English has always been one of my favorite subjects. Ironically, my favorite aspect of English has been its simplicity. It was not until taking Writing Workshop that I found the task of writing successful essays to be more complex than I had previously believed - and I've discovered that this complexity can add depth and quality to my work. This course has been a joy to be a part of while forcing me to focus on my writing skills. Throughout the course, I was able to recognize patterns in my writing style and learn to modify my writing in accordance with the criticism I have received. .
Since the first semester, my skills as a writer have improved as I made key improvements in proofreading. I've made an effort to use a multitude of English prefects as tools to proofread each of my written assignments. Additionally, I practice reading my writing aloud to recognize mistakes. I further honed my skills by pre-writing, writing a thesis statement, and becoming more conscious of the development of my essays. In retrospect, utilizing several methods of pre-writing has helped me perform better in my English class. Pre-writing gives me a stronger sense of what I am trying to say and helps me avoid getting so far off track I lose focus of my main arguments and any structure in the development of ideas. .
As I organized my writing portfolio, I saw that I'd unknowingly followed a theme of adversity and the need to overcome it. I introduced this theme when I wrote about my years as a young athlete anticipating the exhausting physical challenges and psychological frustrations of a wrestling match. My second piece maintained this theme as I shared a narrative from three perspectives: the moor, the monster, and myself. In the story, three roommates argue about the obsession one has with a girl. This argument escalates into a jealousy fueled rage, and eventually the girl is murdered. My third piece is focused on the difference between what is right and what is truly important in "The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn".