What did I learn about writing this semester?

English is not an easy subject for me. I had taken some ESL classes before I took this course. When I took this course, I thought it would be a tough level for me. However, when I saw Professor Alexander, I felt less nervous because he was my teacher in my ESL class. When students needed help, he came to help and explained until students understood it. Moreover, I learned a lot from this class such as critical thinking, reading and writing. Also, I learned how to understand about writer’s argument and respond to the ideas of others. I learned about making a “Blog” and how to post my essays on the “Blog”. Now I believe that I can write a better essay compared to the past.

Our first-class assignment was about Bryant park trip. I thought that it would be an easy essay. However, when I started to write, I found difficulty. This assignment was not as easy as I thought. Describing people and a pigeon was the hard job for me. I just wrote what information I gathered at Bryant Park. However, when the teacher made a comment on my essay, I understood what mistake I made. For example, he said that I should focus on the order in which I presented my details, and on the language I used in presenting them. Also, he mentioned about focusing on “timing” because this essay was partly about “timing".  Therefore, I wrote my article again, and I found that it was much better than the previous one.

Our second assignment was “unpacking a quotation”.  If I said honestly, it was the toughest essay I ever wrote in my life. However, the teacher gave us information about how to use quotation and paraphrase. For example, he told us that we had to give credit to the principal writer or source when we would use someone’s idea. Moreover, he gave details about differences between quotation and paraphrase. He said that a quotation is to “borrow language from another writer exact word and give credit by stating author’s name." Moreover, paraphrase is to “borrow ideas from another putting them in your own words.”   Also, he explained to us about exploring how literacy works. Therefore, I was able to write a quotation that was from “Yellow Wallpaper”. For example, I wrote about what the particular image of “two bulbous eyes” does. I explained that the wallpaper disturbs the narrator and draws her into the paper as if drawing her deeper into her mental illness.

Our third assignment was to research from college library website, and the topic was about any animal that we chose. It was tougher than the previous two essays. I did not know how to research in the library website. However, Professor Alexander helped me a lot how to find sources about my topic which I chose and how to write about it. Finally, I was able to find sources from the library website.  Also, I learned how to research and how to write an essay based on researching.

I would say that I learned a lot from this class “English 101". Mainly, I learned about academic essay writing.  Professor Alexander and other students also were helpful. They gave feedback on my writing, and I learned how I could develop my essay in a better way. I hope that I would do better in my next English class. Moreover, I am thankful for my professor and my classmates who always help me a lot.