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Hannah Slaughter

Professor Jan Rieman

English 1103

December 7, 2010

A Trip From the Past To the Future

When planning and brainstorming for this paper I realized how much I had actually

learned and gotten out of this class. I am so much more comfortable with writing papers. It is no

longer such a stressful process but rather a way to get my feelings out. I am able to tie in myself

with my papers rather than just write exactly what is required, which is what I do in this paper. I

am so glad that I have gotten to this point in my writing. I honestly never thought I would

because I had never been pushed or even focused in writing in my previous years of school. I

look forward to becoming more comfortable and open with my writing in my future. I can say

that without this class I do not think I would be where I am today with my writing.

When starting English 1103, I honestly had no idea it was a writing class. I came into it

thinking that it was going to be full of classical literature and novels. The same sort of English

and literature I had been exposed to all throughout my previous years of school. The first day I

found out it was actually a writing class. I would learn to use,” writing and reading to make

meaning, make thoughtful writing decisions, conduct sound and engaging academic research

about writing, and many other writing skills.” Before English 1103, I had never been really

confident in my writing. My lack of confidence in writing was due to the minimum amount of

writing I was assigned throughout my school years. Up until college, writing had never been
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stressed and proper writing was never taught. Since English 1103 with Professor Rieman, I feel

that I have a new found sense of confidence in my writing. While brainstorming for this paper, I

have realized how much improvement I have made and how comfortable I am with writing.

Looking back so far on this semester, I have had numerous amounts of writing

assignments and work dealing with writing in some way. I am beginning to like writing and

becoming more comfortable with the writing to explore pieces. At first I thought it would be

hard to write a paper every week, but every week they get easier and easier to write. I feel like I

am able to express my feelings better and put my thoughts together more clearly the more often I

write. The day book entries are a way for me to keep up my writing skills and learn to work

through writer’s block. Although I run out of things to write about for the five minutes we are

assigned to write, I am constantly writing and my brain is constantly working to put words on the

paper.

I still find the readings about writing a little challenging only because they are explaining

things I have never thought about. As far as reading in English 1103, I feel like I have felt

comfortable with some reading assignments as well as challenged by some. The Blue Sweater

was assigned was an easy and interesting book to read. Although some of the concepts in the

book were hard to follow and understand, it was still interesting and kept me motivated to read.

The challenging part of the assigned reading was in the book, Writers on Writing. The

“Intertextuality” piece and several others that we were assigned were confusing. The little text

and long pages made it hard for me to concentrate. Big words, complex concepts, and different

styles of writing that I had never been exposed to before were in this book and therefore, made it

difficult to comprehend.
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In the relationship to the syllabus and course goals, I definitely feel like I am

accomplishing the classroom/course goals as well as the goals that I had set for myself in this

class. I am now thinking, writing, and making meaning out of topics such as my literacy

sponsors. I had never realized the actual importance of literacy and the effect it has on one’s

success until writing about my literacy sponsors. I have also come to understand how

complicated academic writing is. It is not always easy to write on topics about academics. Of

course it is easy to write on topics that interest one, but when asked to write about literacy or

something dealing with academics, it becomes a bit more complicated. I feel that looking back I

have made great accomplishments and have met and are meeting the goals expected for this

course as well as the goals I would like to meet for myself. To reach my goals and the goals of

the class, I could not have met them without the help of our Classroom Culture document. This

document collaborated what all of my peers as well as I needed to become successful in a

classroom. We made sure that everyone was comfortable in our classroom setting. Being

comfortable with everyone and knowing we have a tight support system has made it easy for me

to give my presentations. I like that Professor Rieman left it up to the students to decide how

the classroom should run and what made them comfortable and successful rather than just what

she wanted. Another part of my success can be given to my peer workshop groups. At first I felt

like I was not going to like these groups. I have never been comfortable in sharing my papers out

loud. I have only liked turning them into my teacher and that being the end of it. I have never had

peers read and give me feedback. I did not know how I was going to adjust to this change. I soon

came to find out this was the most helpful technique to edit and revise my papers. My workshop

group not only helps to edit and revise my papers but also gives me feedback about what they

like in my paper and what they found interesting. The feedback is positive rather than just
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negative. I have really been forced to step outside of my box in this class so far and feel that I

will continue to be pushed out of my comfort zone. Although going where I am not so

comfortable is a challenge for me, it is something that is helping me to become a better reader

and writer.

Looking ahead I am preparing to write my Inquiry Question paper. I feel like I will have

trouble with the Inquiry paper. I have never been good at researching and taking the information

I find and producing a paper. I had a broad inquiry question about the success and failure one

has with or without access to literacy. While at the library I decided to change my question. How

is literacy achieved in low income and poverty schools? I feel like this question better suits me

because I want to be an Elementary Education major, and this research could help me learn more

about literacy in low income schools. Also, I think there is a major gap between literacy in

higher income schools compared to lower income schools. I am ready to research this topic and

discover how to bridge the gap between low income, poverty schools and literacy. I feel like this

paper will be challenging for me. The only other major research paper I have done was for my

Senior Project paper. I am not as comfortable with a research paper as I am with just a writing

assignment on specific topic. I hope that with peer workshop my paper will have the help it

needs to change from a decent paper to an extremely informative and good research paper.

Overall, I believe that I have made major improvements on my writing this year. I

continue to keep improving and bettering my writing skills. By the end of this semester, I hope to

be comfortable with all types and styles of writing. I came into this class blind to all the different

writing styles and techniques. I not only have gained confidence in my writing but also

knowledge about writing. I feel that this class has and is continuing to prepare me for the future

writing I will be faced with as I continue with my college career.