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Matthew Carter

English 101

Professor Needham

5/17/2021

English Final Essay

My strengths this semester were the memoir essay and the position argument

essay. Both were easy for me to write because I was able to choose topics that I cared

about. My weakness was some of the just in time reports and my evaluation essay.

There were some of the just in time tests that even If I did them the allotted 3 attempts, I

still scored poorly. It is something that I will have to keep practicing and getting better at.

The evaluation essay was fun to write I just conveyed it in the wrong writing style.

The strategies that I will take away from this class will be the writing skills I have

learned. Being able to differentiate between the type of paper and the tone that I need

to write them in will help with future college essays. I am taking English 102 in the fall

and I will be able to incorporate what I have learned here into that class.

I am proud of my position argument essay. I feel that I was able to get a lot of

valuable information out there about why fighting in hockey should be diminished. At the

same time I feel like I included enough information that warrants holding the players

accountable if something, like an illegal hit, is done to a player. The point that I was
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trying to convey is that fighting needs a second look as it is not always the right thing to

do.

The essay that I learned the most from was my evaluation essay. Even though it

came off more as a position argument essay. I learned that vaping is huge among the

teenage population. Which is never a good thing. I also found it interesting that vaping is

still so new to the scene that there is not much information available as to how it effects

the body. It is something that will continue to be studied and as new evidence comes

out, I am sure that more regulations will be put into effect.

 When I began English 101 I did have some doubts about how well I would do.

During this course I was able to hit my core competencies in various ways. I learned

that you have to appeal to the people that your audience. It is much easier to appeal to

something that someone may or may not agree with. Ethical, political and cultural

implications will come up in almost anything that you write but it is up to me to be able to

appeal to those and I did this through the tone and voice I used throughout my writing.

With proper grammar and writing mechanics I was able to build upon each prior

paragraph.

I was able to support my central writing through logical development but taking

the information I had and putting it in an order that made the most sense. If you can

continually grow on each idea, it captivates your audience more. Using paraphrasing

and quotes is a way I was able to drive home points in some of my essays. Nothing
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brings an idea or topic into perspective like a quote or paraphrase from someone that is

close to the ongoing situation.

I was able to see if I had written a decent essay through the feedback I received

all semester from my peers and instructors. There were times where a sentence or idea

I had did not make sense, either in location or thought. At the same time, I saw where

my writing strengths were through comments made by peers and my instructor. I was

able to see that my ideas were strong and my points on the topic were made.

As the class winds down, I was able to do all of this through the resources that

were available to me. Different sites were available throughout the semester that helped

me in my learning. The just in time reports were a big help to see where I was struggling

and how I could improve on the subject. Also using Microsoft work to help edit and

format my papers helped my see that, yes, I need a comma there or that a comma does

not make sense in this sentence.

The advice that I would give any new student going into English 101 is to take it

slow. Make sure that you are reading what you are doing and make sure you are taking

your instructors and peers advice to make you writings stronger. This class will help you

if you are struggling with the mechanics of a sentence. Use the just in time reports to

help home in on the areas that you are struggling. Overall, do not stress that class

everything to help you succeed is right in front of you.