It has been a privilege and honor to be your teacher this semester.  I admire your effort, your accomplishments, and am grateful for what you’ve taught me and shared with me in your classroom participation, writing projects, and discussion posts. I hope you found our class materials, discussions and writing assignments interesting, challenging, and worth your time and consideration. I also hope you feel more confident as a writer now than when you started the semester.
Please post your Final Reflections in this thread (see the Reflection assignment criteria in the major assignment menu). Your Portfolio for the semester, including your revisions, should be emailed to me.
Starting this new chapter, one on a real college campus has opened a few doors for me. Being the first generation in my home to even attempt college, this was brand new ground. Yet, one thing my family had enjoyed was literature. At the start of the semester, I despised real reading. It always seems wasteful and boring to sit and read for long periods of time. Then came along this class. This course put me through hours of long reading. Surprisingly, I didn’t hate it as much. From here reading began interpretation, which led to understandings and connections to words I hadn’t realized before. As a student at City Tech, I have discovered reading is empowering, and that it teaches and boosts skills. And most importantly, Literature opened my eyes to details gone unnoticed. Reading has made me a much wiser person.
At the start of the semester, I was afraid of how much I was assigned to read. The numbers were all I could see. Yet, as word after word would pass, I didn’t notice the numbers anymore. I instead thought of the ideas in the writing. I began taking more notes on literary styles I noticed, or details seemingly symbolic, paying close attention to what was being said. I have never before seen myself as invested in class-appointed writing. This is a feeling that then inspired me to read more. I found myself taking books out to discover enjoyment, and even hopeful to be taught in the process. I had then started a book called Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, a book I had recently finished, and admit I’ve learned quite a lot from.
The new habits I’ve picked up over the last 16 weeks have been very useful. This new interpretation has not only boosted my reading but also my writing skills. All the articles and books I’ve read have opened a new window to different points of view. When developing my Op-Ed, I was set to study different claims on the same idea. After settling my belief on his topic, I had to understand those, ethos, and logos, to develop a writing that is emotionally convincing, logically, comprehendible, and, of course, credible. I must’ve rewrote each paragraph a dozen times. I did what I could to make this a “to-heart” peace, even slightly pressuring the reader into stepping into my shoes. This was to be done academically, where it doesn’t seem like just but factually base and persuasive. This meant using my knowledge, that of both points of views on the subject, and turning it into a kind of lecture or even a speech of sorts.
Each assignment I have completed has influenced me in some way. The narrative taught me connection and emotion, and even to remember my own beliefs. Yet this is only one of my favorites this semester. The other would be the new genre project. Like the other assignment, this one pushed me out of my comfort zone. I prefer to stick to my ideas. Simple structured writing as was in my oped did just that. But when this new assignment was Introduced, I was a little lost. I had to take what I already had and remorse. I ended up sticking to an academic approach, still, sure. But I looked into, even attempted to format, or imagine the other options. A little cartoon electric car sounded at least slightly interesting. But I held the poster presentation instead. This is more visually appealing and still informational to me and seemed a worthy approach to maintain my message.
But circling back and narrative, this is where I learned, I will have to change my view when working in this class. I have been used to research papers, article analysis, and argumentative responses. These are self-explanatory, easy to break down. But a piece of writing connected to me was more difficult. This began with pinpointing and events. Then it’s details and message. Then the hardest part came, telling the story how I remembered it, with the feelings that proceeded in the event. This essay was a curse and a blessing.
For the unit 3 assignment, I had to think carefully about the design and structure of the assignment. It wasn’t a paper full of words and numbers, it had to be an academic poster presentation, which meant that I had to consider different factors like the color I wanted to use, the graphs that would be displayed, and also the number of words it should have and how I wanted to display the writing because I can’t just have three long paragraphs and then a picture. The challenge was making the assignment appealing to the audience and also interesting. I had to use my creativity but also feedback from people who would judge my assignment based on color, graphs, and on the general visualization of it. I did. Who would’ve thought the longest part of this assignment would have been picking a design. I changed the background, the boxes, the pictures, the lines, and the shapes here and there over and over again. Then repeated that process at least 10 more times. I asked for advice and searched templates, and eventually, the creative thought struck. Soon enough, it fell into place. Then all left was the information rewritten or freshly written based upon my essay. This instead was the easiest part.
