ePortfolio
Course Reflection
Throughout my entire educational career I have always been intrigued with my English courses. History, science, and math never stood out the way English did. Over this semester I can honestly say I have learned an abundant amount of new writing skills that have further developed my writing. One outcome of this course is my understanding of the writing processes. In the past few months my understanding has changed and developed in several ways. For example, I have learned that there are series of overlapping steps that most writers follow in composing texts. These steps include discovering ideas for a topic, writing drafts, revision, and proofreading. These steps and processes of writing enhance each other and lead to a successful work of literature.
Out of the two major assignments in ENC 1101, I found the Discourse Community Ethnography to be the most useful and interesting. Before this class I was unaware of the true meaning of a discourse community. Since there are several different ways to define a discourse community, I enjoyed being introduced to Swales’ and Mirabelli’s articles. After learning and reflecting on this assignment and these articles, I now realize how sharing common goals and characteristics in a community are very common and benefit our world. Understanding Mirabelli’s article has opened my eyes to why a person may or may not be the way they are. Discourse communities, such as Kappa Delta allows a person to develop a better literacy of being fully comfortable with themselves.
Over the past semester the most challenging assignment for myself would be the Rhetorical Analysis. The example of a writing construct that my essay revolved around was Social Medias Impact on Writing. This assignment did not come easy to me for multiple reasons. As a student in college, texting and social media are a prime method of communication; this made it hard to avoid using bias and opinion. Although it was quite difficult and time demanding, I believe I learned the most from this assignment. Writing this essay helped me realize that our generation has become inclined to avoid correct grammar by creating acronyms and abbreviations. By rhetorically analyzing this element of writing I have learned that we rely too much on technology such as texting and social media; including Twitter, Facebook, and emailing, and not enough on our own minds.
In my opinion my overall performance throughout this course has been successful. With my determination and many efforts, I believe I greatly contributed to the class. I tried my best to participate in class discussions and ask questions. Although I did miss a few classes due to illness or flights home, I did my best to catch up on the material I missed and fully understand the lectures I think this class greatly improved my writing skills; I was introduced to new vocabulary and writing processes. Throughout this class I put in a substantial amount of effort when writing my essays and completing assignments. If I were to receive two grades in this class; one for combined assignments and one for my effort I think I would receive an A in each category. Overall this class has been exceedingly beneficial and I would love if I could take it again.
