My Improvements Made Throughout Project 1
According to CampusNews, current college freshmen spent a significant portion of their high school years dealing with COVID-related disruptions… students are now struggling to handle the rigorous academic demands of higher education. I initially felt unprepared, but Writing 110 has helped me grow and feel more academically confident.
Throughout Project 1, I have improved my questioning, comprehension, and annotating skills. Reading Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkensteins They Say/I Say, I learned new annotation strategies, such as highlighting main ideas, summarizing in the margins, and circling important words. and question texts (see figures 1-3). I found new ways to annotate and take notes that benefit me. For example, Figures 1-3 display my strategies for annotating. Before Writing 110, I highlighted randomly and had small notes in the margins. Now, practicing annotating for homework and in-class activities, I have found the most effective ways to approach the text. These refined skills have helped me comprehend texts, respond thoroughly in reflections, and apply these methods to other classes, strengthening my understanding of those topics.
In my argumentative paper, incorporating The Empathy Diaires by Sherry Turkle and If we dont have our voice, what do we have? by Liana Yadav, I made vast improvements in text integration and development of claims that have allowed me to strengthen my own opinions and communicate them clearly through summarizing and connecting back to my ideas. I used quotes from both papers for a counterargument and support my own opinion (see figure 4). In Figure 4, you can see that my use of quotes from Yadavs argument serves as a boost for my argument. I found quotes from both authors to craft my paper and personal voice. By quoting their words to back up my writing, it creates credibility and understanding for the reader. I have known how to quote and describe someone else’s writing, but in Writing 110, I have learned how to quote and summarize someones writing to make it unique to me. I can reflect on the reading and summarize its points to create my argument and strengthen credibility.
Over my reading and writing experience in school, I have always been nervous to read aloud, and have read at a slower pace than most. Going into writing 110, I was nervous about the workload, along with the pace of assignments. I wasnt sure how I was going to keep up. Knowing this struggle, I created a plan that consists of starting my reading homework as early as it gets assigned, giving me time to annotate, comprehend, and reflect. I also read the reflection questions ahead of time to understand what I am reading. This helps me grow as a reader because I can take my time and fully understand the content to apply to my writings and reflections. Not only have I seen improvement in my comprehension, but my pace has been getting quicker.. With this comes more effective writing and responses to the reading. I feel more confident in my skills, not only in writing 110, but in other courses as well.
Overall, writing 110 has made me feel more confident in my academic skills. I can take what I learn in class and apply it to all my other courses at UNE.

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