Overall, this class has been quite experienced behind the keyboard. Of course, I had expected to do work after work, and yes, to learn a thing or two on the way. But to my surprise, this class actually pushed me further out of my previous mindset and comfort than I predicted. I believe I am a better writer, and a greater reader, and will keep taking These developments through challenges to grow further. This challenge on its own, followed by its critiques and lessons will guide me thoroughly through my classes to come. Thank you.
For students, having a good teacher who is committed to teaching and supporting their development in the classroom makes a positive difference every day. If it wasn’t for having a decent teacher this semester my work would never have improved and I would still have less confidence in my writing. Most teachers would just give the work and expect their students to complete on time with the exact expectations. However, that wasn’t the case in this class. We were provided with many resources to better our work and look at examples. Everyday in class information was given to us for our own knowledge and to know that to expect from our work. I was expecting a lot of work for this course but I wasn’t too bothered when it became a habit. The amount of readings we did each week seemed alot at first but it became easier for me the more I read. After this course writing and reading doesn’t seem to frustrate me as it used to do before. Everyday when I went to class it helped me gain more information for my own benefits and to do my best on the assignments.
The assignments we completed for this course were different and enjoyable. They were written in a variety of styles, but they were all about improving your ability to write. I can tell a big difference in my writing now from when I started the semester. Although my personal narrative was good at first, the changes I made with the writing center made it much better. My assignments were always better after being revised. Reading the article about Shitty First Draft in the beginning of the semester definitely kept that in mind for the rest of the semester. It gives me hope that my writing will always improve and be better with patience and time. Like a mention in the discussion post “ Writers and professional writers don’t always have their first draft as their final one. It takes multiple tries with improvements to finally achieve the right writing. This affects my writing process in particular by giving me hope that just writing things down at first is the best step to start writing something big”. I will always take that advice with me even outside of school because it helps me realize the more you think and take time on something it will eventually be the best piece you could provide.
Writing the Op-Ed and the unit 3 genre project has become less difficult for me. I was determined that giving the best written work would come from getting started early and examining additional examples. It was challenging for me to decide on an Op-Ed topic that I was passionate about and that people would find interesting as well. Though I had a lot to say, I eventually decided to write about the issue that I wanted other people to hear and make a change. As I wrote about “ What Has Happened To Parents’ Authority Over Their Children?”I mostly talked about parents planning the best future for their childrens without the pressure of society norms. I was proud of the final piece I gave in because I got my thoughts out to let others, specifically parents, know about the effects society has on their children’s life. “There is limited information young children should be given because they need to learn by themselves by experiencing and learning by making mistakes of their own. If children’s mistakes are because decisions were forced upon them by adults then it’s not a mistake of their own. That’s a fault of the adults giving them more than they could handle without caring or purposely ignoring the consequences the decisions will lead to the children’s future”. This piece of fact I mentioned in both of the Op-Ed and Podcast sums up what I really want parents and people to understand. This topic of mine is what I’m proud of after completing this course because I could still revise it and share it with others even outside of college. It’s easy to share information now with social media so posting my opinions won’t be hard.
Writing three different topics with different genres has definitely given me more options and confidence in ways that I want to share topics with others. As I wrote the topics in a personal narrative, an Op-Ed, a podcast, and even poetry the first assumption I have is I can’t do this. I always start with the thought of not being able to write in the way I’m supposed to be. However, after every assignment I gave in I was a little surprised at myself. I have realized that I myself could write in many ways and even in poetry which I completely believed I couldn’t do. For example, before we were presented with the topic of the day, we were told we had to write two Haikus by the end of class. I didn’t have the confidence or the mindset to write it. However, I surprised myself and came up with the Haiku “ Winter’s speed” Don’t miss the colorful skies. The moon is getting ready to shine bright. But the long nights won’t bring the joy like the sun”. I have come to realize to always start off by having at least a bit of self confidence. I have learned I could be a writer in many kinds of ways if only I’m willing to practice and have a positive mindset.
