Personal Narrative: What I Learned In High School

What a Feeling to be in First-Year Composition: A Writing Analysis on the Important Qualities First-Year Composition Instills in Sacramento State Students for Future Success in Academic Writing

As I reflect at the end of this semester on my work in my English 101 class, I am able to already see how much I have improved as a writer. This class has taught me many things and helped me grow and develop my skills as a writer. It has taught me how to use clear concrete details in my writings. I engaged in several assignments and peer workshop during this semester, and the feedback that I received from my professor and peers has helped me a lot.

This past year in English has been rewarding and self-fulfilling. I entered the year as a new and improved Poppers in writing essays. A glance at my first paper- an essay on Ender's Game- and my last one in 9th grade, the This I Believe essay, is a great example of the incredible differences in my writing which quickly improved as a freshman. However, entering sophomore year I was struck with the false belief that I was done learning about how to write and that from then on would just be about gaining more experience. How wrong I was.

By examining the argument titled The Importance of Writing Badly by Bruce Ballenger in the book 21 Genres there is evidence of each rhetorical feature as he discusses the methods of writing that created the best outcomes. Ballenger uses Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to prove the effectiveness of his argument about the way we are taught to write within our educational system.

One hundred years ago nobody heard about the news or current events from Facebook or the newest tweet. Until fairly recently the most up to date news had to be heard through the grapevine or read in a newspaper. Since the creation of the internet and the mass media that comes with it, information can now be spread all the way across the world in the time it takes to hit the enter button on a computer or phone and upload it to the internet. Some people think that this is a bad thing because so many things that are uploaded can be either false information or simply information that is misleading and could teach individuals the wrong thing. However, if mass media is used in the right way it can be beneficial to the accessibility of valuable information,

Bruce Ballenger’s article titled “The Importance of Writing Badly” takes a rather peculiar approach to addressing the issue of effective writing. The author eccentrically argues for the importance of ‘bad writing’ by describing different reasons to support his arguments. He argues that it is normal to apportion blames without understanding the root causes of poor writing skills. The author quotes different people who have expressed concerns about poor writing among students including his doctor. He proceeds by explaining why he would encourage his students not to concentrate on their poor writing experiences. He explains this by using a personal anecdote. The author gives an example of his eighth-grade teacher, Mrs. O’Neil. He explains that his English teacher was very keen on grammar. Her error-free culture would see the Ballenger receive ‘awkward’ comments each time he submitted his assignment for marking. The author further observes that everyone went

While self-accessing my overall performance in English 111, I would say I have done fairly well. I learned a lot about English and mostly about myself. I learned what I needed to work on and improve. Reflecting on my overall performance, I will start by explaining my participation in class, my performance in two areas, how I transitioned into the role of a college student during the semester, what process I used to be successful in English 111, and my overall skill development. This past semester has been a real challenge for me, as well as a huge eye opener. I will start my explaining my participation in English 111 with Dr. Kennedy.

As a senior at Ashley High School in New Hanover County, you have to complete a senior project. This project singlehandedly determines whether you graduate or not. It was second semester, my classmates and I were sitting in Mrs. Ventre 's class knowing exactly what was coming. We were scared, nervous, intimidated, and so much more. The way she helped me through this huge project has stuck with me to this day.

Through John Duffy’s written works, he stated that Rush Limbaugh’s sexist comments were insults towards the Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke. John Duffy describes in a well-written manner how critical it is to have knowledge in having an opinion towards a certain topic and commenting about it in a structured format. John Duffy states that rhetoric has taken a turn into a negative path to where people do not care about what they say anymore to the public. John Duffy suggested that Rush Limbaugh was being sexist towards Sandra Fluke on public radio. We should be respectful of other people’s beliefs and or values, because if we have dissimilar opinions we need to be cautious in verbalizing those thoughts so that we do not offend others. John Duffy later states that rhetoric is being used in a negative way in news

Initially, when I first walked into class, I had no respect for writing papers or the class. However, as the weeks progressed and the weeks went by, I’ve slowly gained the respect that English deserves. While it is still fairly difficult for me to formulate my thoughts and turn them into cohesive, well-structured sentences and paragraphs, I now know that most of what I write now is so much better than what my writing was when we initially started. It is through practice and revision that my writing has improved.

Accountable. Passionate. Purposeful. These are all facets of effective educators at institutions around the world. Most parents want their children to attend a prestigious university so they can secure a well-paying job. However, this should not be the focus of schooling. Students need to learn skills for living and interacting with others in society, outside of a work atmosphere. This essay will assert that the purpose of education is to foster critical thinking, practical abilities, and career preparation, not moral improvement or only academic knowledge.

Many students of all ages have issues with writing, the only way to get better at writing is to have experience. I never paid much attention to my writing skills while in high school, I simply did not care about writing. This year as a freshman in college, I have struggled with writing this semester in GSW 1100. Even though I have not been passing papers, I understand that writing in college is extremely important to learn and develop. This is important because most courses in college have writing in them. As the semester has progressed, I have slowly started to understand where I am with writing and where I need to improve. Revising my essays is a great way to learn from my mistakes. Although my writing is not great yet I am slowly improving

“Set,” Bang! The gun goes off and I quickly shoot ahead of the rest of the field. My strides long and quick as I sprint for the track. I can’t hear anyone behind me, I must be a good 10 meters in front of everyone else. I run around the track and continue to sprint across the field back to the crowd of parents, friends, and girls soccer players who were forced to attend this last cross country meet of the season. As I continue to approach the group, my mind and body turn numb, Everyone is cheering for me, and I realize that I’ll never experience this again. I’m practically floating through the course, still no other runners are near me. That was the way it would stay, all the way through the 3.1 miles as I crossed the finish line in first place, capturing my team’s second league championship and undefeated season.

Walking into a new and unfamiliar place, I was more nervous than I have ever been before. Growing up as a shy girl, I never went out of my way to meet new people or try different things. As a result of only staying in my comfort zone, major changes in my life would cause me to panic. On the list of the hardest things that I have ever had to do, somewhere along the top would be walking to my first college class alone. College was something I was not accustomed to, but was going to quickly become part of my daily routine. Aware of the many horrible stories past college students would tell about their college work and professors had me on edge. I wondered if I was capable of obtaining the grades I desired and enduring the stress that would occur.

In previous courses, my writing skills have been mediocre or just enough to pass the class. Throughout the duration of this course, I have written a variety of papers using different techniques and skills. Previously I would write assuming that the only audience would be my instructor. This course has helped me realize that there are many steps and skills involved with writing a well-organized and easy to comprehend essay. My expectations coming into the course were high and remained high throughout the duration of the course. The essays I wrote in the class really challenged me to progress in my writing skills.