Writing has continuously served as a getaway in my life. It has kept me from bottling up my thoughts and emotions and has allowed me to express all of these things on paper. Communicating through speaking has always been a weakness of mine. It is for this reason that I often turn to writing to convey my feelings. Though have such an immense passion for free-writing, I have found myself struggling when comes to writing academic papers. Generally, I enjoy writing when it is something that I am interested in. In Composition I and II, I often have had the opportunity to choose the topic that I write my paper on. I am confident that this has been a major turning point for me within my academic essays. Ultimately, Composition I and II have taught …show more content…
Prior to Composition I, I felt very uneasy about my writing ability. My high school’s English classes were very focused on literature rather than writing. This was quite concerning for me because I knew that my writing techniques and essays needed to be top-notch when applying to prestigious colleges. Before Composition I, I did not fully understand how to utilize commas and periods. I consistently was writing with run-on sentences. My first paper in Composition I, “The Falling Man” is a prime example of this. This paper was an evaluative essay and in my first paragraph I stated, “However, he is acknowledged as one of the trapped victims on the upper floors of the skyscraper who had two options- to fall searching for safety or jump to escape the massive amounts …show more content…
In addition, I have learned how to properly changeover to a new topic. Throughout my papers in Composition I, I would jump around from topic to topic. My paragraphs were not organized and they did not contain smooth transitions. In the second paper I wrote in Composition I, named “Body Shaming: A Severe Affair” I began my paper by introducing an author from a source I used. This is an improper way to start an essay as I most likely confused the reader. I should have included background information or a topic sentence. Right away, I expressed, “Hobbs, a contributing editor for the Deseret Morning News states in “When ‘Likes’ Harm Body Image” that she's not the only one who believes such constant social media feeds can be damaging to women” (1). Again, my final research paper in Composition II, “Why Barbie Influences Body Image?” is a great example of my improvements with this problem. Beginning my paragraph, I declared, “Equally important, it is essential to recognize how prevalent negative body images are in the United States” (4). This is well-written because I referred to the last paragraph while announcing the topic for the paragraph to come. As shown between my paper from Composition I and Composition II, I believe I have worked hard to create papers that flow and are easy for the reader to
English Composition I has developed my style of writing and my skills analyzing and researching topics to write a piece about a topic. Throughout the course, I got better at analyzing articles and pieces to get the meaning of the topic. With that improved skill I was more able to use the information given from the text and install it into my essays, with proper citation if needed. Before taking the English Composition course, I was not one to organize my essays in an ordeal order to clearly state the point of the work. Now with taking the course, I have learned to organize my essays, examine research for a topic, and develop an essay with proper mechanics, and revising skills. In writing my personal, review, analytical, and cultural
I entered my first-year college composition course believing I was equipped with the knowledge, skill, and ability to write an efficiently researched and well-organized essay. In high school, I learned how to create the traditional five-paragraph paper with its introduction of a thesis, explanation of that claim through three sections riddled with supporting quotes, and conclusion that restated the author’s substantiated statement. This was the prescribed formula I had learned and grown accustomed to using for book reports, compare-and-contrast papers, and research essays and, from my bestowment of high grades and praise, I’d never thought to question or deviate from its pattern. When I attended my first college writing class, I thought
The essay “Ten Ways to Think About Writing” shows me numerous different components that involved in writing an exceptional paper. Even though there are various factors to a paper, students make writing harder than it should be by, as my Calculus teacher says, “Work smart, not hard.” In the essay, it is mentioned that an exceptional way to compose an excellent paper is to find a subject you are passionate about. In my writing, I usually do not take into account what audience will be reading my papers, but this essay helped me to adapt to the people reading my papers. Oftentimes, from the papers I wrote last year, one criticism I received was that the points of my paper were unclear and all jumbled together, but now that I have read this essay,
Throughout my experiences as a writer, I would say the issue I have faced the most is being well-organized. While writing essays I can begin to write on a topic but it gets difficult for me as I start to discuss or argue on my topic which can cause confusion to readers as they read my writings. It is a setback that I have adapted into my style of writing and has needed improvement in order to have a strong structured foundation academically. Over the past years as I encountered different perspectives from teachers that have led me to incorporate their style of writing that I have adjust to my own. Though I may have my difficulties, my ideas can be great but the lack of knowledge I have organizing my paper it has created a foundation that is not
My experience have been good but not so good. I'm not the best writer I struggle to get my ideas down.