Overall, I have come to understand that I have learned more about myself than I ever realized thanks to this course. I learned more about how to write better and how to use the tools provided for other classes. Any assignment including writing or even discussing concepts with others would be improved by the knowledge I have gained. I have shown a little love and patience for reading. This course showed me reading is not boring or the hard part, it’s who’s reading it. Reading has to be read with the willingness of wanting to hear the writing and to understand it. All the stories were all written for a reason and with a purpose so it’s important to be open minded and have the time. Thanks to you ( Professor Steven Bear) I’m finishing this class being proud of the benefits I gained. Every story you chose and the assignments we have written have helped me improve my literacy and with that I’m taking that knowledge with me to other courses as well. I hope every other course I will end up taking will have the impact this course had on me. Thank you.
Before starting this class and diving deep into the assignments, I can say I was not looking forward to the readings and major assignments. With the experiences I’ve had in previous English courses, I’ve never been a fan of long readings and essays (especially research essays) and constant revisions. Knowing that I was taking a college level English course didn’t make it any better, but my view on the class changed very quickly. After the first week of class which consisted mainly of introduction and syllabus review, I realized that this course wasn’t going to be that difficult. I quickly understood that the Professor wasn’t there to just assign work and give us readings to do, but wanted to introduce us to college. I learned some very valuable information that not only helped me in this course but also in different courses and outside of school. Knowing that I not only had a professor who wanted to help his students succeed, and other resources such as the writing center was really helpful and took some stress off of me that I would have in any other college course.
Comparing my work from the beginning of the semester to the end, I would say it has gradually improved. The workload in this class is very fair and reasonable. The discussion posts that were assigned each week related to what we did in class which helped retain the information that we learned. One thing that I found helpful is that whenever we had a major assignment coming up, the discussion posts would revolve around the assignment, which helped me get a better understanding of the assignment. Another thing that helped improve my work was the in class peer review for the Unit 1 and 2 essays. The sheet that we used to write our feedback helped me gain a different perspective on my work, and receiving it from another classmate is helpful not only for me but for them as well. Getting feedback from two different people really helped me in submitting my best work possible. Before I would submit my assignment either for peer review or final submission, I would think that I wrote the best work possible. Once I received feedback, I understood why the person suggested those changes and used them to improve my work. I never had a class where revision was taken seriously and I learned the importance of drafts/revising. One valuable piece of information that stuck with me was when we were writing our first draft for the Unit 1 essay. I don’t remember if it was mentioned by the Professor or an article we read but it was something along the lines of “The first draft of an essay is to write as much as you can. Just get your ideas down and write.” This helped me write my essays in this course, and I realized how writing an essay is a process.
My favorite assignment was the Unit 2 OP-ED essay. In the beginning, I thought this would be my least favorite assignment. While we were still writing the Unit 1 essay and shadowing the OP-ED, I was already dreading the amount of research that I would have to do for the assignment. Throughout my English course years, I’ve always hated research assignments because most of the time, it would be an assigned topic that was boring. I would always procrastinate research assignments, but for this essay it was different. One valuable resource was the library. I liked how we dedicated a day of class to using the library and learning how to research through https://library.citytech.cuny.edu/. I learned important information that day and it helped me in completing the assignment. Having freedom in choosing the argument that we can use for the essay motivated me to research and write about something that I’m passionate about. I wrote about Financial Literacy and how important it is in schools. Lack of financial literacy has been linked to many causes of unnecessary debt and bad credit. Many people are struggling today to make a living because of inflation and making poor financial decisions has only made their situation worse. As I stated in my OP-ED essay, “Debt is becoming the silent killer of this country and we must take action to stop it.” This is an important topic right now and being able to use this for my essay made the assignment enjoyable. One thing I learned from this assignment was the importance of sources. I learned how even though a source may seem to be reliable, that’s not always the case and not using good sources can throw off your whole essay. This Essay was a very fair and reasonable assignment. Completing assignments isn’t meant to be fun, but I had a good time working on this one.
