I’m not going to lie, coming into this class in the
beginning of the semester I really had no idea where I stood as a writer. I
didn’t know how I would do in ENC 1101, and I really didn’t know what to
expect. I wasn’t thinking I’d learn a lot, I just thought I would have to write
a bunch of bull crap and get critiqued on every detail I did wrong. I had no
idea that reading these difficult writings in our “Writing About Writing”
textbook would go perfectly with exactly what I needed to hear and learn about
to help strengthen my writing process. Now that I have been through the first
semester of English on a college level, I have a better understanding of where
I am in the sense of a writer. I know what I need to improve on and I’ve come a
long way since the beginning when I had no idea what I was doing right or
wrong! I struggled with the difficult readings at first but after I sat down
and read through/annotated the pages, I grasped a deeper understanding of what
I was reading and how I could tie it into my essays and to working on myself as
a writer.
I had a problem with identifying who my audience was before
writing a piece, and although I still may not be a pro at directing my writings
towards my specific audience, I have definitely come a long way since the
beginning of this semester. I can now read what my essay is on, brainstorm
ideas and instantly know who I need to aim my writings to, and know what to say
and figure out what language is acceptable for the specific age or social group
I may be speaking towards in my writing. For me to become more advanced in
writing for my audience is the continuity of keeping the same audience and not
changing every time I begin a new subject. It’s hard to locate the correct
audience and base my writing on who I am speaking to. Although I have learned a
lot about this section just this semester, I still have a lot more to improve
on.
Another huge aspect I overcame this semester in English
1101, was the difficult passages we had to read each week. At first I felt like
I was reading a different language; for the vocabulary was difficult and what
the author was writing about seemed so far out of what I had in mind that I
could barely get involved in the reading. As I pushed on and kept trying to
understand, then listened hard during class about what everyone had to say
about what they got out of the reading and how it helped them with the blog
that week, etc. I began digging deeper into the meaning behind the words on the
page and things just started clicking. The more I would write and mark in my
book while I was reading, the more things made sense. I’m thankful that I actually
began understanding the readings because they were helpful to get me through
the semester with the essays/papers I had to write throughout the class. It was
interesting how each paper was based on that unit’s passages we read;
everything tied together so perfectly!
