Harriet Coleman

Prof. Dalton

English 101

One thing I’ve noticed as a writer while taking this class is the way I can now organize my ideas better than before. I’ve improved my ability to arrange and convey my ideas through writing and I would say free writing in the beginning of class helped me in this way because it forced me to unravel a maze of ideas and put them in a clear, simple package. Not only has it improved my writing, but it has also improved my communication abilities and how I deliver messages and statements overall. My research essay, which is focused on Langston Hughes, is one piece of writing that I believe demonstrates this. When beginning this assignment we were instructed to write down a “Big question” and answer it with a free write, because of this I was able to achieve two of the learning outcomes, such as composing texts like summaries and critical analysis and locating research sources. The amount of brainstorming before writing the final paper gave me a good idea of how I wanted to format the essay and what details I would focus on.

Writing in this class has also helped me be more creative. With each assignment, especially the Literacy and Language Narrative I’ve learnt to think creatively and flex my imagination through narrative, descriptive language, and creative exercises. Reading and revising my peers work also gave me ideas in how to better my writing. The Language and Literacy assignment as well as the Rhetorical analysis assignment helped me develop strategies for drafting, revising and editing, especially when I read my work out loud in class. Things that maybe seemed good to me while writing didn’t really translate properly when hearing it audibly. Throughout editing the narrative essay , I found it just a tad bit challenging I kept on going back and forth taking out stuff and then putting it back on the page ,initially when I didn’t obtain the results I wanted from a draft, it wouldn’t be okay with me but I’ve realized that writing is a process of improvement and a draft is not the final piece of work and I get closer to my goal with every rewrite. The literacy narrative also gave me insight on others peoples experience through writing and how they evolved. Belen Jimbo, my partner for the rhetorical analysis assignment shared how she had no choice to learn English,

Listening to her story and getting to ask questions partially influenced how I analyzed situations for other assignments. Like with “My Spanish” by Melissa Lozada-OIiva.
although I’ve developed strategies for composing texts, revising and editing, etc. one thing I could i practice more is following the guidelines for citing sources. For example, using the specific citation styles such as MLA or APA. when writing my papers i like to summarize and quote whatever information I’m reading but I forget that I still must acknowledge where the information came from especially if it’s not common knowledge to everyone.

Overall, writing has helped me develop essential skills, such as clarity, attention to detail. By getting feedback on my writing assignments by my peers and professor it has helped my identify my weaknesses and given me insight on how to do certain things better and with continued practice I believe I can grow even further as a writer.