Admit it. We all seen that episode of Spongebob...
Well, I can relate to that. Spongebob can't drive. I can't write.
Well, it's not so much as I can't write, obviously I know how. I just don't think I am very good at it. This class was intended, in my opinion, to find out a little bit about oneself. I got to know myself in a writing perspective very well. I learned a lot along the way too. I learned new strategies for writing in my other classes which will help me tremendously. I learned not to procrastinate... I learned how to look at things from a different perspective and write for the intended audience. All of these things are great skills, but I also learned that I hate writing recreationally. Honestly. I feel like I am horrible at it! I hate the rules that come with academic writing and I'd rather just free write for any assignment I do. I realize that this is unrealistic, but a girl can dream right? I write as if I were talking, and I like reading pieces that do the same. Unfortunately, that isn't how the world works. Everyone has to do something that they do not like to do, but that's life. And for these occasions, I feel more prepared than I ever have. I like how writing in this class was a process, and it all didn't happen overnight. I have found out that creating an outline helps me with the whole writing process so that I don't have to pull paragraphs out of thin air, and that they appear to sound more natural. No matter what class I'm writing for, I will always continue to recite, "One paragraph, One focus," over and over in my head. That helped me a lot too.
This class helped me in more ways than I ever thought it would. I would like to thank our instructor, Mrs. Piro, for all of her hard work and effort put forth in this class and for teaching me new things I probably never would have found out on my own. This class wasn't about writing, it was about other classes too, and it will continue to help me through out my entire college career.
Well hi there, just adding in on some good old conversation! (I think I start out every comment with this sentence, haha.) In terms of how the class helped and assisted me in writing because it was a process, I can definitely agree with you. See, one of the things that I find some what saddening is that, in typical high school or primary school classes, the courses really do not stress the process of writing very much. Actually, from what I remember in my past high school years, it seems as if teachers do not even consider addressing the process of writing a paper. When I was in my previous high school classes, it was outline, then rough draft, then final copy. That was pretty much it. Although I did not at the time have a problem with this, I believe that stressing the process of writing a paper is very critical. Obviously enough, not all of us are naturally well with writing essays or papers. I feel as if the writing process from the brainstorming to the final copy can help a person become a great writer in different ways. One reason I say this is, because the whole time line of writing your paper is right in front of you, it is very easy to find where you “messed up” in writing your paper; thus making it easier to fix your errors in the future. Another reason why I enjoy how the process of writing was stressed in this class was that it sort of ceased any chance to procrastinate. Because we went through the process of writing, there was no need to spend five hours the night before the paper is due to get it done. This obviously causes problems. Over all, I really enjoyed that aspect of the class!
ReplyDeleteI concur whole-heartedly my jolly good old chap. (Now THAT'S a sentence to start out every comment with, haha!)
DeleteAny way, I like what you said about how it was different from high school in a sense that all high school classes ever made us do was an outline, a rough draft, and a final copy. My high school years? Not even that. I usually just turned in one copy and got a good grade on it. I do, however, remember my Junior High teacher, Mr. Etzkorn, being a little more strict. He made us write a narrative essay, a persuasive essay, and a comparison and contrasting essay. Sound familiar? He really tried to prepare us for college, and looking back on it, I'm glad I payed attention in his class. Well, I was the only one who did but... anyway, we did one essay per quarter. Right now you're thinking, she only named three essays? Well, on our last quarter, we did a mock trial over a book we read, Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck, one of his favorite authors). I played a judge, a prosecuting attorney, and a witness that quarter because all of my other classmates got suspended from school. . .
I'll say this. I miss Mr. Etzkorn, but I don't miss my old classmates. Good luck to you, Ben! It was nice meeting someone I had so much in common with!
Hey! I really liked reading this post because I feel the same way. I really do not like writing either because I do not think I am good at it either, so while writing a paper or anything really, I just think to myself, “Why would anyone want to read this?” Well, I still feel this way but my English class last year and my English class this year helped me so much in pushing that aside and just letting me write. In this class I also learned a lot about writing, how I write, and how each person’s writing differs so much. I, too, learned to not procrastinate because it really bites you in the butt, especially in this class. Between this year and last year I learned how to correctly use evidence and cite it properly in a paper, how to write for an intended audience and to use the correct point of view. I feel like a lot of people should take English classes like this because it would help make them better writers and this would help them throughout life. What is nice in this class is that we learned how to properly write four different types of papers and we learned websites that will help you with future papers. Not every class that you write a paper for will critique it as much as an English class but knowing how to write will make it look so much better and if you ever have to do it in your profession, you know how. As aggravating as the class was I believe it helped so much too!
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way. I was always bad at English, and I though I had no hope to get better. When I was little a teacher neglected to teach us anything, so my learning suffered servely. I had to go to a tutor in the summer just to get back to the level I should have been at. The sad thing is I did not want to work hard because I felt like I was not good enough because I had to go to this tutor. I always wanted to do well in writing, but I always settled for the grades I got because I thought that is what I truly deserved. I always wanted to do well, vut no teacher helped me, or tried to get me to help myself. I feel though as if Mrs. Piro did what others could not do. I have to admit the reading was hard to sit and do, but once you did you learned something. I hated to sit and blog, but I did it. Through the blogs I learned a lot, and became more creative in my writing. It was fun to kind of let lose, and let people see the real me. I am not good at sitting down and write what I want to say. I am really good at public speaking though. I can say what I want, but I can never write it because I lack confidence. I really enjoyed this post it was good to see someone feel the same way!
ReplyDeleteHannah, please don't ever feel like that again! :-)
DeleteAll of you make me very proud!
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