English is a second language to me, so I spent a considerable amount of time writing each essay as they had different challenges. Throughout my writing, I encountered weaknesses like punctuation and grammar that I will still improve in English 102. For example, I usually allocate two days to edit my paper …show more content…
It was my midterm exam essay and the paper was supposed to be written in class. So with my outline in hand, I wrote a comparison that has strong supporting details with numerous grammatical and punctuation errors that eventually reduced my grade. I also had issues that was easily fixable. For example, in my essay on Fears, one of my issues was vocabulary enhancement to match the college level English. After reading my first draft, I noticed the overused of certain words and searched through the dictionary for their synonym. The other issue was narrating vivid examples that will keep the reader interested. finally, with all the time and efforts applied, I received an acceptable grade minus a few misplaced commas. Furthermore, in my definition essay, I experienced a different set of problems. Selecting an appropriate topic was one of them. At first, I decided to define an ideal friend, yet I could not mention enough qualities that I would like an ideal friend to have. I accept my friends the way they are as long as they do not cross my boundaries. Then I picked courage as a topic. After days searching the definition of the word according to historical figures …show more content…
I chose Lost in The City by Edwards P. Jones because I assumed that it relates to my experience when I first came to the USA. Long and behold, it was a collection of fourteen short stories that give us a glance at the life of African Americans in Washington, DC. though I was hesitant at first, I could not change the book considering the time frame left to complete the assignment (I took a week for my local library to have the book available and I only have one week left to read, research and write the essay.) When I could not find enough peers critiques or articles on the book after searching the school online libraries including ProQuest and web sites for a day, I decided to write my understanding of the stories while including other readers’ reviews as parenthetical citations. I also learned how to write the Works Cited page by using the MLA format. Despite my reticence and few errors on the Works Cited page, I had a pleasant time writing my essay and actually received my best grade on it. I definitely refined my writing process this past semester.
By using the techniques and tips I learned from professor Turner’s class, I strengthened my topic selection and editing skills. I ameliorate the usage of parenthetical citations within the essay, and I developed the sources ‘citing according to the format on the Works Cited page. I still have problems with grammar and punctuation, yet I am confident