Considering that this is my first academic semester in six years, English 111, has been insightful. My professor forced me to rely on self-reliance and also forced me to use the Internet and blackboard way more than I thought was necessary. But, since this is a post-reflection, in retrospect I value the self-reliance and computer savvy that I learned during this course.
I have learned through English 111, taught at Tidewater Community College, the use of rhetorical appeals, which are egos, pathos and logos. I have also slightly improved my grammar and formatting, although it still has a wide margin for further improvement. The wheels that were forced to turn in my head during this last semester were important ones as opposed to the few wheels that were turning prior to this semester. It has me thinking way more academically about myself and about other views on anything. Some of the text that we have gone over in class and using peer review have also helped me judge myself in relation to my peers and lets me know that I am not as far off academically as I thought I was prior to this semester. English 111 is by far my favorite class out of the three classes I’m taking this semester. When comparing it to Math III and ITE 115 that might not be saying much, but at least it’s something.
I actually enjoy writing, even when confined to certain guidelines, topics and formats. I have learned that to hone your skills as a writer you must have these confinements to explore yourself in your writing capacity. By far, my favorite assignment was the argument essay, which involved the most research, or quite possibly the only research out of all the assignments, but I have never felt so clueless about a topic in the beginning of the assignment and by the end felt so knowledgeable on the truly dynamic and complex topic that I chose, which was the auto bailout. Conducting two interviews which were suggested for the research on your topic was the slingshot that catapulted me into my argument paper and is probably the reason why I went about 11 minutes longer than I should have in my PowerPoint presentation.
Professionally speaking, I see myself in the future as a thorough researcher and at the same time open to many viewpoints on a particular topic. I know I may not have displayed this throughout my total argument essay, but it certainly gave me a tool which will enable me to acquire this trait in the future, combined with more English classes and more assignments.
I have to also say that ever since I can remember, I have been a last-minute kind of a person, and I have not changed my standpoint on that position about myself, even though the last-minute thing probably hindered my grades in some respect. As a matter of fact, I did not sleep a wink last night due to my preparation of my PowerPoint presentation that was presented today, and maybe in the future I will be more prepared for a final due date than I have been in this class, but for now I am just excited to be excited about writing.
From the moment I saw my professor for English 111, all I could think about was that dude looks like Seth Rogan, but coming to an end of his class I feel like I could talk to him like a peer and he would give me the answers in return like a peer but also with an academic authority which is needed to be seen as a respected professor on a college campus.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Diagnostic Essays
English 111-23
Original Diagnostic Essay
Eighteen years old, a year out of high school and working in a chainsaw factory with the feeling of old age coming at me at an exponential rate. I was grateful to have the job I had at the steel factory on Lynnhaven Parkway. It was a good job with good benefits and decent pay. Having the fresh new title of adult wasn’t really panning out the way I thought it would. I wasn’t ready for school just yet, I had some exploring to do, and it just so happened I have family on the west coast of Sweden.
At about the same age, my dad had gone to Sweden to see where his father nad mother were from and lived there for a few months. So, when I told him I wanted to go to Sweden and work on the charter sailboat that Lars Eric operated, he was more than happy to make it happen. Lars Eric was a longtime good friend of the family and Bertol was a cousin. Bertol was looking forward to having me come live with him. Ina bout three weeks from mentioning it to my dad, I was sitting on a plane thinking about how I never wanted to put an orange logo’d weedeater in a box again.
On my last flight of the trip there, I went through every emotion possible to feel, granted that was the third time I ahd been there but it was the first time I had gone by myself and with intentions of living there. The wheels of the plane touched down and I was there, one of the best feelings I ever felt. Bertol’s wife, Corinna, picked me up from the airport, her English being very little and my Swedish being a lot less, the hour long ride to Kladesholmen was comforting to know I was among family and friends even without so many words. From the time I got there until the time I left I was meeting family that knew me but I didn’t know them. I was amazed at how much connection and close ancestry I had to the country. I got to celebrate my 19th birthday with my Swedish side in Sweden.
I started working on the Hamlet a week after I got there. I was definitely ready to work and learn aboard a 75-foot, two-masted schooner. Lars Eric knew me from when I was a kid, but working for him and getting to know him and his family was one of the best parts of the trip. My second cousin Victor lived two minutes walking away from Bertol and me and he was my age so we hung out all the time. The charters I took on the Hamlet were some really good times, too. Most of them being three to five days long, we would go to destinations anywhere from two hours to ten hours away.