The Unit 1 Essay was also enjoyable. Writing about an experience that was important to me was easy and I felt like I had a lot to say. I wrote about a time I was considering not attending college and how a small conversation made me change my life. Although I’m writing about a previous event, I learned a valuable lesson from writing the essay which was “ Businesses come and go, but a degree and knowledge stay forever.” One thing that helped me write this essay was when the assignment was explained during class. The professor explained the criteria of the essay very clearly, which was to write about an experience that had an impact on the way we viewed education. He explained how we should write it, and how the goal of the essay was for the experience to be detailed and not long. Just that one class, when the assignment was explained, was all I really needed to complete the assignment. If I had not listened or went in that day, I probably would have written an essay that was too long and didn’t really share an event because I was planning to do that before the lecture. The discussion posts, peer review, and explanations of assignments have helped me succeed and make the best decisions possible in completing the work. Another activity that I enjoyed in this class was revising. I would also consider it to be the easiest part of the assignments. The feedback I received on the two essays was helpful and I understood what I needed to revise. I had an issue with organization, with my paragraphs being too long. After I received the feedback, I knew where to edit and made changes accordingly. While revising where I received feedback, I would notice some other errors or changes that I could fix to improve my essay, which helped me submit my best work.
Overall this was a course that I enjoyed. Although this class consisted of a lot of writing and reading, I learned some valuable lessons on the way that not only helped me in this class but in other courses. At the beginning of the semester, I thought that this class was going to just be reading after reading and a ton of writing, which was somewhat true but It was a great experience. This class made me realize how writing and reading is a process and it’s not meant to be rushed. I was provided with the right tools and preparation to succeed in this course and has significantly improved my writing and reading skills.
I haven’t really changed much as a reader or writer as this past semester felt like it happened over the course of 2 months. However, the free writes we did every time we had class were helpful as I got better at writing about topics I never really put much attention into.This helped with my ability to fully analyze all the information I already knew quickly enough to make a decent free write. I often struggled with the skill and would need more time or outside help to get over blocks more often.
This is going to be especially helpful in my career path as I am studying to be a civil engineer, where I need to be able to do exactly this. Though, the ability to think fast and make plans in a short amount of time would be helpful in any field. In the beginning the free writes were easier as I was able to rely on my interest in history and history adjacent topics to help with my free writes. As the semester went on I was slowly pulled away from topics I was comfortable with and knowledgeable about, which helped build and hone my critical thinking skills and ability to piece together my knowledge to write something decent and thought out. “Peace is only a short pause before a new war”.
My favorite assignment was the unit three assignment because it was one of the easier ones. As I only needed to repaint my work in a genre I chose to use an infographic. My least favorite assignment was the unit one assignment. As I find it difficult to properly convey the emotions and ideas associated with those memories. I liked the unit two assignment, I enjoyed the research involved with the assignment as I was able to learn more about the ocean and a system and its collapse, which i didn’t know about “ As the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) carries water from around the world to the north and back, this current is the cause of the warm climate experienced by western Europe.”
I didn’t really have a lesson that stuck with me after I completed my major assignments but one lesson that I really should learn is to not procrastinate. My time management skills have gotten better but I still need to work on them.
Again one of the main things that changed is my ability to use scraps of knowledge to write something decent. “Love takes many forms, the love towards a parent, sibling, friend, animal. There is also the love one feels for a subject: dancing, drawing, singing.” For the third unit assignment I just based the design off of my topic in unit 2 so I added corals and fish to the canva template I used. One of my earliest beliefs since I was young was that writing was hard, not that I didn’t know what to write about. Why do I have to write in a way that satisfies all the grammatical rules of the English word.
I hated revising assignments more so because if the grade I reserved for the assignment was good enough I felt that I didn’t need to revise it further. I don’t have one from this semester but last year for my college essay I was writing about my experience with learning and I asked one of my friends to peer review it and they left one comment “go more in depth about the black hole”. Improving my grammar as I’m not good at articulating myself and I’m not very descriptive.
