My English 111 Experience
My English 111 Experience
Makeya Finger
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
My English 111 Experience
Abstract
My paper is mainly about my English 111 experience. Everything in my paper has what I learned
and what I have used to make me a successful student. The goal of this paper is to give you the
reader an overall understanding of the different techniques to writing an essay.
My English 111 Experience
My English 111 Experience
Introduction
My English 111 class has been a great experience. My instructor assigned the class an
English portfolio on a weebly website. The web portfolio has six pages, each explaining what we
learned and the assignments we completed on class. The weebly portfolio was a great way for
the class to learn the different parts to an essay. The website has an introduction page and the
other five pages explains the writing process, how to locate and utilize information, how to
respond to rhetorical situations, technology, and formatting and documenting.
The Writing Process
The very first thing I learned in my English 111 class was how to do an outline of an
essay. There is the box method and the list method. These were used to help plan out our essay. I
found both methods very useful and helpful. It’s highly important to plan before writing an essay
because it can help organize your ideas. Brainstorming can be used for any topic, even if you
know all there is to know about that topic it’s still good to organize and collect your thoughts
before writing an essay.
Locating And Utilizing Information
When writing an essay it is very important to collect information from different sources,
like a book or a website. My English 111 class got the chance to go on a scavenger hunt at the
library. The scavenger hunt helped students locate information by going online, finding a book,
and it also helped students find instructors in case they had any questions. The library is the best
place to go for information. There are books and computers for anyone to use. Whenever I need
information on a topic the first place I visit is the library so that I have everything I need.
Responding to Rhetorical Situations
Peer editing was a great way for the class to give feedback to other students and also
receive feedback. When someone reads your paper they have a whole different perspective and
understanding of it. This can be very helpful for someone who needs advice or fresh ideas for
their paper. Peer editing gave each student the chance to go back and make changes to their
paper while working toward their final essay. Everyone wants a successful paper and this
exercise can really help make that happen. I will be using peer editing in the future because I
love receiving feedback that will help me become a more successful student.
My English 111 Experience
Writing Portfolio and Technology
This portfolio was a great way for the class to elaborate on the lessons we were taught in
class. All of our assignments and what we learned went into the English Portfolio. The first paper
I wrote in my English 111 class was a Narrative paper. This paper was about the one thing I
believed in. We was allowed to choose from anything that we believed in and put it into our
paper. The second paper I wrote was a Position essay. It was more of a persuasive essay because
we had to use facts and also our own opinions to convince the reader to take a stand on things
that were happening in our world today for an example ending hunger.
Technology played a big role in my English 111 class. We used our cellphones to take
pictures for our weebly websites and we also got the opportunity to receive text alerts which
were reminders on assignments that were due for the next class.
We used the computer a lot in class and also outside of class. The computer was the main
piece of technology in my English 111 class. We completed most of our assignments online and
submitted our assignments online. Assignments and notes online was a great idea because even if
a student missed a class that student could go online get the information and have it due for next
class.
Formatting and Documentation
An essay has many format options but the two we used in class was the MLA format and
the APA format. MLA formatting is a very simple layout. APA formatting is a more complex
layout but once you know the difference between the two and how to use them it becomes very
easy.
Citations should always be included in a paper, if there is information from a different
source put into the essay. They will be found on the last page of an essay and after every phrase
or quote that was included in the paper. If citations fail to appear in the essay the writer will be
blamed for plagiarism.
Plagiarism is when the writer steals information from a source, then take credit for that
information. So always cite an essay. Even if you reword a phrase, fact, or quote it can still be
looked at as plagiarism because you took that information and used it in your essay without
given credit back to that source you got it from.
Conclusion
My English 111 Experience
I learned so much in my English 111 class and I enjoyed being here. This was a great
experience and I have improved on my writing and planning skills. I’m more organized and
planning my paper isn’t stressful anymore. These were great techniques and I will be using these
techniques in my future.