I never thought that I would fly 18 hours over the Atlantic and stay for three months, have a job and everyone around made me feel like I was 18 minutes from my home. I was fortunate enough to be able to meet family with the same blood running through our veins with accents and delicious food and completely different perspectives on certain ways of life. I will definitely go back sometime soon; that summer I spent in Sweden exposed my family tree roots and it will stay with me forever.
Revised Diagnostic Essay
When I was 18 years old, a year out of high school and working in a chainsaw factory with the feeling of old age coming at me at an exponential rate, I was grateful to have a job at the Stihl factory on Lynnhaven Parkway. It was a good job with good benefits and decent pay. Having the fresh new title of adult wasn’t really panning out like I thought it would. I wasn’t ready for school just yet, I had some exploring to do, and it just so happened I have family on the west coast of Sweden.
At about the same age, my dad had gone to Sweden to see where his father nad mother were from and lived there for a few months. So, when I told him I wanted to go to Sweden and work on the charter sailboat that Lars Eric operated, he was more than happy to make it happen. Lars Eric was a longtime good friend of the family and Bertol was a cousin. Bertol was looking forward to having me come live with him. Ina bout three weeks from mentioning it to my dad, I was sitting on a plane thinking about how I never wanted to put an orange weedeater in a box again. I worked at the end of the assembly line for the weedeaters in the packing department.
On my last flight of the trip there, I went through every emotion possible to feel, granted that was the third time I ahd been there but it was the first time I had gone by myself and with intentions of living there. The wheels of the plane touched down and I was there, one of the best and worst feelings I ever felt at the same time. Bertol’s wife, Corinna, picked me up from the airport, her English being very little and my Swedish being a lot less, the hour long ride to Kladesholmen was comforting even with the lack of communication, just to know I was among family and friends. From the time I got there until the time I left I was meeting family and friends that knew me but I could not return the familiarity. I was amazed at how much connection and close ancestry I had to the country. I got to celebrate my 19th birthday with my Swedish side in Sweden.
I started working on the Hamlet a week after I got there. I was definitely ready to work and learn aboard a 75-foot, two-masted schooner. Lars Eric knew me from when I was a kid, but working for him and getting to know him and his family was one of the best parts of the trip. My second cousin Victor lived two minutes walking distance away from Bertol and me and he was my age so we hung out all the time. We went to the Archipelago off the coast and just hung out all day with his friends who in turn became my friends. Although I was traveling a lot on charters, Victor and I took a few day trips to various destinations on the west coast of Sweden. We went to Gothamberg many times, which is the nearest big city from Kladesholmen. We talked about going to Stockholm and to Oslo, Norway, but never made it. More importantly, we just hung out and got to exchange cultural information on the younger generation. The charters I took on the Hamlet were some really good times, too. Most of them were three to five days long, and we would go to destinations anywhere from two hours to ten hours away. On the charter trips we took, we entertained anyone from a company getaway charter to a wedding aboard the Hamlet. Actually I attended a second wedding while I was there, which was a picnic that turned into a surprise wedding for my cousin, Johan. The people being surprised were my cousin’s parents and most everybody else that attended the picnic.
I never thought that I would fly 18 hours over the Atlantic and stay for three months, have a job and everyone around made me feel like I was 18 minutes from my home. I was fortunate enough to be able to meet family with the same blood running through our veins. They had accents, delicious food and completely different perspectives on certain ways of life. The Swedish people are more uninhibited than the average American. The social acceptance of alcohol is more tolerable and maybe all this is because they live under a Socialist government, but nonetheless, the quality of life was more sought after and achieved through good times with good people than I had witnessed in America. I will definitely go back sometime soon; that summer I spent in Sweden exposed my family tree roots and it will stay with me forever.
Original Diagnostic Essay
Eighteen years old, a year out of high school and working in a chainsaw factory with the feeling of old age coming at me at an exponential rate. I was grateful to have the job I had at the steel factory on Lynnhaven Parkway. It was a good job with good benefits and decent pay. Having the fresh new title of adult wasn’t really panning out the way I thought it would. I wasn’t ready for school just yet, I had some exploring to do, and it just so happened I have family on the west coast of Sweden.
At about the same age, my dad had gone to Sweden to see where his father nad mother were from and lived there for a few months. So, when I told him I wanted to go to Sweden and work on the charter sailboat that Lars Eric operated, he was more than happy to make it happen. Lars Eric was a longtime good friend of the family and Bertol was a cousin. Bertol was looking forward to having me come live with him. Ina bout three weeks from mentioning it to my dad, I was sitting on a plane thinking about how I never wanted to put an orange logo’d weedeater in a box again.
