When entering College Composition II, I had full intentions of doing well in this class. In past experiences I could never call myself a strong writer. However, I have always enjoyed making improvements with my writing. Not only because I gain a lot of new writing techniques through practice in the classroom within my past writing courses. In particular this course has taught me the importance in the use of grammar. My main issue with writing is my use of grammar because my thought process throughout my papers goes mainly into focusing on making sure all the components goes into my paper. Since my main focus is on the components of the paper my grammar already tends to fall victim to making sure the assignment is complete. In actually completing my assignments every time I would start an essay, I would tend to be less hesitant, and jump right into a paper with doing the proper research or pre-writing exercises. After being in College Composition  II, I have realized the importance of developing a well written essay, by doing strategic research on my topic, and providing specific examples that are relative towards my ideas. Not only has this class help me throughout my semester, but it will also benefit my future writing assignments as well. Aspects of the course that I can specifically apply are: core values I, III,V, and VII, which will improve my organizational skills, arrangement of my ideas, as well as my developing language skills.

Core I: understand that writing is a multi- stage, recursive and social process

Core value I is one of the most important goals of writing. I have come to understand that writing is a multi-stage process, that consists of a continual cycle of feedback and revisions. Developing a paper, takes preparation especially if your paper is including research that will back up your thesis and ideas that are in your paper.  When writing my papers I went through multiple revisions and I asked for feedback from others to improve my papers.  An excellent example of this is my causal essay. When I handed in my rough draft I received several suggestion from my professor which helped me to improve my paper. Comments that I received back and forth on the blog are an example of the social process.  My professor gave me suggestions on how I could improve my paper; some of the revision were to fix my grammatical errors and also give an in-dept description of my subject matter.  Overall, I had the opportunity to receive feedback from my professor and complete multiple revisions until I produced the final product.

Core III: understanding how texts represent meaning and how the processes of writing and reading creates and interpret meaning.

I had to make an ongoing argument about whether or not “sleeping on it” is the most effective method when making an complex decision. I had to gather outside sources to provide answers for my argument. I also found sources that gathered opinions of how sleeping on it is the most effective way and who were some important leaders who had to employ this method. I also found other sources which prove state alternative methods of decisions making that also could be effective.

Core V: understanding the role and use of information in writing

This semester I have learned when researching a counterintuitive topic, it is very important to find reliable sources which can support your argument. I have experience this first hand while researching my topic on different methods that an individual can use while making a decision. It was very difficult when trying to find sources that could support my argument. However, by using Google scholar I was able to narrow down my sources and to obtain the appropriate sources that would fit into my paper.

Core VII: understanding the power and ethical responsibility that comes with the creation of written discourse.

As I mentioned in core value V, I wanted to obtain sources for my counterintuitive topic, so I could support my argument.  This adds different voices into my argument because it creates a debate that is essential to support my position in my paper. In addition, I made sure that I gather sufficient information to give all my sources credit for all information I obtained.

Recollecting on these core values, I benefited immensely by using them while revising my essays. I depended on the core values in the majority of my writing because it reminded me the importance of receiving feedback, and helped me gain another perspective on my writing assignments.  Novel ideas are needed for every essay, especially after the first draft. Having these set values has given me organizational skills and has helped me to correct my grammatical errors.