Assessment essay

ENG2100 was my favorite course I took this semester. This was my first semester of college so I was extremely hesitant and nervous as to what a college writing class would be like. I honestly don’t find myself to be good in English or a good writer, butI loved this class because of the fluidity and creativity  we  were able to implement into our essays. I believe that composing the process of an essay was one of the most important objectives and skills I learned this semester. I’ve learned that writing an essay is a complete process and that it is important to think through the essay and what the essay needs to be about based on the instruction ,but also acknowledge how to include elements and skills  from past essays to relate them back to each other. I learned the importance of making outlines,receiving feedback,and reflecting upon the work and how we can improve.

While looking back and reflecting on the work I’ve completed this semester,I noticed a pattern in terms of what the writing was about,and all writings relate back to the idea of social conventions in America. I’ve learned how crucial personal perspective is in essays. In the first personal narrative I wrote it allowed me to truly be honest with myself and reflect on my past and present with the English language. As well as the rhetorical analysis essay,through the ted talk and sources used, I learned about different cultures’ struggles with language and fitting social conventions and “norms  of english”,and analyzed how an author caters their writing and words to convey a message and feeling to an audience.

I believe the most difficult part of this course for me was learning to analyze texts properly, I feel that when analyzing texts and essays I can understand what an author is trying to convey to an audience,but I have trouble identifying the tools and rhetorical conventions utilized by the author to convey their message.In the phase 2 Rhetorical analysis I struggled to grasp some of the analogies Lysciott used in her ted talk “3 ways to speak english”, the best way for me to learn was hearing from my peers and their perspectives ,as well as re listening and re reading the sources multiple time to understand the concepts.

Learning how to utilize my sources correctly was a very new thing for me to learn this semester, this course was my first time fully utilizing the MLA format in writing.I learned how to cite sources from the authors writing,as well as how the include it in the essay itself to make sure credit is properly given.I also learned how to properly cite the sources in a works cited page by following the correct format. Including sources and learning how to explain their significance in my writing and message was challenging at times because writing may be interpreted differently by everyone,but I wanted to ensure that my analysis had to be clear to the reader because it is possible that the reader may have never read the text you are sharing and the reader must be informed and engaged while reading your writing.

Lastly using conventions appropriate to the audience genre and purpose was a valuable lesson this semester ,all 3 writing had different objectives which taught me how to cater my writing not only towards the objectives of the assignment but also my audience who may be reading my paper.Throughout all 3 papers MLA format had to be used if outside sources were included.Looking back on my essays I  also learned that there are many phrases and words I  tend to repeat throughout my writing ,this is one area I would really like to improve on and start to use different synonyms and styles and tones for my writing.

Overall, this class has taught me extremely valuable lessons in English and has actually made me enjoy English class and writing again after years of dreading it. I think my professor played a crucial part of me enjoying this class and writing again because she made the readings approachable as well as included time for us to reflect on our writing and receive feedback.This class has taught me to be a better writer and I will utilize the skills i’ve learned in this class in all of  my writing,it has also taught me a valuable lesson of time management and it is a skill that I will have to continue to learn and implement throughout school.