Before the start
of the semester, I did not know what to expect in English 13. From What I heard
of from other students, it is a very tiring class full of writing activities
and assignments. On the first day, the teacher gave the whole class an overview
of what the subject is going to be like. Surprisingly, what the students said
were true and it was going to be a semester full of writing paragraphs and
essay. Despite the endless writing activities there were some significant
things that I learned from the class, which were the different techniques of
prewriting, the contents of a paragraph, and the structure of an essay.
First, there are
different techniques of prewriting. These are the list making, questioning,
clustering and freewriting. They help gather one’s thoughts before writing a
paragraph. Freewriting is writing sentences or phrases of anything that comes
into mind about a topic. For example, if the topic of the paragraph was about
why movie theaters are annoying, one can write about long lines, expensive
tickets and uncomfortable seats. Grammar, punctuation, or spelling should be
disregarded for the mean time and focus only on the topic and nothing else.
Another technique is list making, another way of collecting ideas by listing
details about a subject. It can be a phrase, a word, or a sentence. For
example, the topic is about the disadvantages of driving, one can write in
bullets about traffic jams, spending large amount for gas money, and
maintenance of the car.
Second, in a
paragraph there should be a topic sentence and three main supporting points
each with specific evidences. The topic sentence should have a limited topic
and the idea or attitude towards the topic. For example, a topic sentence can
be “Katie hates her car.” The limited topic was the car and the attitude
towards the car was that Katie hates it. The main supporting details are the
main reasons why Katie hates it and under the main reason should have specific
evidences. For instance, one main reason is that the car cannot be driven on a
rainy day. The specific evidence would be because the windshield wipers does
not work and Katie cannot see the road clearly when its raining. That is just
one example of what to put in a paragraph.
Lastly, the
structure of an essay consists of the introductory paragraph, the body, and the
concluding paragraph. The introductory paragraph should catch the reader’s
attention and should have the thesis statement and plan of development. The
plan of development is the list of the three main supporting points that
supports the thesis statement. The thesis statement is the overall point of the
essay. The body consists of three paragraphs where as each paragraph has its
own topic sentence and specific details. Then, the concluding paragraph should
summarize the main points of the essay and/or it should restate the thesis
statement and its main supporting points. For example, like this essay that I
am writing now.
Overall, my
experience in English 13 made me learn about paragraph and essay making. The things
that struck me the most was what to do first when writing a paragraph, what are
the contents that should be on the paragraph, and how an essay is supposed to
be written. This class made my writing skills better than before and it made me
realize of the common errors that I usually commit when writing essays in the
past. Now, with the knowledge that I have in writing I can assure to my
teachers and readers that I am a better writer.
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