My English 101 Experience

Through the past 16 weeks I have learned a lot from taking english 101 with Mrs. Norris. Writing my reflective narrative was quite the adventure. I was torn at first on what I wanted to write about, and what I would be able to write. To give that much idea about that would result in 15 pages isn't the easiest thing. But it made me go into detail with the situation I was going through and really let the reader live through it. 

I started with a few different topics I thought would be interesting. My number one choice was the pandemic and how that has affected me. My second choice was going to be able to travel everywhere I have traveled in my lifetime and how the cultures were different in each different country. The main ideas of the topics never changed but the ideas and information I was going to share with each topic flexuated. The process that was most useful to me while writing this paper was doing each individual source and the different writing prompt I received. These prompts made it a lot easier for me not to get lost in my ideas and be able to put them on paper. 

What surprised me most about this writing process was how much information I did have about my topic that I didn't even know about. What also shocked me was how good my paper all flowed together due to me using the prompts Mrs. Norris had given me. I definitely think the narrative process brought me into a deeper understanding of the pandemic. I also learned so much valuable information on the pandemic that I did not know before starting to write it. The paragraph in my essay that illustrates a deeper understanding is the second paragraph. It really goes into detail about how my morning everything changed. And makes the reader feel as if they are going through it. 

After evaluating my performance in this course over the semester I can say I really gave it my all. I finished with a grade that reflects that also.  The ten question self evaluation is really what gave my narrative intense detail. It made me think outside the box on how I was feeling about my narrative topic and also put more things into perspective. Writing and performance criteria was a good guide on where I was supposed to be and what topic should be shared at different times. The writing criteria that matched my skills were attendance and quality. Showing up every day to class and being full attentive helped me learn so much. The quality skill criteria I followed helped me so much on achieving a good grade in the class. Always making sure my work was as good as I could do it and learning ways to make it better benefited me greatly. 

The writing criteria that matched my skills was structure. Before my paper was even written I made sure to have it all laid out so when I was ready to go and and start putting it together in my paper it would all run smoothly. I especially paid attention to this with my sources. Making sure the paragraph before and after the source ran smooth made for a good paper. In performance criteria balance was definitely my strongest suit. I was actually surprised about this because I usually struggle with staying organized and being able to keep on track but with the rubric and different outlines I was given, typing my personal narrative was a breeze. 

Some areas I improved in with my writing was like I said, staying organized and not getting lost in my thoughts. Formatting my essay before just going all in and typing what's on my mind has benefited me so greatly. That is something I will continue to use the rest of my life when writing papers so I'm very grateful for it. Areas I could have performed more strongly at is not procrastinating. I always was kinda in a time crunch when having to turn in assignments on time. Doesn't help that this semester was so crazy and unprincipled. But I made it through and always turned in everything on time.

Three causes of success in this class I have learned from this class is, I can do anything if I just put the effort in, this includes writing a 15 page paper which turned out to be 18 pages. Another thing I have succeeded with is using rubrics to write papers is a life saver. I do very well with them and it keeps me so organized and on topic. The last thing I have succeeded with from this class is to have fun with writing. During high school I stressed so much about writing papers and worrying if I would do okay. But this class has taught me to just have fun with it and I truly did enjoy writing my personal narrative. 

I will truly miss english 101 and can say I have never learned more in a class than this one. From the start of the semester being scared out of my mind that I was going to have to write a 15 page paper to now at the end having an 18 page paper full of detail and my story on what I am going through. It feels good to have accomplished that and will never forget this class.