Reflective Essay: My English 102 Class

Improved Essays
When I began studying at the University of Montevallo, I had a background of high school creative writing and English classes, and one summer of a college English class. To be honest, I was terrified of jumping into my fall English 102 class. I felt I was unprepared for a serious college level composition class, and that I would have a strenuous time adjusting to a four-year university. However, as I walk away from my English 102 class I carry the understanding of writing a college level essay, undertaking research and completing a research and argument paper properly, and knowledge to prepare me for my other classes and profession. The fear of writing a college level essay always crept in the back of my mind. Formatting, wording, and my professor’s expectations concerned me. The first essay I wrote for English 102 class, “The …show more content…
In high school, I always struggled when we would conduct a research paper. Mainly, because my teachers never taught me how to conduct research correctly, and write a research paper. On the “Synthesis Essay,” I received a letter grade of a “B.” I attended every research session in the Carmichael Library, and Mrs. Washington guided me with my first proper research paper. I learned how to gather evidence and research from our school’s library database. My evidence was supported and my research was supported, however, my explanation were not as supported as they should have been. I learned to research for evidence, and from that evidence I formed a stance, and later, an argument. After writing the “Synthesis Essay,” we began to write our “Academic Argument,” papers. The evidence and research from the previous essay helped us form academic arguments. This experience helped me form a solid argument that was supported by academic research from scholarly articles, blogs, and news blogs I read. I formed a paper that was well supported with

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    During this summer session of ENGL101A, I have learned multiple ways to express myself through my writing. In fact, before signing up for this class, I did not know the proper way to compose an academic essay for a particular audience, and how to properly cite my sources. Nevertheless, after the short summer session, I am able to define my purpose and audience, analyze critically any piece of information, and write with proper citations and fewer grammatical errors with confidence. Through the short time of 5 weeks, I learned how to focus on my audience as well as how to define the purpose of my papers as academically as possible.…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Just like the previous chapters, there are many useful tips that can be used while writing an academic paper. It’s always important to have a purpose for your paper whether it be to explain some phenomenon or a controversial argument, demanding that your side on a possibly sensitive subject be taken. Always consider your audience, which will most likely always be educated as your professor will be the one to read and grade said paper, and while they are your audience, they are also there to provide you with the necessary help to make your paper great. Responses are not my strong point and that is something I will need to work on. I have a difficult time writing in a structure and providing a sufficient amount of evidence, but this chapter has given me enough ideas on how to improve on that and enhance my vocabulary to make my papers more…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Over the semester, I found that the hardest part of all of the essays that I have written was using and finding evidence. The first paper that I wrote was extremely hard to write because I did not know how to find and use evidence. Now, I feel extremely confident in doing this. Another thing that I would like to point out is I am not as repetitive as I was before. Most of the papers that I have written before this year were very repetitious.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout this portfolio I will demonstrate to my instructor and peers my development throughout our course, including the challenges and successes. I hope my portfolio will serve as a helpful source for me to refer back to in future classes, and aid as a guide for future students and their journey through college. In the beginning of first semester, in English Composition 121, I had preconceived ideas as to what the expectations would be for this class based on my experience eleven years ago. I had pre-determined how I would approach this class and what I was going to do, so never once did I expect to learn something useful.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    That was impossible! Finally, the rest of my classmates arrived, their eyes widening as they spied those nerve-wracking words on the board. The course started, and our teacher instructed us on how to write the essay. Then, she told us that we could pick any topic we wanted for the essay. This news definitely cheered us up some.…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I teach "Introduction to Literature" and "Standard Freshman Composition" courses at Suffolk County Community College. I personally design both of my courses, which adhere to the mission statement of the college. In "Introduction to Literature," my students engage in imaginative works of literature, analyze major literary themes and forms, continue training in effective prose writing skills, and demonstrate maturity and thought and style when deconstructing literary elements such as image, plot, character, theme, and conflict. In "Standard Freshman Composition," I prepare my students to produce quality work that utilizes writing techniques, analyzes reading material, and incorporates research techniques that will aide them in their academic future. The outcomes of this course are for the student to be able to construct a central purpose in their expository work, to have coherent organization, improved writing mechanics, to formulate effective thesis statements that demonstrate complex thought, and to integrate relevant, cited sources into their work.…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This semester has flown by; however, English 101 has shaped my writing in so many ways. Initially, I did not recognize the ways which rhetoric, technology, research, and collaboration have affected my writing. As I review my work from this semester, it is quite noticeable that my writing has improved a lot since English IV honors. Rhetoric Of all the things I have learned in English 101, rhetoric has continued to be something I use.…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For my first semester of college, I took this class having previous experience in AP English courses. So I thought the class would be easy and I believed I wouldn’t learn anything new. After a couple classes however, I realized that I still had to improve my skills as a writer. Throughout the course of the semester, I was able to better understand the importance of peer edits, utilizing my resources, and writing elements which helped my growth as a student and a writer.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout this semester, I have genuinely learned a lot. AP College English is definitely a difficult course for me, but I have strived to make efforts in changing that. It’s difficult to pinpoint all the things that I have learned during the course. I have learned many things about novels, authors, grammar, writing, reading, and the list goes on. Every year in English I have learned something new and this year is absolutely no different.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    No matter where you go or went to school, you always have some type of English class that forces you to write papers. These papers usually has to be a certain way or over a certain topic. To me that was a pretty big problem for me because I could do free writing easy, but when you tell me to write about something that I don 't have any interest in and I have to follow your “rules”, then I will just try to blow it off. I have always hated the way Professors and the world had this “image” of their version of a “perfect” essay. I always messed up on the rules like where to put my commas or semicolons, that to me is the hardest part to not have a run- on sentence.…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Dear First Year Writing Assessment Committee: In this letter, I will explain my learning outcomes and experiences with my essays for English 1010. English 1010, defined by academic standards, is to develop in first-year college writers a deeper understanding of the complexities of writing through instruction and guided practice in the skills, processes, and strategies necessary for effective, successful writing. In my past semester of English 1010, I was able to demonstrate my abilities to be an effective writer and enhance my writing skills through guiding essay projects. I do believe my abilities were improved in topics including: finding the author’s purpose, explaining ideas, revising, editing, proofreading, organizing the structure of my paper, and etc.…

