I believe my writing has improved considering how poor my writing was at the beginning of the semester. My main goal when this semester began was to learn to develop my writing so as to be able to write college papers. I know my writing is not where I want it to be , but at this point I believe I have made progress as evidenced by the way I combine my sentence, write a complete sentence with fewer fragments, as well as my use of active voice versus passive voice.

Over the course of the semester, I have been able to identify some of my strengths and weaknesses. One of my strengths is my use of the writing center as well as meeting with my instructor on occasionally basis, which helped my writing process. On the other hand, one of my weakness is my use of thesis statement. As a writer, creating an effective thesis has been one the areas that I have struggled throughout the semester. To create an effective thesis,I know my thesis statement has to be concise and clear so that my audience can understand it.

 So reflecting back on the progress that I have made, I think I have accomplished some of the goals that I set for myself. I think my challenge will be to continue to write so that I can  continue what I have learned in English 102.

In regard to analyzing another' writer argument and after thinking critically thinking about my own arguments, I was able to identify some of the areas that I could improve on. One of the area that I was lacking was my thesis. I was unable to assert myself when making my argument because my thesis was weak. I discovered that most of the arguments that I had written lack a strong thesis which made my argument less effective. So I learned that having a stronger thesis as well as assertiveness when writing could improve my arguments.

Another thing that I learned after analyzing another writer's argument is that my arguments are not well organized. I discovered that I need to arrange my arguments in a way that my strongest argument comes first and the weakest argument comes last. In other words, I need to do a better job putting my strongest points first and putting the weakest ones last. So I feel that If I can change these two things my arguments would be more effective.

My most compelling evidence is my claim that undergraduate student who enrolled in graduate school immediately upon completion of a four year program are likely to have a competitive advantage in the workforce. This is strong evidence because it makes sense, and my audience can relate to it.  Everyone that has completed a four year college knows how hard it is to graduate. Taking a break after a four year college for a job only make makes it hard to enroll in graduate school. After concluding that this is my strongest claim, I am going to be restating this claim in my essay as I make my argument.

My weakest evidence is my response to the claim that students cannot afford graduate school immediately after a four year college program. I argue that most reputable companies has tuition reimbursement plan that can help upset the cost of schooling. This is my weakest evidence because completing a four year degree necessarily does not translate to a good job. To make this argument plausible, I will let my audience know that enrolling in graduate give a better competitive advantage in the workforce, but I will also let them know that they might accumulate a lot of student loan while doing so.

After looking critically at the two previous graded essays that I had written in this class as well as the other written in the past, I was able to identify 4 common patterns of errors. The first common noticeable error that I identified was my grammatical errors. In my writing, I made too many errors, such as using commas and conjunctions incorrectly as well as missing a subject or verb in a sentence. These errors made my essay very difficult to read, and I plan to avoid these errors by correcting my sentence fragments, correcting run-on sentences, and writing complete sentences.

Second, I tend to be excessively too wordy; In particular, I tend to write too many short paragraphs that should have been combined. I need to combine these sentences to make each paragraph better. I know it is difficult for me to avoid this short paragraph when I am writing, however I will make a conscious effort to limit my errors when revising my draft so that my paragraph can become more meaningful and flow better.

Third, after reading my two previous essays, I discovered that each paragraph that I had written was not well explained. In short, it lacked clarity. I know that I need to work on my transition and learn how to effectively use my conjunction to connect my points. I plan to correct some of these mistakes by thoroughly explaining each paragraph.

Finally, I tend to use the same word over and over again. I tend to be repetitive and redundant. I write to fill spaces as opposed to critiquing every word in each sentence. I plan to correct some of these errors by critiquing each word so as to avoid the same mistakes in the future.

My take on the peer review process in this class is that it is not the best but can be better. There are some areas that can be improved to make these review process more effective. First, I think we should spend more time on informal discussiion because I found that process very interesting. I like the informal discussion because it captivates everybody's attention, and it appears there is more enthusiam. I have learned one or two things each time we did the informal discusssion. So if I have a choice I would have preferred to do more informal discusssions.

As a peer reviewer, It is much more easier for me when I'm peered with somone that is prepared and ready. What I mean by that it that the process is better and easier when peered with someone that actually want to work on their draft as oppose to someone that is disinterested in the process.

As for group size, I would prefer a small group; myself and the other person. I think working with one person is much more effective. With one person a lot can be accomplished in a short period of time. Also, my experience from past reviews  has shown that having a large group is less effective. And finally, I do not have any problem with the amount of time with spent on previous reviews.  The most important thing for me is to be able to work in a small group as well as working with the right person.

Of the three assignments that we’ve done so far, I found assignment #5- analyzing an advertisement the most difficult. The easiest assignment would be the topic that I am blogging on at this moment. This assignment is the easiest for me because it requires less critically thinking, and the fact that I can choose my own topic. I choose to blog about this particular topic because it addresses some of things I want to write about.

