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Ryan Struckel English Composition 1 Mr. Harrell 7 December 2013 Composing a More Intelligent Future During my time in Mr. Harrells English Composition 1 class, I have learned a lot of valuable skills on how to write a good, strong, piece of writing that is composed properly. Although some of the topics we discussed in class, such as block quotes and audience, are areas of writing I have touched on, I learned how to perfect these topics this year. We used all of these techniques throughout the year in the various essays we wrote. The profile essay was my favorite because we used block quotes and preformed interviews. Ultimately English Composition has taught me a variety of techniques and skills that will help me write for the rest of my life. Since drafting is the first thing a writer does, we covered it a lot. The first essay we wrote was the personal essay. This was an essay we wrote about an event that impacted our life in some way. I wrote about selling my great grandmas house and having to go through all of her belongings while she sat in a nursing home. It was titled Standing in an Empty History. We had to turn in a rough draft copy and proofread each others papers. This helped us learn how to not only plan out an essay but help learn to accept criticism from our teacher and peers. I got a lot of criticism the first time and was slightly disturbed. It made me think that I was a horrible writer and that I would fail the class. The professor told me that I needed to tell my side of the story and about my emotions while going through her belongings, not just a profile of my great

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grandma and her house. Learning to accept the criticism was very hard for me, but once I did I was able to write much better. My friends would read the rough draft and normally tell me that it was good except for one or two things. However I knew there were many things wrong and I could catch, reword, and fix the spots in my essay that needed improvement better than they could. Sometimes I would rearrange whole paragraphs because they seemed to make more sense in a different order. Structure is a big part of writing and it was something that I thought I was decent at from the start of the class. Learning the tricks only helped me grow in my writing though. In all three essays we learned about the introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs and how they should be designed. We learned in elementary school that the introduction should introduce the idea of the story. This part is true. However they taught us that the conclusion should be our final thoughts on the story. Although this is true, the conclusion should also wrap up the whole essay. In middle and high schools, Students are taught that each paragraph has its own theme within the theme. We illustrated this rule many times throughout English composition; as this is my fifth long essay. We wrote an essay about someone who was not a close family friend or relative. I interviewed my Friend Danijela. She is sixteen year old girl who has earned her second degree black belt in karate. Although the whole paper is about Danijela and her karate experience, each paragraph is laid out to talk about different parts of her karate life. They had to be ordered in a way that made sense and this was something that I have struggled with in the past. For this essay, chronological order worked the best. I started with how she became interested in martial arts, the challenges that she faced while moving through the ranks, and finished with the topic of her black belt test. Before Composition 111, I might have worked my way backwards and thrown in

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random paragraphs about my experience with her in karate and watching her take the tests. However this year I managed to order the paragraphs correctly while staying in the area of my thesis. The thesis statement was a big lesson. Over the years, it has been hard for me to grasp the idea of the thesis statement. I could never write one that was strong and proved a universal point. Now I feel as though my understanding of the thesis statement has grown stronger and I can now write one that clearly introduces the topic of the story. The first time that we really discussed the thesis statement was for the analytical essay. I had never actually written an essay analyzing a book, and now I needed to do it correctly and with a lot of thought. My thesis for the analytical essay was While conservative schools offer students a strict, religious, and somewhat healthier opportunity, liberal schools benefit students by preparing them for the controversial world and life in the workplace. For the first time in my writing career, this statement completely summed up my entire five page essay. It is hard for a person to summarize five pages into a single sentence however, I feel as though after focusing on it for a whole semester, I have been gradually getting better at doing so. Another thing that I have improved on a lot is quotes. Normal quotes and block quotes are no longer a problem for me. I know the requirements for a block quote and can complete them correctly. In the analytical essay I had to use a lot of quotes to support my text. I started them all with a phrase like Roose writes, or Roose states that, so that I didnt have to use the last name in the in-text citation and to clarify the origin of the text. I also learned the correct punctuation and layout he quote should have. Roose states, In nearly two months of booze-free Christian living and twice-a-week jogging, Ive lost fifteen pounds without trying, and I forgot what a hangover feels like, (142). Previously I was unaware that the period came after the page

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number. This was a mistake that I used to make very frequently. Used to always think quotes were only what people said. Danijela said Although it was slightly awkward to fight my boyfriend, it allowed me to get all of my anger toward him out. This year I used a lot of quotes by people, but even more quotes by books, articles, or scholarly journals. The final thing that is written in an essay is the citations page. I have learned much more about citing my work this semester than I have in my entire schooling. We made a citation page for every essay, not counting the personal, and were graded harshly on it. You had to learn quick or you would be revising your essay every time. This year I learned how to correctly format a piece of work in MLA formatting and learned how to cite things other than books and internet sources. The profile essay was the first interviewing essay I have ever written, so from that I learned how to cite an interview. Also at the beginning of this semester, I did not even know what a scholarly journal was. Now I know what it is, where to find it, and how to cite it. I feel as though this knowledge will be something I will be using further in my high school, college, and everyday careers. Due to taking English composition in high school, I feel I am much better prepared for my college writing classes. I have improved tremendously as a writer since the class started. My first essay received a seventy percent and the last essay I worked on received a one hundred and is being passed around the English and mathematics department at Akron University. This class was a major step for me and I would highly recommend it o others. It has taught me so much about becoming a better writer and I am looking forward to my English composition class in the spring.

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Works Cited Lonco, Danijela. Personal Interview. 30 October 2013

Roose, Kevin. The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinners Semester at Americas Holiest University. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2009. Print.