    • 1121 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Everyone hates English class is what I thought before taking English 102. However, that may have been the case before I entered Dr. Byrd’s domain, but after finishing the class I have come to the realization that English class can be greatly resourceful. English 102 this year has had its ups and downs, and I must admit the ups outweigh the downs. Meaning, this year, I have learned that I am not a student who wants to read or write, but through reading and writing my mind and skill sets concerning English have grown. During English 102 this year, reading and writing in class helped me expand my writing skills, improved my will to comprehend, and most importantly helped expand my knowledge.…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Prior to English 101, I have been taking several English classes, but each class helped me little by little to an English 101 student. Learning to have efficient studying habits such as study the day of the class and not doing things last minute. Also learning how to actually study other subjects and how to think critically. This has increased my learning habits. My student habits have changed dramatically,…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout this semester of English 101, writing has become more of a skill than a struggle. Writing was a challenge that I dreaded when I chose to be in the course, nonetheless with time, I learned from my mistakes and was able to improve. This course made me very doubtful on whether I could be capable of even writing a paper that would provide me with a decent grade, but at the same time made me push myself in my writing technique. In the end, I can reflect that I learned from my mistakes and wrote papers that took time and dedication to accomplish. I learned from this class to be confident in my writing and make all the mistakes to receive the grade I want in the end.…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Essay About English Class

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This English class has been very helpful in my efforts to improve my writing abilities, but has also been very challenging due to there being a different median for every essay. It’s been a heavy work load especially this semester since I decided to enroll in five classes, but in the end it has been very beneficial indeed. I can’t say that writing essays has been one of my strong points but I believe that this course has helped me improve tremendously and it has also made me feel a lot more comfortable with my writing. While in high school I would usually write all of my essays a day before the due date a habit of mine that was very difficult to overcome, but now I have learned from my mistakes.…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays

Related Topics