The inevitable had happened; I, as a small child, was demanded to read. A little antisocial human being launched into a world of, at first, difficult words and lengthy phrases. While words and literacy were forced into my mind, I had reluctantly begun the adventure to enjoy and accept the art of literature. Later however, my hopes and dreams were crushed to pieces by a gruesome teacher with an interesting form of a so called “grading policy.”
Lacking experience in writing and reading, English is my most feared subject. It is the one and only vulnerable spot in my in my mind. I hate writing and I hated reading, other than sports pages in the newspaper or sports books. My earliest time that I started reading and writing was extremely abhorrent for me. Sometimes, you could even say that some of these experiences bothered me. It was quite hard because I wasn’t able to focus on what I need to do. I was even struggling to write my own name. The young mind that I had, it was so easy to get distracted on what I need to learn and also accomplish, especially for the future ahead of me.
Write down for both your writing - as well as for your audio-visual skills what your strengths and weakness are. Be concrete and detailed. Give evidence / arguments why you think this is so. Below some sentences are given which may help you on your way.
My journey into the unknown world of composing has proved to be just that - unfamiliar, alien, and foreign to me. In the past I had once or twice, possibly more than I am willing to admit, patted myself on the back for what I thought were well prepared compositions. Never would I have conceived that I was more of an amateur composer rather than a skilled and experienced writer.
A person can read and write a great deal in one day whether they realize it or not. Whether it be texting a friend or reading a textbook for a certain class, you are reading and writing constantly and a daily basis. What surprised me the most about the reading and writing that I did on Sunday was how much I am reading and writing on my phone. Whether I am texting to coordinate plans with a friend for the night or reading a random article I saw while reading a Facebook news feed, I am constantly reading and writing on my phone. I never considered it reading and writing when I used my phone, I just saw it as looking at my phone. Just staring at this four-inch screen for some sort of entertainment. What also surprised me was how much we read without noticing it. You can walk down State Street and you will be constantly reading by looking at stores, posters, or even words on a bus that is passing by. Our eyes and brains are looking at and reading words all the time.
As a person who enjoys the subject of English, I feel safe to say that I do have a love for reading and writing. Reading helps me escape to another world, and developing a well-written essay is very satisfying. My favorite genres are historical/science fiction, and I’m a fan of dystopian novels. Oddly enough, the wretched societies and brutal experiences within these books cause me to look at life with a better perspective, and it opens my eyes as to of what could be, and what is. My strengths as a reader include my ability to decipher a piece of text, and read quickly enough to complete a book within a couple of days. Contrarily, I find it very difficult to get myself through books which I may not feel a connection with, and that tends to
I’m a practiced freelance writer and editor, with experience working for numerous clients and sites. I have authored numerous blog posts, research papers, critiques, psychology and psychiatry, technical scientific articles, product descriptions, press releases, health articles and more.
During my past writing experience, I have struggled with formulating and initiating interesting points of discussion, grammar, and transitions. I have often sat down to work on a paper and found myself completely drawing a blank on anything interesting to write about. Whether I am given a specific prompt or general topic to discuss, I constantly struggle with finding a starting point. Once I do, I become too focused on trying to create a poetic sounding paper, rather than focusing on the main discussion points. In some ways, focusing on making my papers poetic have added detail and depth to my writing. However, this frequently distracts me from my papers main theme. One of my biggest drawbacks with writing has always been proper grammar usage.
With only 18 weeks into school, I am personally thankful for how much I have grown in composition writing. Going into Dublin Scioto High School’s dual credit program, I only knew how to write short story analysis papers, or your run-of-the-mill story reflection. After hearing I would have wrote a total of 5000 words minimum, I was left flabbergasted. Nevertheless, the challenges faced when writing these papers gave me an abundant amount of knowledge in transitional word use, and finally becoming comfortable with the drafting process. When writing my papers, however, I still would like to increase my ability to structure my papers with more confidence.
When composing an essay, or journal entry, or just plain writing, I struggle as a writer with avoiding awkward or wordy phases in my written work. This struggle is yet again based on last year’s experience and feedback from my English class. Improvement with this struggle can be made by the following strategies: reading over my paper more carefully, avoiding the use of words that sound intelligent but don’t flow with the paper, and editing my paper with peers. Recognizing this struggle and following these strategies would improve my writing.