Out of all the videos we watched and the things we read, one of the things that stuck out was the documentary about animal products. I don’t remember the name, but it was surprising the condition the animals were processed in and how little care they have for the deaths caused by their product. It is disgusting how these animals are forced to live caked in their own filth and the fact that they are not cleaned but are fed antibiotics to combat any illness they may have. Not to mention how any animal that is raised like this would impact the people who eat these animals. It was one of the most horrifying truths that I learned about the food industry.
One of the most important things we went over in class to me was the Israel-Gaza conflict because I appreciated how we were informed of both sides of the story and left to make our own opinion on the matter. As since the beginning of the conflict I’ve seen pro Israel “propaganda” in the news everywhere I went. So I appreciate beginning to provide the information to make my own opinion instead of being force fed what I should and shouldn’t support.
This last semester has been interesting. I can say that Eng 1101 was my favorite English class but it was interesting. It forced me to look at topics from an angle I wouldn’t have before. Plus I liked free writing mostly because it gave me the freedom to choose how I go about writing about a topic.
I’ve grown as a reader, writer, and scholar this semester, and in the past, several important understandings have shown that I’ve improved in each of these areas. I have gained a deeper appreciation for a wider range of literary genres and styles as a reader, that has expanded my perspectives and improved my understanding of various stories and voices. This widened viewpoint has proven useful to me as a writer, where I’ve seen noticeable improvements in my ability to adjust to various writing styles and communicate with a wide range of readers. My development as a scholar has additionally included improving my research and critical thinking abilities, which allowed me to pursue academic goals at a higher level.
The growth of my writing skills is a noticeable part of the way I learn. I was encouraged to work with a variety of writing types, like creative narratives and argumentative essays. For example in unit 2 when I had to look at both sides of the story and conduct research. It also improved my understanding of how many forms of writing could be used for successfully expressing ideas. This term, one of the most important understandings was the realization of how crucial audience awareness is. I learned that writing for different audiences is a wise choice as much as a creative one. Especially in Unit 3 assignment when I choose to write using twitter threads to be more appealing to teenagers. Writing that is appealing and relevant needs an understanding of the different needs, views, and expectations from different readerships. A trait that has come from my growth as a writer is adaptability. By trying using various genres, I learned the ability to adapt my work to fit a wide range of situations. I believe being able to adapt is crucial to my ability to interact well on a number of platforms and in a number of settings.
I plan to make use of my better adaptability to meet the demands of different educational fields, make sure that my writing meets with standards for research papers, class debates, and presentations, amongst other assignments. My understanding of audience dynamics will be useful outside of the classroom as well. It will allow me to effectively change my communication in community settings and build connections with a variety of audiences. The improved critical thinking skills will come in handy when dealing with real-world problems in and out of the classroom, carefully responding to talks and tasks. using my improved research abilities, I hope to delve deep into topics and support claims using reliable sources. In addition, self-reflection will help me not just with my writing but also with ongoing progress.\
This term, Unit 1 stands out as my favorite assignment due to the free imagination it gave. I was able to tell my story since I was free to write about whatever topic I wanted to, which is a form of expression I really love as compared to projects that are more planned and need research. This unit’s encouragement of creative independence let me connect with my writing on a deeper level and expressed ideas and feelings more truthfully. Also, I valued the importance that was given to improving the essay’s detail without adding unnecessary information. It was an excellent lesson in how to balance narrative depth and relevancy.
On the other hand, Unit 2 came out to be my least favorite essay, mainly due to the significant amount of research that was required. Even while I know how important it is to give readers thorough information, the extensive nature of the research process felt a little difficult. The essay had to be carefully written so that the reader would learn more about the subject than they already knew. Even if it can be difficult, I understand how important it is to develop my research abilities, even if it means going outside of my comfort zone. All in all, these different experiences have enhanced my writing career with a balance between creativity and a thoroughness of research.
I noticed that taking part in the peer review process was a very helpful part of my writing experience. My final writing was greatly shaped by the ideas and insights I got from my peers. Their critique gave me an entirely fresh perspective and allowed me to see opportunities for growth that I could not have seen on my own. The helpful suggestions, in particular, let me find certain errors and weaknesses in my writing, causing me to rethink and enhance a few lines for better impact and clarity. The peer feedback was shared, and I believed was very beneficial. By combining ideas from my classmates with my own, I was enabled to create a more thorough and well-written essay. The different points of view that my colleague’s writers provided improved the story as a whole and made sure that more people could relate to the final product. With collaboration, I was able to improve my essay’s material and improve my ability to incorporate constructive criticism, a crucial ability for my continuing growth as a writer. Taking everything considered, the peer review not only raised the quality of my writing but also created a sense of community and shared writing skills.