As stated earlier, I think the advertisement assignment was the most difficult because it requires a lot of research and critical thinking.  There are two reasons why I think this assignment is difficult.
First, choosing the appropriate ad and finding an ad that has text-based evidence was hard. Second, analyzing the ad itself was not easy considering that we have to of idenfity: purpose, audience, genre, and tone.

Taking this class fit perfectly into what I want to do in the future because my major requires a lot of intensive writing. Besides that I think it is a great idea to learn how to write. The whole premise of taking this class is to get better at writing, so that it can help in the future.  There are lots of things that I find interesting so far in my college experience. I must say that I find blogging very intriguing. The idea of blogging is foreign to me, however, I find the experience really interesting. 

For this argument analysis assignment, I will be analyzing the essay written by Charles Murray in which he argues that:"It's what you can do that should count when you apply for a job, not where you learn to do it." This essay highlights the importance of post-secondary education. It argues that community colleges can be as effefctive as a uninversity in terms of job qualification. That job qualification shouldn't be based on bachelor's degree alone. It also indicates that students shouldn't  be subjected to studing in universtity alone but rather be given the opportunity to go with whatever works for them.

I choose this article because it explains some of the misconception about post-secondary education. It advocates for post-secondary education as oppose to a universtity degree. Another reason why I find this article interesting is because President Obama in his State of the Union addressed the same subject. This article is not by any means easier than any of the there other articles, however, what I find intriguing in this particular article is the writer's argument.

I have made a lot of progress as a writer. However, I believe more work needs to be done. My first blog was not perfect but if  I could have done it again, I would have approached  it in a different way. My first blog post reminded me that my wrting is not where I want it to be. I know I can do better. Personally I am not satisfiedied with my writing. I feel I can do better by putting more effort and time into it. On one hand, I feel I have  gained some confidence of  what I want my writing to look like. I have an idea of what I need to improve and where I'm lacking in terms of my writing. In short, I feel like I've found my comfort zone. On the other hand,  I am not satisfied with my progress. I feel a need to cut down on my grammar errors, most especially with how I use present and past tense in a sentence. I think I can be more effective without those mistakes.

One specific part of the class that I find very helpful is the peer review because it gives me a sense of where I am lacking and a fresh new perspective/ second opinoin on my writing. What I don't like is blogging on Friday's. I personally feel that I don't write my best on Friday's. Writing on Friday is very uncomfortable for me because I end up not writing the way I want to. In other words, I feel it is better if we could write our blog's on the weekends rather than on Friday's.

One thing I would like to change in order to better facilitate my learning process is doing more class work. I feel we don't write enough in class. So I think more writing should be incorporated into what we do in class. I mean writing like a page or two.

My writing process has definitely changed since the begining of the semester. I have more confidence in my writing . I try to be creative with every word that I write now as opposed to before.I also do more crtical thinking and I choose the words I use carefully. Furthermore, I try to focus more on the subject and avoid being repetive in my writing.

By and large, this class has been very helpful. I recieved a lot of postive feedback from both my peers and instructor. So I think I have improved since the semester started.

There are definitely similarities and differences between my narrative and ad analysis essay. The purpose of my narrative and ad analysis essay is not precisely the same but  both focused on the same audience. The focus of my narrative essay was on my writing, while my ad analysis examines the importance of education in Africa. In other words, my audience were the same in both essays.

My narrative essay and ad analysis did have some differences and similarities in terms of genre and tone. In terms of tone, I think both essay were written in a formal way, and the genre is also tailored to convey the same message.

I think the difference rhetorical situation will affect the choices that I make when writing my ad analysis paper. I think my choice of medium and design might play an important role. No using the right medium and design can affect how the audience interprets the ad. And that is why I think more critically thinking should go into choosing medium and design.



Purpose:  By using a combination of white and black colors, and the text  written in a foreign language with a map of Africa underneath the text and a logo of UNICEF( United Nations Children's Fund), this ad is able to convey how ineffective and out of touch some old-world charity organization have become when it comes to Africans.

Audience: The mudface is an effort put forth by UNICEF in Germany to show solidarity for  their comtemopraries in Afrika. It is an attempt at drawing familiarity between German and African children on the topic of education.

Genre: This ad is one of the similar ads that UNICEF as produced in their ongoing campaign about education in Africa. This ad advocates that education should be available to all children, and that all children should have access to a quality education, and it shouldn't be seen as a priviledge.

Tone: The black and white background, foreign text and the map of Africa all set the tone, making the ad more interesting.





There is definitely a major difference between my first rough draft and my final paper.The first paper was my “ shitty first draft”, which I think is not bad. The first draft gave me a second look into some of the many mistakes that needs to be corrected.  I have many reasons for revising my final paper. For one, I wanted to make sure that I follow the MLA format for font size, heading, titles, spacing and margins.

