I am writing you a letter to tell about my theory of writing and how I believe it has impacted my writing skills throughout my college education. Before I was enrolled in your English class, an Introduction to Writing Studies, I was unsure of my ability as a writer. I mentioned throughout my childhood I did not have a stable home environment, my family was forced to move, numerous times due to financial reasons. During these years I constantly changed school systems, the curriculum varied depending on what town or state you reside in. As a result, I felt I never developed or established the skills necessary to become a successful writer. I feared all my chances of developing these skills were lost. Presently, the semester is almost complete,
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Believing students should “(1) for students to examine and ideally reconsider prior knowledge about writing in light of new experiences and knowledge offered by their FYC course(s). And (2) for the course itself to serve as a general education course, teaching transferable knowledge of and about writing so that what is taught and learned can be adapted to the new context of writing”(105). At Manchester Community College, my English 101 class, we did not focus on either of these two objectives. My classed focused solely on journaling, and generic-style essays. My teacher assumed every student was able to perform basic structure writing techniques. This assumption was about ninety-five percent correct in regards to my class. I found myself struggling to perform these simple tasks, at this point in my life, the only writing I was did was write notes to teachers regarding early dismissals. In high school, I honestly do not remember writing paper in any structured format, or writing multiple drafts. This composition class provided me with no guidance in the areas where I struggled. I came to the …show more content…
I started a new format when writing papers; I realized I tend to be un-organized with my thoughts when presented with a new assignment. In order to combat this problem I found the most helpful thing for me to do is to create an outline. Brainstorming or outlining ensures that I will not leave out important details out of my papers. I also started to write multiple drafts, prior to my sophomore year I never drafted when I wrote a paper. Drafting allows me to edit and revise my papers. In the article “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott, she discusses the nature of drafting and writing and the importance of the two. I was able to relate to this article, often I write horrible first drafts, and often I ramble on with needless information. The second draft allows me to pinpoint my thoughts and ideas and allows me to describe things in more detail, it also allows me to eliminate some of the trivial information that I don’t have to include in my papers. The third and final draft allows me to finalize my paper and tidy things up. When composing a paper I prefer to take my time editing it, otherwise errors might get overlooked (Lamott 3). Allowing myself to do all these multiple steps has improved my writing skills, however I believe there is always room for
Believing students should “(1) for students to examine and ideally reconsider prior knowledge about writing in light of new experiences and knowledge offered by their FYC course(s). And (2) for the course itself to serve as a general education course, teaching transferable knowledge of and about writing so that what is taught and learned can be adapted to the new context of writing”(105). At Manchester Community College, my English 101 class, we did not focus on either of these two objectives. My classed focused solely on journaling, and generic-style essays. My teacher assumed every student was able to perform basic structure writing techniques. This assumption was about ninety-five percent correct in regards to my class. I found myself struggling to perform these simple tasks, at this point in my life, the only writing I was did was write notes to teachers regarding early dismissals. In high school, I honestly do not remember writing paper in any structured format, or writing multiple drafts. This composition class provided me with no guidance in the areas where I struggled. I came to the …show more content…
I started a new format when writing papers; I realized I tend to be un-organized with my thoughts when presented with a new assignment. In order to combat this problem I found the most helpful thing for me to do is to create an outline. Brainstorming or outlining ensures that I will not leave out important details out of my papers. I also started to write multiple drafts, prior to my sophomore year I never drafted when I wrote a paper. Drafting allows me to edit and revise my papers. In the article “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott, she discusses the nature of drafting and writing and the importance of the two. I was able to relate to this article, often I write horrible first drafts, and often I ramble on with needless information. The second draft allows me to pinpoint my thoughts and ideas and allows me to describe things in more detail, it also allows me to eliminate some of the trivial information that I don’t have to include in my papers. The third and final draft allows me to finalize my paper and tidy things up. When composing a paper I prefer to take my time editing it, otherwise errors might get overlooked (Lamott 3). Allowing myself to do all these multiple steps has improved my writing skills, however I believe there is always room for