I found that adjusting to a new writing style was one of the most challenging challenges I faced this semester. This was an important step away from my comfort zone and called for an in-depth understanding of the specific demands that are inherent in different styles. Putting what I have learned into my essays additionally shown to be a challenging task. Reaching the right balance without being excessive was difficult for me because I had to walk a line between using these abilities wisely and keeping my writing clear as a whole. Overcoming these challenges however, resulted into an interesting process of development and education. The great assistance I got from my peers was vital for overcoming these challenges. Their constructive criticism served as a road map for me, pointing me in the proper direction and putting light on the small distinctions between various writing styles and how to make smart use of learned information.
I wouldn’t say that there is that much of a big difference between the work I did early in the semester and the work I’m doing. When it comes to the subjects I’m writing about, I always choose something that I feel strongly about or something that I’m not all that familiar with but I’m interested in. My favorite assignment this semester was Unit 2’s Op-Ed, mainly because we were allowed to get a bit controversial with our topics. But also it’s because it was a subject that I felt very strongly about and I got a chance to express my belief without feeling judged which was nice. However, my least favorite assignment is anything to do with poetry, I hate it. But the thing is I’ve always hated poetry, in high school whenever we had to go over it would always put me to sleep because of how boring I found it. No offense but I even dosed off a few times in this class when we went over it but don’t take it personally it’s not the teacher that puts me to sleep it’s the subject.
A notable lesson that stuck with me was one of our earlier lessons when we were talking about the different perspectives that people have and how debate and conversation are a must in our society if we truly want to understand each other as human beings. That lesson made me realize that I need to be more patient when It comes to other people’s beliefs and not be so set in my own. The way I read and write hasn’t changed much, my process for reading an article is to always annotate things that would help me when it comes to writing. Writing is very simple for me Introduction(Thesis), Body paragraph 1, Body paragraph 2, Body paragraph 3, and conclusion. My experience with revising assignments is great because it gives me a second chance to look back on what I did and see if there is anything that I want to change or keep. When it comes to peer feedback it’s interesting because it gives you another person’s perspective on your work and they give some glows and some grows about your work, and they might even give you some really important feedback. To be honest I didn’t find this course all that challenging, the assignment’s instructions were very clear and concise on what it wanted me to do and the teaching was done in a way where I was never lost or confused in class.
During the process of writing the personal narrative, I kept thinking of ways to translate my thoughts into the essay. Personally, being bilingual is a great struggle for me. I chose to write about my grandmother, and I only speak to her in Spanish, so when I was writing my paper, I struggled to translate our conversations and experiences together as it all happens in an environment where I speak and think in Spanish. When I received back my paper for revisions, I truly didn’t understand why certain sentences were marked as “awkward or confusing”. I was writing the same way I wrote in high school. I went to the writing center and the kind person that assisted me understood that my writing comes out formal because I try really hard to translate my Spanish thoughts into English words. Because of that I wasn’t getting my point across, and I would complicate explaining things. For example, I wrote, “Over the years I have noticed how denigrated my grandma has become”. Here I was trying too hard and without knowing I used an offensive term. I fixed my wording to “I’ve noticed over the years how much my grandma has abandoned her needs”. That’s exactly what I was trying to write the first time. I learned that to write a good paper you don’t need to use big or fancy wording when it is as simple as saying what you mean straight up. It will sound more like you and not a dictionary.
Comparing my work from the beginning of the semester to now, I’d say I have improved. I used to over explain in my writing, and I’ve learned that sometimes you just have to keep it simple. I feel like I still have space to improve, and I am open to any feedback that will help me become a better writer. I think something that has really helped me is accepting feedback and critiques. Personally, I love it. When I write about myself, I write from my perspective so it’s interesting when someone who doesn’t know you on a personal level reads your work. It shows that as writers we should also think of the readers and how they will view our work. One thing that helped inspire thoughts for major assignments was reading similar work. It gave me an idea of what I needed to do, but left space for creativity.
