Entry #5

Up to this point, I have written two pages of Project 1. My writing does go onto the third page, but only by a few lines. However, I do know where I am going with the remaining two pages as I plan to address more of the economic aspects of having English as the official language of the United States. As for my progress in the writing process, I have already completed the thesis creation step and planning. I now am in the drafting stage as I write my paper and prepare it for peer editing. I think this progress is very appropriate as I am following the guidelines, and due dates, set forward for this project. In addition, I normally begin my drafting the night before the paper is due, so this progress is very appropriate compared to my normal writing process. The only thing I am confused about for this project is do I cite the casebook articles as works from an anthology or something. To help answer this, I can ask Professor Holmes, as well as possibly someone else from the class. I plan to continue explaining the different motivators for the push for a national language as well as finishing the rough draft as early as possible, not at 4:30 in the morning the day it is due, which should not be too hard to avoid considering I am already halfway finished. This is also my writing goals for Project 1.

Entry #4

I think the first passage, "Seeing the Forest FOR the Trees", is an example of personal writing. This is because the author provides a personal prospective of the trip to Guatemala. It also addresses more the issue itself, as well serves the purpose of giving information through descriptive details that cause the reader to experience the trip to Guatemala and formation of the NGO. Finally, it also shows why the experience had such a influence on the writer. I think the second passage is an example of academic writing because it focuses on one particular issue--voting in the 2000 election. Furthermore, it provides a thesis and then gives statistics about the question, which is relevant to the issue. The third passage is an example of public writing because the writer takes an informed stance on the novel. Furthermore, the writer includes information that help the reader comprehend that the writer changed her views.
I believe it is important to know the context and purpose of a piece of writing because it will allow writers to know what type of diction and tone to use for a specific audience and subject. This is also a way to determine what type of writing a piece is: look at the tone and diction that the author employs to determine whether its personal, public, or academic.

Entry #3

I believe my writing skills are not excellent, but they are not terrible either. The majority of the writings, which are normally only for academic assignments, receive B's or A's. Therefore, my writing, so I think, is not that terrible. Of course, I am sure that my writing could improve, and I think it would be in the technical side of writing. Therefore, my writing goals for this semester are to strengthen my academic writing by taking more time to write my papers instead of starting them at 10:30 the night before its due. This causes me not to have any time for revision or editing, which means I am not getting the grade I possibly could receive. Thus, another goal would be to learn more about the writing process so that I could give myself more time to follow the steps, at least roughly anyway. A personal goal would be to overcome my procrastination that causes me to start my writings so late, which causes me to forgo the writing process and skip just to writing, and how to conduct better research.

Entry #2

I believe that Elon requires all students to take English 110 College Writing because it offers students the opportunity to receive instruction on how Elon likes it students to write. By taking this course, students can also learn, and practice, the writing process, which will hopefully make writing seem less daunting and challenging. Hopefully, by taking English 110, students will also know how to make their writing stronger and better through guidance by the writing professor. In addition, this course can provide the basis for academic writing at Elon. The goal of Elon to train global citizens also can be furthered through English 110 in that if one's writing is strong, it can bring about great change in the world. However, if English 110 was not required by Elon, I do not think I would take it because I have had a great amount of experience with writing, and I have written many papers here at Elon. I also would rather focus on grammar and structure than the writing process, as those tend to be my weaknesses as a writer.

Entry #1

A previous writing experience that has influenced me is the multiple writing assignments that I had to complete while taking AP English Literature and Composition. These many writing assignments helped not only with my writing resume, but they provided experience for me. Prior to taking this class, I normally only wrote anywhere between three and four pieces during the school year. However, AP Lit caused me to have more writing beyond the normal final papers for classes. I normally had a 2-4 page paper due every two weeks, on average. Therefore, my writing skills increased as I learned to employ grammer properly and how my message could be written much more clearly and effectivly. This has changed me as a writer in the fact that my writing skills, in my opinion, and by my grades, have become better. I believe this because I got practice in the writing process of planning, writing, and editing as well as writing enough that it is not a major ordeal to write a paper. Hopefully, the skills I learned from these assignments will help me in my academic writing because I know how to write properly, or so I hope, and that I will learn even more writing skills to make my writing stronger and better. I also plan to begin writing earlier so that I have more time to revise and edit as many of my writings were done the night before and received poor grades on grammer and structure.

About Me

1. I am probably majoring in Biology with a minor in English.
2. I am from Canton, GA, which is north of Atlanta.
3. I have many favorite foods, but hamburgers are up there.
4. My favorite book or magazine is probably Paste because it's about music and includes a free sample CD.
5. I enjoy surfing the Internet, and wasting time, or playing sports. I also enjoying hanging out at the Georgia Aquarium during my free time at home.
6. I would like to travel to England and Australia.
7. In line with the food, I have many favorite movies, which would require a long list here so I'll spare you.
8 I have lived in Germany for a little over a month when I was seven.