Professor Massimo Verzella
ESL 15
12 December 2016
Dear Dr. Massimo,
At the beginning of the semester, I had many goals and objectives for this class. I wanted to become a more sophisticated reader that could critically analyze any piece of writing. I also wanted to be a more flexible writer. Previous to taking this course, I used to be comfortable writing in only one style, and if I was forced to adopt another style I would usually have a poor outcome. Last but not least, I wanted to have a clear, working knowledge of the MLA style since it was my first time ever being exposed to it.
I believe that I have successfully achieved these goals. Each assignment required us to write in a different style and conventions. For example, …show more content…
I think this is really important because for a writer to compose a successful paper he or she must be interested and indulged in their topic. We were required to choose a controversial topic, introduce both sides of an argument and then present our opinion. I chose my topic to be the legalization of assisted suicide. The only downfall of this argumentative assignment was that it was the most time-consuming out of the three since we had to conduct heavy research. While other assignments took an average of two days, this one took a week until I felt confident enough to start writing. This is due to the fact that I wanted to have a general idea about the subject before making any claims. The final assignment was the rhetorical analysis, where we had to analyze a piece of writing. In order to break down the text, we had to use our critical reading skills. The article that you chose, The toxic truth about sugar, was actually very informative. I found this assignment to be the hardest. Some challenges I faced included trying to find the persuasive techniques and the right tone. Also, finding the logical appeal was …show more content…
I used to think that revision and proofreading were the same thing. However, what I later discovered is that proofreading is just correcting commas and spelling. While revision is reconsidering the arguments made as well as the evidence. That is why writing is a process because it cannot be done in one step. Writers must go through a process to produce a decent paper.
In conclusion, I had a very positive experience with this class. I believe that I learned a lot from this course such as the writing strategies that I was not aware of previously. I feel that I can now express my ideas far more effectively. There is always room for improvement. That is why I will continue working on myself. I would like to thank you. All your lectures and remarks made me turned me into a more confident writer.