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FatimaHussain
ProfessorCorriDitch
English113A
9December2014
HowIhaveGrownasaWriter
BeforestartingschoolatCSUN,Ihadalotofquestionsgoingthroughmymindabout
English113Aclass.IwasafraidthatIwillnotmeetthecollegeexpectationsforthiswriting
becauseIassumedthatthisclasswillrequiredstudentstowritealotofresearchpapers.Writing
papershavealwaysbeenadifficulttaskformehowever,afterfromthefirstdayofEnglish113A
class,IfeltthatIimprovedmywritingskillseverysingleday.Throughoutthiscourse,Ilearned
theusageofrhetoricalappeals,writinganargumentativestatementandIalsogainedknowledge
aboutthegenderconstruction.Furthermore,beforedoingProgressionII,Ididnothadaclear
understandingonrhetoricalappealsandhowtousethem,butprogressionIIexercisesprovides
meabetterunderstandingofonrhetoricalappealsincludingethos,pathosandlogos.The
progressionsIIandIIIalsohelpedmeinlearninghowtowriteanargumentativestatement.
Duringtheseprogression,wehadclassleddiscussionwhichhelpedmeinwritingagoodthesis
statement,counterargumentanditalsodevelopmycriticalthinkingabilities.
Furthermore,GenderConstructionasourcoursethemewasveryknewtomewhich
mademenervousatfirstbecauseIdidntknowwhatIwasgoingtotalkaboutthistopicinthe
progressionIfinalessay.However,readingarticlesfromthebookGenderCompositionhelped
meinunderstandingthiscomplextopic.Ilearnednumerousconceptsandvocabularyrelatedto
Gendersuchasgendernormwhichmeanswhatsocietyconsiderappropriatemaleandfemale


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behaviorsthatleadstotheformationofgenderroles,andgendernonconformitywhichmeansto
nottoconformtothesocietysgivengenderroles.Furthermore,aftertakingthisclass,Ibelieve
thatIhavegrownasawriterbecauseIfeltimprovementinsomeareasofmywritingsuchas:in
writingathesisstatement,inconnectingideasfromonetopictoanother,inwriting
counterargument,inusingscholarlysourcesinessay,andinusingproperMLAformatting.But,
Istillneedtocontinueworkingongrammarsuchassyntax,punctuation,diction,andthetoneof
thepaper.SomeofthechallengesIexperiencedduringthiscourseregardingmywritingwasin
developingmyideas,expandingparagraphs,andwritingathesisstatement.Butthemandatory
visitstoLearningResourceCenterforeachprogressionhelpedmeinwritingastrongthesis
statementaswellasinexpandingmyideas.Moreover,Ibelieve,thatbylearninglessonsabout
writingaclearthesisstatement,MLAformattingandusingscholarlysourceinessaysfromthis
coursewilldefinitelyhelpmelaterinwritingastrongpaperformyfuturecourses.
Asinoverall,Ifeltanimprovementinmywritingskillsascomparedtowhatitwas
beforetakingthiscourse.Forinstance,Ilearnedtowriteastrongthesisaswellastoconnectmy
ideasbacktomythesis.Ialsolearnedtowriteanargumentativethesisstatementandtosupport
itwithscholarlysources.However,Istillneedtoimproveonmygrammaticalandpunctuation
errorssuchascommasplices,fragments,diction.Furthermore,throughthisclassIdidnotonly
improvemywritingskillbutatthesametimeIalsolearnedalotaboutthetopicofgender
constructionanditsconceptsofgendernonconformityandgendernorms.Atlast,acommon
advicetonewstudentsonsucceedingintheirwritingclassesistovisitLearningResourceCenter
asmuchaspossiblefortutoringandalsovisitprofessorsofficehoursforfurtherhelp,becauseI


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believethat,anindividualcanonlyimprovetheirwritingthroughrevisingtheirworkwithan
expert.