Andrew Smeathers
Exploratory Studies
12/5/11
First Semester Classes
EN-101
Andrew Smeathers
EN-101
Dr. Campbell
December 5, 2011
Reflective Essay
Coming to Butler University was nerve racking. Also hearing about all of the essays we were
going to write made me feel sick. I was not a great writer in high school so on the first day of EN-101 I
was scared. Writing is easily my worst subject. Throughout all of high school I never really was
pressured to write a good paper, but I knew I would be at Butler. The hardest thing for me to do while
writing is to start the paper. Even once I thought I had it figured out I did not like it and would change
the whole beginning. EN-101 has helped me become a much stronger writer in general. The first couple
of essays were very difficult for me to write. As the semester grew longer the papers became easier. All of
the chapters in St. Martins Writing Guide were very helpful. The way each reading related directly to
what we were writing that week made it easy for me find ideas and examples to work from. Reading the
chapters gave me confidence for the paper I was writing because it was if I had someone walking me
through the paper. Other than the book were a couple of other things that helped me improve so much.
One was my professor, Dr. Campbell, and the weekly meetings we would have to discuss ideas. Also going
to the writers studio every week was very helpful because the students there would individually help me
work on my paper. Being able to talk to someone who had never seen my essay was nice because it aloud
me to look at the paper in a different view. It opened my eyes to changes that should be made and now I
am able to find those problems I used to skip over in the beginning. From the beginning of EN-101 I have
improved tremendously in the development, thesis, and sentence structure in all of my essays. It is safe to
say that my writing has improved drastically from my first essay to my last.
Over the entire semester I only had one failing mark throughout all of my papers. The one thing
I failed on was the development of the story. In this essay we were to read “The Use Of Force” which is a
short story that talks about a doctor from the 1900’s who struggles with diagnosing a young girl. He
goes on to physically harm the young child and the paper was to tell if we agreed with what the doctor
did or if we disagreed with his actions. I gave my original idea but then I never went into details about
why I believed this to be true. Also I only had one quote in the first version of the paper. That was not
acceptable because I had no development of the story and why I thought the doctor did the right thing. I
was scared that I was going to overdue talking about the same issue over and over when that is what I
needed to do to get my point across. In my final edition of the paper I added multiple quotes including a
large block quote in the middle of my paper. There are two sentences in the block quote that helped
make my final essay complete. “But I have seen at least two children lying dead in bed of neglect in such
cases, and feeling that I must get a diagnosis now or never I went at it again. But the worst of it was that
I too had got beyond reason” (Essay 9 Draft 2 Pg 2). With this quote in my new paper I was able to build
a strong case for why I thought the doctor did the right thing. Also I was able to have an arguing
statement that looked at an opposing view, which helped my development be meaningful. I focused on
being more specific and having lots more details in my second essay and that helped bring all of my
ideas to the paper and make a better essay.
A major part in any paper that we wrote was having a great thesis statement. In my second
paper I wrote about my most influential person I had little to no thesis statement in the first draft. It was
simply “My father, Jeff Smeathers, has helped mold me into who I am today” (Essay 2 Draft 1 Pg 1). I was
not specific in my thesis and that was a reoccurring problem I had most of the semester. Knowing that I
focused on being more specific and actually telling the reader how he impacted my life. “My father, Jeff
Smeathers, has helped mold me into who I am today. I am now a hard working individual who strives to
make the most out of every opportunity I am given. Also, I am lucky to have the same drive and
determination as my father” (Essay 2 Draft 2 Pg 1). Not only is this a much better thesis statement but
also it helps me lead into what I will be talking about in the rest of the paper. It is a way of
foreshadowing what I will talk about later on which helps make my paper so much better than the
original copy.
Another thing I struggled with when writing my essays was sentence structure. Having bad
sentence structure can completely ruin a good paper. After revising by paper over Tattoos it was
obvious I made many mistakes that caused the paper to read horribly. In my first essay I used the
sentence “So it makes sense to get one that you believe in because you will see it 24/7” (Essay 8 Draft 1
Pg 2). This sentence just sounds bad and I used a phrase instead of actually saying all the time. In my
revised essay I turned this sentence into this, “It makes sense to get one that you believe in because
everyone will be able to see it constantly” (Essay 8 Draft 2 Pg 2). This sentence flows with the rest of my
paper so much better than the original. Going back and looking over my old paper helped me find many
little mistakes like this that compounded to make a terrible paper. After the revision the paper was
much easier to read and made more sense.
Since I have taken the time and used all of my resources I have improved drastically in writing
papers. I have learned the basics to the development of papers, the purpose of a great thesis, and how
sentence structure effects. When I took my time and did not rush through papers I found it was much
easier to type them. From the beginning of the class to the end the papers went from being a negative
part of my week to something I enjoyed to do because I was getting better at them. The best part about
the class EN-101 was seeing my progression throughout the semester. I have become a better writer in
all aspects. The main thing I will take away from this class is to take my time and think things through
and to always be specific. The more details in the paper the better. Writing is about painting a picture
for all to see and if you are not specific or detailed you can never fully paint that picture.