On my last flight of the trip there, I went through every emotion possible to feel, granted that was the third time I ahd been there but it was the first time I had gone by myself and with intentions of living there. The wheels of the plane touched down and I was there, one of the best feelings I ever felt. Bertol’s wife, Corinna, picked me up from the airport, her English being very little and my Swedish being a lot less, the hour long ride to Kladesholmen was comforting to know I was among family and friends even without so many words. From the time I got there until the time I left I was meeting family that knew me but I didn’t know them. I was amazed at how much connection and close ancestry I had to the country. I got to celebrate my 19th birthday with my Swedish side in Sweden.
I started working on the Hamlet a week after I got there. I was definitely ready to work and learn aboard a 75-foot, two-masted schooner. Lars Eric knew me from when I was a kid, but working for him and getting to know him and his family was one of the best parts of the trip. My second cousin Victor lived two minutes walking away from Bertol and me and he was my age so we hung out all the time. The charters I took on the Hamlet were some really good times, too. Most of them being three to five days long, we would go to destinations anywhere from two hours to ten hours away.
I never thought that I would fly 18 hours over the Atlantic and stay for three months, have a job and everyone around made me feel like I was 18 minutes from my home. I was fortunate enough to be able to meet family with the same blood running through our veins with accents and delicious food and completely different perspectives on certain ways of life. I will definitely go back sometime soon; that summer I spent in Sweden exposed my family tree roots and it will stay with me forever.
Revised Diagnostic Essay
When I was 18 years old, a year out of high school and working in a chainsaw factory with the feeling of old age coming at me at an exponential rate, I was grateful to have a job at the Stihl factory on Lynnhaven Parkway. It was a good job with good benefits and decent pay. Having the fresh new title of adult wasn’t really panning out like I thought it would. I wasn’t ready for school just yet, I had some exploring to do, and it just so happened I have family on the west coast of Sweden.
At about the same age, my dad had gone to Sweden to see where his father nad mother were from and lived there for a few months. So, when I told him I wanted to go to Sweden and work on the charter sailboat that Lars Eric operated, he was more than happy to make it happen. Lars Eric was a longtime good friend of the family and Bertol was a cousin. Bertol was looking forward to having me come live with him. Ina bout three weeks from mentioning it to my dad, I was sitting on a plane thinking about how I never wanted to put an orange weedeater in a box again. I worked at the end of the assembly line for the weedeaters in the packing department.
On my last flight of the trip there, I went through every emotion possible to feel, granted that was the third time I ahd been there but it was the first time I had gone by myself and with intentions of living there. The wheels of the plane touched down and I was there, one of the best and worst feelings I ever felt at the same time. Bertol’s wife, Corinna, picked me up from the airport, her English being very little and my Swedish being a lot less, the hour long ride to Kladesholmen was comforting even with the lack of communication, just to know I was among family and friends. From the time I got there until the time I left I was meeting family and friends that knew me but I could not return the familiarity. I was amazed at how much connection and close ancestry I had to the country. I got to celebrate my 19th birthday with my Swedish side in Sweden.
I started working on the Hamlet a week after I got there. I was definitely ready to work and learn aboard a 75-foot, two-masted schooner. Lars Eric knew me from when I was a kid, but working for him and getting to know him and his family was one of the best parts of the trip. My second cousin Victor lived two minutes walking distance away from Bertol and me and he was my age so we hung out all the time. We went to the Archipelago off the coast and just hung out all day with his friends who in turn became my friends. Although I was traveling a lot on charters, Victor and I took a few day trips to various destinations on the west coast of Sweden. We went to Gothamberg many times, which is the nearest big city from Kladesholmen. We talked about going to Stockholm and to Oslo, Norway, but never made it. More importantly, we just hung out and got to exchange cultural information on the younger generation. The charters I took on the Hamlet were some really good times, too. Most of them were three to five days long, and we would go to destinations anywhere from two hours to ten hours away. On the charter trips we took, we entertained anyone from a company getaway charter to a wedding aboard the Hamlet. Actually I attended a second wedding while I was there, which was a picnic that turned into a surprise wedding for my cousin, Johan. The people being surprised were my cousin’s parents and most everybody else that attended the picnic.
I never thought that I would fly 18 hours over the Atlantic and stay for three months, have a job and everyone around made me feel like I was 18 minutes from my home. I was fortunate enough to be able to meet family with the same blood running through our veins. They had accents, delicious food and completely different perspectives on certain ways of life. The Swedish people are more uninhibited than the average American. The social acceptance of alcohol is more tolerable and maybe all this is because they live under a Socialist government, but nonetheless, the quality of life was more sought after and achieved through good times with good people than I had witnessed in America. I will definitely go back sometime soon; that summer I spent in Sweden exposed my family tree roots and it will stay with me forever.
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