Marie Dorline Desir

English 1121

Prof. Jenner

Part 1.

I learned many things about myself as a reader, writer, and scholar. I think this writing class was very intensive. I had the opportunity to look back through all of my work this semester to help me answer this question. We had many different kinds of writing assignments to do such as major essays, journal entrees, reflections, and creating a multimodal text. We also read about sociological issues such as a historical speech written by Mr. Douglas and the U.S constitution.

I have always loved to read books. My favorite genres are classic mystery novels and romance novels. This class made me discover that I also enjoyed reading scholarly articles. While researching articles for my research project on, ” How does Climate Change Affect Agriculture” I read many fascinating papers. I learned so much about climate change and agriculture. Even though I had to take my time reading the journals, I thought the information I walked away with was very interesting. I don’t always believe what I read about in popular magazines because of fake news but I feel the majority of research articles are valid.

I believe my writing skills have improved while completing this class. My writing writing skills improved because the assignments got me to think about many issues and polish my writing style. I did not just write boring essays but I was able to write using my imagination. I thought writing a persuasive letter was very exciting. I was able to make connections from my prior knowledge to what I learned in this class. Online we read speech, “What To The Negro The 4th of July”. For our micro-activity we had to write down three quotes and paraphrase them in our own words. This activity we had to write down three quotes and this speech and how important it is. When I wrote my persuasive letter I wrote my paper very similar to the way Mr. Douglas wrote his. We both used ordinary everyday language that are easy for everyone to understand.

I believe taking college classes has placed my life on a wonderful journey. By the time, I graduate and have a diplomat in my hand, I feel those courses had already elevate me to a scholar level. I plan on taking many college classes; various electives courses like sociology, philosophy, and psychology classes. I feel that these humanity courses blend together and will help me to learn about the world in which I live in. I’m exploring a variety of fields and I’m also branching out. I looked up what it means to be a scholar and the definition is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities. This definition is used to describe me.

Part 2.

The two smaller pieces that I included in my portfolio include micro-activity #7. The main reason why I chose these two pieces is because they are both inter-connected to each other. Micro-activity #7 blends into micro-activity #8. Both micro-activities deal with discourse communities. I feel that studying discourse communities is very exciting because people within the same community share the same common goals. Both letters dealt with social issues that had effect on many people’s lives. I was able to make personal connections between Wollstonecraft’s persuasive letter and the persuasive letter I wrote. The discourse community that Mary Wollenstone belonged to was the women right’s movement. The discourse community I wrote about were overweight people who were going on the Keto diet to become healthier.

After reviewing Wollstonecraft’s persuasive letter, I decided that my letter would be written using different styles. I felt that Wollstonecraft’s language was too antiquated and too complex for me to use in my letter. The language I used was easy to understand and to follow along with. I also used language in a more general and a more friendlier tone. Another difference between my letter and the activist’s letter was that she wrote her letter to one individual and mine was for a large group of people.

One reason why I put these two pieces in my portfolio is because I wanted to showcase these writing activities. I think that these are two of my best pieces. I also included these pieces as a way to remember what I learned on-line this semester and to monitor my personal growth.