I used to think what we learned in school was useless outside of school, but I have caught myself many times using the knowledge I have gained in school. Coming from an immigrant family, it’s important to me that I bring home what I learned and talk to my mom about it or my grandma as they didn’t have the same opportunities that I have today. In addition, I found that what I’ve learned in ENG 1101 has helped me significantly with writing papers for my other courses. I hope to continue to integrate my knowledge from this class to future courses. I can honestly say that caring for education has made me a better version of myself. This course has helped me strengthen my writing thinking skills and open my mind even more to think beyond the surface of things, which is a very important skill to have. Overall, it was an honor to be in this course and work with all the knowledgeable students. This was a great experience and I hope future courses are as creative and challenging as this one.
This is my first semester of college, and it flew by so fast. While I’m writing this, I am also taking the time to process my experience as a college student so far. Before starting at City Tech, I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this class. You see, I think literature should be fun. I loved the literature projects and assignments I had in high school. I feel like they challenged my thinking and allowed me to express myself in a way I didn’t know I could. I hoped this class would do the same, and it didn’t disappoint. Not only did I feel challenged working on unit projects, but also writing for discussion posts and free writes. With discussion posts it wasn’t as easy as answering a question based on a reading or video. We really had to stop and process the materials. Use our critical thinking skills to give precise responses. The same with free writes. One word was given, no context. We had to use our critical thinking skills and maybe also personal experience to make ideas out of one word. Having a teacher that challenges students to think beyond the obvious is what makes good readers and writers.
During the process of writing the personal narrative, I kept thinking of ways to translate my thoughts into the essay. Personally, being bilingual is a great struggle for me. I chose to write about my grandmother, and I only speak to her in Spanish, so when I was writing my paper, I struggled to translate our conversations and experiences together as it all happens in an environment where I speak and think in Spanish. When I received back my paper for revisions, I truly didn’t understand why certain sentences were marked as “awkward or confusing”. I was writing the same way I wrote in high school. I went to the writing center and the kind person that assisted me understood that my writing comes out formal because I try really hard to translate my Spanish thoughts into English words. Because of that I wasn’t getting my point across, and I would complicate explaining things. For example, I wrote, “Over the years I have noticed how denigrated my grandma has become”. Here I was trying too hard and without knowing I used an offensive term. I fixed my wording to “I’ve noticed over the years how much my grandma has abandoned her needs”. That’s exactly what I was trying to write the first time. I learned that to write a good paper you don’t need to use big or fancy wording when it is as simple as saying what you mean straight up. It will sound more like you and not a dictionary.
Comparing my work from the beginning of the semester to now, I’d say I have improved. I used to over explain in my writing, and I’ve learned that sometimes you just have to keep it simple. I feel like I still have space to improve, and I am open to any feedback that will help me become a better writer. I think something that has really helped me is accepting feedback and critiques. Personally, I love it. When I write about myself, I write from my perspective so it’s interesting when someone who doesn’t know you on a personal level reads your work. It shows that as writers we should also think of the readers and how they will view our work. One thing that helped inspire thoughts for major assignments was reading similar work. It gave me an idea of what I needed to do, but left space for creativity.
I used to think what we learned in school was useless outside of school, but I have caught myself many times using the knowledge I have gained in school. Coming from an immigrant family, it’s important to me that I bring home what I learned and talk to my mom about it or my grandma as they didn’t have the same opportunities that I have today. In addition, I found that what I’ve learned in ENG 1101 has helped me significantly with writing papers for my other courses. I hope to continue to integrate my knowledge from this class to future courses. I can honestly say that caring for education has made me a better version of myself. This course has helped me strengthen my writing thinking skills and open my mind even more to think beyond the surface of things, which is a very important skill to have. Overall, it was an honor to be in this course and work with all the knowledgeable students. This was a great experience and I hope future courses are as creative and challenging as this one.
*This is the correct port. the first one cut off a paragraph.