Reflection On Academic Writing

Prior to Writing 010 I had no understanding as to how difficult research papers were formatted. My experience on being capable to write a well-developed research paper was beyond minimal. This assignment was by far one of the most challenging. As a second year college student I know what is expected of me. In order to have a successful college writing career I believe one needs to be capable of properly locating credible sources, provide citations and avoid plagiarism.

In this portfolio, I have included my collection of assignments to showcase my writing abilities and how my writing skills have grown over the course of this semester. My best assignment is the Discipline Investigation and my second best is the Rhetorical Analysis. Although the RA was my second best assignment, I was able to learn valuable skills by deconstructing an article and identifying rhetorical appeals and strategies to find the author’s main purpose.

The ability to read and write is both creative and destructive. This ability opens your eyes to the world and how beautiful it can be. It also has the potential to destroy your entire grip on reality and expose you to the actual world you live in. It imprisons you yet, releases you from your mental confinement. Some people never escape from this confinement, some do; and those who escape sometimes go on to do great things in life.

Throughout English 1010 I have developed several writing and reading skills, and have the importance of critical thinking. Learning how to understand, analyze, listen, question and reason in a rhetoric way has helped me progress at communicating more effectively, and has opened my mind to more creative thinking. This is my first General Education course and it connected with my Psychology class in several different ways that I found to be extremely interesting and beneficial. In both courses, there was a lot of research involved. The Annotated Bibliography I wrote for English taught me the skills I needed for a research paper.

The 214 English hybrid course has got me into thinking more about constructing a strong thesis and creating solid topic sentences. Being able to identify my thesis has also helped my writing have better organization that helps the overall flow of my essay. With blogging incorporated into our academic criteria it was certainly something different. Blogging geared me into reading more articles and analysis the authors use of rhetorical devices. After this course I have gone more on magazine websites to read current topics.

My Comp I class allowed me to develop some of my writing skills that already existed. It also taught me new concepts that I had never learned before. Before this class I never knew how to use APA citation. This is now how I’m citing my last major essay.

My first semester of college was a success because of the writing skills I gained in my writing composition class. I have learned how to not procrastinate, and leave everything in the last minute. I have also learned when writing my essays, to get to the point and to not make my essay too extensive because that can effect my overall essay. I’ve also seen the progress of my writing from the beginning to the end of the semester by writing a well developed thesis, and giving credentials to authors; and although I have made these progress and improvements, I could still use some work with in-text citation and organization.

Language can be used to inspire individuals to impact society. Using stories, authors inspire people by educating them about the past and the present, therefore alerting readers how events during these time periods can lead to dilemmas in the future. Occasionally, writers simply warn their readers about the future and how horrible situations can be avoided. Otherwise, when authors and speakers are inspiring others, they are often doing it subliminally. Without you even knowing it, a certain bit of literature can really change the way you think about life.

Moving to a new country and leaving family behind is hard from the beginning and even after arriving adapting to the new culture is a challenge. Despite all this, the biggest hardship you can face is overcoming the language barrier. After hours of practicing the pronunciation of over a thousand words until people don’t answer your questions with “what?” or “hunh?” anymore, and even mastering listening skills to the point of being able to watch an entire movie without subtitles, victory over the foreign tongue may seem possible; however, next time you find yourself sitting in a classroom facing a blank paper and a board is in front of your desk with the assignment of the day: write an essay.

After reading this chapter, I can certainly say that studying literature and writing is immensely important, because it helps develop a variety of skills that can be applied to any profession and life in general. Studying literature and writing can help improve a person's ability to weigh options, understand others, and use their imagination. The ability to read and write well are also critical skills that lots of employers look for when employing new workers. Being able to read and write well can really distinguish an applicant from the rest of the people applying. Reading and writing well also helps employees gain promotions and other advancements in their fields.

A writer’s work does more than just give information about what the particular piece is about. It also gives insight to the writer himself. For example, a narration does not just tell a story. A narration also conveys to the reader what the writer is like through the style of writing and themes in the narration. A writer’s work can communicate what he cares about and what his outlook on life is.

I have learned so much in this class. In high school I did pretty well in English so, I thought I would almost everything I needed to know for this class. I was very wrong! What really stood out to me and I really utilize is that each paragraph is its own mini essay which includes a thesis statement and supporting sentences. I learned much more about APA format than I thought I would such as in-text citations.

Writing has always been an issue but yet interesting subject of mine. As hard as I try and write essays, and papers I just can’t get the hang of writing. But after taking this class, I did learn different writing technique and improved my writing proficiency, material body of formatting, and how to uncovering and properly use sources. Through class exams, essays, and a research paper, I was able to learn new writing skills. Although I have learned a variety of things, my writing still needs improvement.

Writing is a skill that required in many contexts of life. However, academic writing has many features that personal writing does not. Just imagine when someone starting a conversation about movie topic, they ask some questions like: “Do you think that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will break up?”, or “Which novel is better: Lord of The Rings or The Hobbit?” People love watching films know that what makes a great movie is not about the life of the actors or the novel, which that movie is based on, conversely, it is about the plot, the acting, the characters, the sound and the visual of the movie. The person is not asking the right question because that person does not understand the elements of a great movie.

The weekly reading assignments were very helpful. Some of the topics were great refreshers of common mistakes made when writing; these knocked some of the cobwebs in my mind loose. The other topics with sample writings gave me an idea of what to do. The instructor feedback and the revision recommendations were probably the most helpful tools in my composition process.