 I did make some major revisions to the content, organization and focus of my final paper. Some of my major revisions include: changing some of the content; re-organizing the paper; and focusing more on my audience. The content played a vital role in the many mistakes that I made. The content of the paper was not bad, however, I discovered after proofreading that I made a lot of mistakes using present tense instead of past tense. I also noticed some incomplete sentences that were fragments and run-ons that need to be corrected. In addition, I added some suspense so that my audience stay tuned.

As stated earlier, I know that as a writer I tend to excessively use present tense instead of past tense. However, using the shitty first draft showed how I was lagging in this area, it showed that I needed to work on breaking the pattern of error with present and past tense in a narrative essay.

What guided me to make the revision that I made was because of my " shitty first draft" . I think going through the process of writing the shitty first draft helped and gave new insight to some of the mistakes that I have been making. Also, I think some of the other factors are my motivation as a writer, peer review and proofreading.

I think the strongest part of my essay is the story. I think I was able to articulate my thoughts into simple sentences so that everybody can understand the story. I also think I did a good job telling the story in such a way everybody can relate and connect on a personal level.

Finally, I think the weakest part of my essay is my grammar. I believe that I need to improve  my grammar and cut down on my mistakes.

In my opinion, writing a good paper requires lots of skills.  It requires consistent practice and effort.  I think the approach and planning is sometimes the difference between an A paper and a C paper. I do think it is important that the paper is structured in such a way everybody can understand it.  Most importantly, I think an effective paper should have these three distinct qualities.

 Organization-This is one of the skills that I think is often ignored. I feel in other to write a good paper, it is fundamental to know how to structure and develop ideas. These ideas should be developed to have an introduction, body, and conclusion. Not knowing how to develop and structure the main point makes it hard for the audience to understand the message the writer is trying to convey. Lack of organization also makes it less interesting because the main points are not in the right format.

Next is the development of ideas. I think this is crucial in writing an effective paper. Development of new ideas helps put in perspective the direction of the paper. I think it is important that every writer learn how to use “shitty first draft” to develop new idea even if the first draft does not make sense. I think writing a rough draft make it easier to brainstorm with less focus on mistakes. Sometimes it might require for one to develop as many rough drafts.

Finally, I think in other for a paper to be effective, one has to choose and use the appropriate words. Using the right choice of words helps convey the message the writer is trying to send to the audience. Using clear and concise words that the audience will understand makes the paper easier to read.

On my scale of preference: the first potential topic I may write about is my early memory of writing.  All I can recall are bad memories.  There were more cons than pros. The process was horrendous, and it was like a writing nightmare.   It’s hard to pin point anything good about my writing. Sometimes it feels good being able to write a complete sentence on paper, and other times writing makes me feel uncomfortable.

Another topic that I may write about is someone who taught me to write. That person would be my older sister. It was quite difficult to keep up with her because her writing was very good at the time. She tried everything to make writing interesting.  Every morning, she would give some sort of writing assignment, and if was able to complete the task, then I would be able to watch cartoons.  One good thing about that experience was the instant gratification; being able to watch cartoons after writing. On the other hand, I never felt motivated to write, I did it because I wanted to watch cartoons.

Lastly, I might explore a memento that represents an important moment in my literacy development.  It started when I had to write a paper for my Anthropology class.  I got a passing grade in the class; however, I did not get good feedback on the paper from my instructor. One of the comments he made was that my narrative was good, but my points were not well organized.  Somehow, something clicked in my mind, and I was inspired from that point on. I can confidently say that was the turning point in my literacy development even though it took a bad comment.

Engish-101

Hello everybody and welcome to my blog. I’m taking this class because I want to improve my writing skills, and develop new ways to be a better writer. There are many reasons why I am taking English 101.  Successful completion of this class means that I can take English 202 or whatever is next. I have always struggled with writing and I know that completing this course will take me one step to my final goal.

 Although taking this class is not a requirement for me, however, I think learning how to write is fundamental and I think it is a skill everybody should have. In addition, I think it is a fair preposition if NEIU should make it a requirement that student should take English 101.  After all, taking this class will only make writing comfortable for future classes, and it also serve as a preparatory class before taking complex college English classes.

Equally important are my reasons for taking this class. First, it obvious that I want to develop my writing skills, but knowing how to articulate my thoughts and translate it into writing is one of the reasons why I am taking this class. Second, I think taking this class will take me one step closer in addressing problems with sentence errors such as using grammar correctly; making proper use of verbs and conjunctions in a sentence without making too many mistakes, and knowing how to apply comma and semicolon in a sentence. Finally, since my major is social work and I think taking this class will help prepare me for what to expect in the social work field in terms of how to analyze and articulate my thoughts into writing.

 So, taking this class is very important for me, and I hope to gain some knowledge on how to be a better writer.