course would be more rigorous and challenging. Beginning with the reading logs, and blogs these both have helped craft my writing in which it is today. My first time doing the reading log, I can honestly say it was confusing and the article subject was new to me. But after I was accustomed to it I saw how it played on certain parts of a writer. For example the subtopics such as categorizing the source, recognize prior knowledge, defining the author’s purpose, summarizing the source and lastly analyzing your process were all integral parts in helping me as a writer. Now when I read an article some of these...
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...semester, I’ve learned a handful of useful things for the future in terms of writing. From the beginning of this class, I’ve been drenched in work online and in class. From doing reflections on the class everyday to the more recent research paper the class has been working on. The most helpful things that I learned in this class that can possibly be used in the future are the vocabulary words, the research paper, and the class reflections. The more helpful out of the things learned in this class was the vocabulary that we have done. Vocabulary is a key component in communication and writing. I had to look up and define ten words as an assignment for the class and now I can use those ten words in future communications or writing assignments. Not only that, the vocabulary that we have done and learned can be used overall in life. By overall in life, I mean with possibilities of job/career opportunities, school, or just having a nice conversation with someone....
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...Reflective Essay: What I Learned in Writing 101 Jason E. Mainor UMUC 02 March 2016 Reflective Essay: What I Learned in Writing 101 The fall of 2015 is when I first learned that I had to take Writing 101. I was pretty worried, throughout my time in school, I always struggled with my writing skills. Be that as it may, this class was exactly what I needed to build confidence in my writing. I have discovered many things during this class that I will carry with me while on my journey to obtaining a degree from UMUC. The three most important ones I will be taking away are the proper usage of verb tense throughout my essays, how to come up with and support my thesis, and finally being able to properly alter the tone of my paper effectively based on my audience. Growing up, grammar was never exactly my strongest forte. Throughout my time spent in school I always struggled with the basics of verbs and adjectives, sentence fragments and run-on sentences. Anything and everything with grammar was a hassle for me. For this reason, the fear of writing followed me into college. For example, while writing my initial essay I struggled from beginning to end to use the right verb tense. I was constantly going back and forth from past tense to present tense, and I never noticed it until the professor corrected me on it. Fortunately, when the time came around for my second essay, I was well aware of the issue and was able to use the proper verb tense. For example, I exchanged “am” for the...
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...During this course I have learned there is in fact a great deal of work required, in writing. Throughout my lifetime, I have been required to write numerous essays and papers for various subjects, all requiring different styles and techniques. Before immersing myself in the writing process I would try and think of whom I am writing to and what I am writing about. I always assumed I was writing for the audience of my teacher. Writing an argumentative research paper is something I had yet to accomplish in my college career, not only was it thought provoking, this paper also challenged me in numerous ways, such as, understanding who I should be directing my thoughts towards throughout the essay, as well as the simple steps of organizing my thoughts...
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...* What have you learned about the writing process? I have learned that you have to take your time and not rush though the process. Also, you have to double check for grammar and punctuation so you want get mark down. You also have to be able to have a great thesis to keep your readers attention. * What were your major accomplishments during this course? My major goal was completing this class with a passing grade. (Did you achieve the goal you set for yourself in your Success Plan? I think I did achieve my goal for this class. I worked hard and made sure I completed my assignments. Even if I turned it in late. Do you think your writing skills have improved since the beginning of the course?) I am not sure about this. Hopefully I didn’t. I know I am not the best writer, but I do try. If I have to write an essay I know it will get done. * Which of the skills you learned in this course will most improve your personal and professional communication? I think I can learned and apply everything I have learned in both my personal and professional. Especially my writing skills because I have to do a lot of writing my professional. * How has this course prepared you for Composition II? It demands regular attendance, a commitment to in-class discussion and writing, and a large amount of out-of-class preparation, including reading and writing assignments, library research, and study. Composition II is an opportunity to develop a skill shared by successful persons in all fields:...
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...Writing is largely an iterative process that improves with practice. We have done a great deal of writing and revising in this course. We have also read Timothy Flood’s Business Writing in its entirety. Reflect on your writing skills and confidence five weeks ago and consider the progress you have made. Specifically, what new skills have you added to your writer’s repertoire that will help carry you through your graduate program? Discussion I Professor and Class, What an interesting five weeks. I am so happy we’re almost done! Five weeks ago, I struggle with getting started on writing. Today, I feel my writing skills have improved tremendously. I no longer struggle with getting started and I feel I am a much stronger writer compared to five weeks ago. I think the best advice I’d obtained from Flood and Thomas was being able to communicate to a diverse audience. Both Flood and Thomas brought awareness to writing clear and concise and using proper grammar, punctuations and to reframe from using slang, big words or using words that could have multiple meanings, which can be confusing to international readers. I also learned the importance of being able to convey my written intent to my audience the first time. This will ensure that my reader understand my intent and is able to respond to my request or instructions accordingly. Lastly, I discovered when writers incorporate business-writing techniques as part of their normal writing process (writing business or...
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... Reflection essay Writing has not always been my strongest subject in school; in fact it has always been my weakest just because I had always struggled with grammar, spelling, sentence structure, etc. I have always end up with bad grades in whatever writing classes I took. But as the semester is coming to an end I can honestly say I have learned and improved on a lot as both a writer and a student. One skill I believe I have improved on is the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. Another skill I have improved on is sentence punctuation strategies: run-ons, comma splices, fragments and comma usage issues. Reading and study of professional essay was one of the skills I learned during the semester. Lastly I had learned how to demonstrate my abilities as a developing writer by: attending class regularly, prepared and on time, and participating actively. The first skill I learned and improved on a lot this semester was the writing process and what it came with such as prewriting, drafting, revising editing, and proofreading. I especially improved on this skill when I wrote my narrative essay. For example I had to write three drafts, first, second and then the finally draft. The first draft was me prewriting and getting all my ideals down. For my second draft I had to go for peer review and get outside help so I can know what to change and how to revise my paper. I had to go for private conference with the teacher...
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