I chose this essay because it was our final one we did. It talks about how my
writing skills have increased over the year. It was a great class for me because it
allowed me to work on my writing every single day which I needed because before
college I was not very good at writing. Now I am very confident in my work and I
know I can write a great essay.
Intro to the profession of teaching
My Teaching Philosophy
I want every kid to feel comfortable and want to learn. My
goal as a teacher is to connect with the children every day. I
want every kid to learn something new every time they leave
the classroom. The classroom should become a community
where every kid is equal. No one kid is better than anyone
else. I want kids to feel prepared for their next step in life. I
want them to not only grow academically but to grow as a
person. To be ready to take on any challenge that presents
itself.
I chose this project because it shows what I learned about myself in the class. The
point of the class was to find out about being a teacher and if we want to become
one. We went on many field visits to different schools which really helped me find
out that I would want to be a teacher and that I could see this as my major. This is
my teaching philosophy as of right now and over the years it will continue to evolve
into a much more thorough document talking about what I think education means to
me.
FYS Seriously Funny
My Definition For Satire
Satire is the use of words or actions to make a point. Satire focuses on the use of
sarcasm and irony to talk about a specific subject (Nordquist). The use of rhetorical
devices is used to point out the vices of people’s actions (Matz). Satire is used to poke
fun at serious things in a funny manner (Define). Satire is used in many cases to make
fun of a certain group or thing and to point out their flaws. The use of ridicule and
harsh comments to make fun of things in a meaningful way is what satire is all about
(Definition)
I really enjoy my fys class it is very fun and exciting. It is not like any class I
have ever taken before. We have written 2 major essays and done one digital satire
project. My digital satire project was very good and this is my definition of satire
that I based my video off of. We made a video on how ross hall was such an
awesome place to live when in reality it is an awful place to live. It turned out very
good and I am proud of my work.
Sports in Society Social World Class
Current Event Sports Reactions #2
Play through the pain is one phrase that nearly all athletes have heard at least
once in their career. At one time is that a bad thing. Tony Romo, the quarter back for
the Dallas Cowboys, recently sustained a fractured rib and a punctured lung in his last
game vs. the Washington Redskins. This raises the question of how much deviance is
there truly in sports? When is the injury to severe to play through?
Having a fractured rib is usually not a threatening injury. It just takes time to
heal and there are no real risks involved. When you play a contact sport such as
football like Tony Romo does you should not play through the pain because there is
such a good possibility to reinjure it.
The punctured lung is a severe injury. No one in their right mind should try and
play through a punctured lung for there is no real way of diagnosing what exactly is
wrong. Also there is no way to protect the lung/rib area during a game. So with the
combination of both Tony should not be playing. Still, the Cowboy’s coaching staff,
players and Tony Romo himself still talk about him starting the game this coming
weekend.
Today athletes will stop at nothing to try and make an impact on their team.
They are willing to sacrifice their own body for a couple of games. To me that is not
right. He should focus on fully recovering and then making a comeback when he is one
hundred percent. There is no point in going out there on Sunday and risking either a
new injury or making the current injury worse. It just does not make sense to me to
make that type of irrational decision. He should take the week off, fully heal, and then
make his comeback in two weeks when he is perfectly fine and feels perfect.
This class was one that I am very happy I took. It was all about the different
aspects of sports and how they affect the whole world as a society. I learned so
much in this class that I have never thought about. The main thing I learned was
that everything comes back to how we were raised. This essay is one of the current
events essay we would write that talks about a recent sports article and how it was
like what we talked about in class. It was fun for me to write about sports because it
is easy and I enjoyed doing it. I got a perfect score on all of them.
Intro to computers in education
Butler University
4627 46th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46260
October 24, 2011
Xxx
Xxx
Xxx
Dear xxx xxx:
On November 21st the school will be hosting a family fun night. This will be a night
of fun and games. Each class will be putting on a different show for all the parents to
watch. I am hoping that the entire xxx family will be able to make it to this event. I
know that xxx will be looking forward to everyone attending. You do not need to
bring anything for the family fun night, it is all provided for by Butler University.
I look forward to seeing you all on November 21st.
Sincerely,
Andrew Smeathers, Butler University Teacher
This letter is one that we created that can be edited with three clicks to have every
kids name and parents name and addresses in the document. It was one thing that
we created that I actually enjoyed because it is so practical for real life use whether I
become a teacher or not I may have to use this talent that I have now perfected. This
class was fun because I learned just how much technology is incorporated in
learning today which surprised me.