Growing Words In high school my essays were about summarizing a chapter from a book or writing a short story. There was no set length it had to be and there were not any specifics to focus on such as to focus on a strong introduction or to focus on being organized when writing. The essays that I wrote in high school were just for a quick grade or to help out our grade. I did not really have that much experience in writing essays. In the past semester I have grown more as a writer than I have in the past years.
My essays have been becoming more detailed and less vague. They are maturing to the standard set for my level of English. Thus far, in English 101, my writing has improved by composing different types of essays, using a variety of techniques, and carefully revising my essays, nevertheless, I plan to continue to improve my writing in the future by taking higher English courses that will tech me how to write other kinds of essays and to grow as a writer. My first semester has taught me how to write various types of essays.
The first kind of essay I learned to write was a critical reading essay. It taught me how to summarize an essay. Summarizing involves making sure to state the author’s main ideas, not making the text persuasive or misrepresent the author’s ideas, and to inform the reader about what the text summarized is about. The second kind of paper was a response essay; it made me examine and relate a piece of artwork to a time in my life. Next was a self-critique essay and the main point was for me to look at how I write my papers.
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I was to see what I needed to work harder at and to focus more on in my essays, such as the thesis and introduction paragraph. I also found what works for me when writing an essay, such as writing it during the morning and writing after a meal. Another type of essay I learned how to write was a rhetorical analysis essay. I had to look for ethos, pathos, and logos and see how the author wrote and if it was effective. The fifth category was writing an informative synthesis essay.
This taught me to research something I was good and combine my opinions with other people’s opinions to synthesis the paper. It made me cite the sources using the Modern Language Association format. And the last sort of essay was a reflection essay, in which I looked back at the semester to see how I have grown as a writer in certain areas, also to see how I can improve in the future as a writer. My skills on using various writing techniques were improved this semester. The course taught me the difference in summarizing and paraphrasing.
Summarizing is pulling out the main points of something a person has read, and it should not be as long as the thing is being summarized. Paraphrasing requires reading a sentence or paragraph at a time and making it into thier own words, and by doing so changing more than just a word or two. If only a word or two is changed that is called plagiarism, taking credit in which the work is not really theirs. I was also taught to use ethos, pathos, and logos in my writing. I remember in class we had to tell how our clothes reflective ethos, pathos, and logos.
It really stuck with me the difference in the three and why and how I should use them in my writing. The ethos would give me creditability that I am a believable writer, the pathos would help give emotion and personation in my work, and the logos would contribute facts and informative things. I was well educated in forming a higher quality of an essay. The essay should be organized in a formally manner that flows well. The most important thing to have in an essay is a clear thesis. The thesis should not be vague; it should cover everything the person intends to talk about in the essay.
After the thesis a strong introduction paragraph should be formed that would introduce the topic and tell the reader what the essay will be about. I then developed a topic sentence that would make the rest of the paragraph flow. If there is something in the paragraph that does not go along with the topic sentence, that sentence should not be in the paragraph. And lastly finish strong with a conclusion paragraph that draws conclusions about what they essay is about. The last thing I learned in the class was composing an improved essay.
When I first start off writing I should think of who my audience is and the purpose behind the essay. Once I have that, I should brainstorm and come up with ideas. I should also find ways I can use the rhetorical triangle and give emotion, creditability, and facts in my essay. After that I was taught to come up with an outline, just some general plans or a guide of how I want to write my essay. This helps to organize the paper. I work on creating my actually essay next by forming a thesis, writing an introduction and body paragraphs and finishing with a conclusion.
Lastly after writing the essay, I was told to proofread it very carefully. I proofread it by checking for grammatical errors, making sure the paper says on topic with the thesis statement, checking for topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph, to see if it is in the correct format, and to see that is fits the required length. If I were to find any of those things wrong, I would correct the mistake. In proofreading, I also was taught that the more people who proofread you essay the better it will be, because there are more options of it.
There were certain things in the course that I wish I would have learned or would have learned more about. I learned how to cite a source in my paper, but I wish I had been shown the correct citation for the most popular sources, such as a book source or an Internet source. I would have liked to known the correct way to integrate more sources in and throughout a paper. I had hoped to learn about research papers and what makes a good one. I still have some trouble when writing certain paragraphs, and I would request to know what kinds of questions to ask when I get stuck.
I also feel that I do not know how to develop some of my paragraphs more. If I add stuff to it it feels like it gets off topic. And if it is important it should not be left out just because it is underdeveloped. It would be nice to know how to solve that problem. During this course, I have grown as a writer by writing different types of essays, learning a variety of writing techniques, and how to create and write a more thought out essay, yet I will learn things that I did not learn in this course in future courses.
Each year I have an English class, my writing improves, but this year was the most it has ever improved. If I look back at my first essay and my last essay and compare them, I see how much better I have become as a writer. The most I have improved on was making my thesis statement strong and not as vague as it used to be, when to use the rhetorical triangle, ethos, pathos, and logos, and learning what to look for when proofreading, such as grammar, making sure the essay stays on topic, and check for topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph.
I feel as though I can improve more on citing a source and knowing what questions to ask when writing an essay. The in class examples helped make what was being taught stick in my head. I learned so much that I will take with me as I go to future classes and when writing future essays. It’s hard to forget something that a person has enjoyed. And because it was enjoyable I shall not soon forget it. I hope I learn as much in my future classes as I did in this class.
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