B26: Writing Style

My relationship to writing has changed over the course of this semester. Although English still is not my favorite subject, I enjoyed taking ENGL 1204H a lot. I was expecting to completely dread English in college, so I was fortunate to have been placed in honors where I could get my 6 credits of English through one 3 credit class. I was a little nervous going into honors because I know writing is one of my weaknesses but unlike English in high school, in this English class I got to write about things that were fun to write about - I really enjoyed writing the papers I was assigned during this semester. Over the course of this semester, I have grown to like writing more and am almost sad I am done with “English,” despite knowing that I will still have to write essays and will continue to use English every day.

I had already learned about rhetorical strategies in AP Language and Composition during junior year in high school, but it was nice to go over the appeals and strategies through the first assigned essay and it was a good essay to start with. Although the blog posts were annoying to do, they weren’t just busy work and I was thankful for that. I also enjoyed a lot of the readings we did as I learned something new or was exposed to different sides of thinking. Using essay metaphors helped me start my flow of writing and helped me figure out what should be included in writing and what shouldn’t. They also helped me take apart others writing either as an analysis or a means of providing constructive criticism. I could make sure there was a balance of prickles and goo as well as address which of the three directions they were heading in during a certain section and make sure they stayed appropriately consistent. All the in-class exercises for each essay were helpful in preparing for the major assignments. I used most of what I wrote during class in my essay, which made the essays more manageable and gave me a good base to work from. Also, the in-class brainstorming/related writing activities helped my writing by making it more varied and less straightforward and less boring. I learned to use more imagery and write more freely. One of the things I liked the most was having the final essay due a whole week after the draft. The peer editing we did involving our drafts helped me see the flaws in my essay that needed more explaining or the parts that were not needed or were unrelated. Having others look at my essay really helped me put more into the final and make some needed changes - it was also nice to look at other essays as it gave us something to compare our essay to and see how others addressed the prompt. If the essay was just assigned and due on a specific day without any little deadlines or related activities and editing in class I would not have done as well because I would have been trying to write an entire essay all at once instead of breaking it up into chunks. The comments on my final essays were also helpful. I liked having the paragraph that was stapled on the front at the top that summed up the constructive criticisms and comments for my essay.

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