By:- Kenny Joseph
In this course; English 110, I was able to grow as a thinker,researcher and a writer more than ever before in my life. While doing the multiple assignments given to me I was gaining more experience in multiple aspects of the English language throughout this semester and was able to further hone my skills in writing and thinking.Other than just getting better at writing I also able to study more about English and was able to:-
Examine how attitudes towards linguistic standards empower and oppress language users. The stories of Amy Tan and Safwat Saleem told stories of how they were judged and discriminated against due their accents and how they were deemed less intelligent than others who were fluent in English. This experience was also very similar to mine and how I was treated when I came to America and was not fluent in English compared to others who were in America. This was also true for my family members who even now often ask me to do the “talking” as they think they will not be taken seriously due to their accent. “One of the most meaningful insights I have obtained from this phase is the societal norm of having a “standard English” and how society has set a standard for language and people are expected to follow that norm no matter their background.” This was a line taken from my written Language and literacy narrative’s cover letter which resonated the most with me when I think about the “1st phase” of Freshman composition this semester. I have been trying to implement what I understood from this lesson in my writings ever since.
Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations. Before this lesson writing was not something I ever put much thought into. I used to put whatever came into my mind on paper and used to think that was enough, without even thinking about the people reading this assignment. The phase 2 assignments and lessons allowed me to learn more about writing and how to engage my reader. And one of the most important and easiest strategies I learned was humor which I had always been including in my writing without even thinking about it. After this phase I was able to put more thought into it and was able to know where to use it and where not to. The phase 2 lessons of rhetoric were not as important to me compared to the assignment. “After spending this much time in college with him I thought I knew him pretty well, till the start of this assignment when I finally asked him about his experiences and came to know about how many challenges he faced after coming to America and how similar our experiences and backgrounds this assignment let us connect with each other more. “ This was what I said about what the most important part of phase 2 assignment for me was. The assignment allowed me to get closer to my friend and also know more about and know the similarities in the experiences we have had in America and connect more with each other based off of it.
Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing.I don’t have a specific method. Even if I can fully immerse myself in the story with this method, I learned that using more active reading techniques could improve my understanding of the content. Strategies like taking notes or summarizing the information helped me complete my work easily. I was especially able to utilize this method for my phase 3 assignment where I needed to get as much information as possible and also had to analyze that information.
Drafting: I usually just write down my ideas without going through the drafting stage. Although this free-form method catches the essence of ideas, I admit that a drafting process might enhance the overall coherence and organization of my work. TBut drafting never felt right to me. Whenever I make a draft for something related to myself or contain my own understanding of something. I always feel like by the end the work was not able to capture my true thoughts and emotions about the topic I was writing about.
Working together: I’m naturally good at interacting with people and building relationships in group environments. Due to this I was able to complete my work without any problem with the multiple groups I was assigned to this semester. Like my experiences with Rokun and Ayoub whom I was able to become closer with due to being put in a random group.
Recognize and Practice:- Something I had always noticed ever since a very young age was how people react to humor and how somebody would be more interested in what we’re saying if you made them laugh and even without knowing humor was something that was part of my daily life I would use it wherever I can and also in high school every time I had a presentation in any of my classes I would always try to add humor in it. It is now I realize that humor was considered a rhetorical strategy and there were other ways to people interested in what you are writing/saying other than humor with each of them tailored toward what you are writing. Ever since learning that I have been trying to practice other forms of rhetorical strategies in writing other than humor.
Revision: At the moment, I don’t follow a set procedure for editing my writing. And the only editing I do was based off of the comments my peers and teachers give me as I think the reviews from my audience is the best for fixing my work rather than doing it myself and not because I’m lazy.
It was during phase 3 I learned one of the most important lessons this semester. “I was Able to learn that everything has a place of its own and that i don’t have to force myself to use the other forms of English and that everything has a place of its own.Which is why I am writing this cover letter in “My English” which I had gained from the countless interacting and experiences I had.” Phase 3 was a research paper which I had to write in the standard English and no matter how many times I tried I was not able to incorporate “my” English into it. I’m not sure if it’s because I had always been using the”standard” English for all the research papers I wrote previous to this or if it was because I felt like it didn’t fit in there. I learned Everything has a place of its own and I don’t have to force it. Based on my experiences with writing I realized that “my” English will flow out by itself wherever it seems like it belongs.
And Finally I will use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences. I will be uploading all of my work into my wordpress website which I made public so that others can read them and can see the experiences I have had so far as a freshman in English 110.
