Michelle Toval

India Choquette

11/28/2022

Freshman Composition ENGL 11000 

When I first heard that I would be enrolled in freshman composition I had many mixed feelings. Two semesters ago I had already taken the class and failed it due to miscommunication with me and the professor. It was too late to drop out at the time and as I continued through the semester I felt less motivated to go. I saw no point of me even showing up to class as there was nothing I could do to push up my grade. I took a semester off after that as I was going through alot outside of the classroom and i didnt want to add any more stress. Coming in on the first day I realized that I didn’t know many people in the class even though we are all from the same early college program. Most of them were 1-2 years younger than me so off the bat I knew I wouldn’t talk much. Even though I had someone I knew, we arent that close but I didn’t mind.  My focus was to do the best I could this semester.

As the course progressed, the assignments that we have done have improved on my writing skills greatly. With my literacy and language essay named “not so alone this time” I have learned how to examine how attitudes towards linguistic standards empower and oppress language users. In my third paragraph in the “not so alone this time” essay i wrote, “Sitting in the back of the car as my mother and grandparent spoke to each other I had reality face me. I realized I didn’t have anyone to talk to. In previous trips I would always spend my time with cousins who also spoke English but now that they are not here, I had no one. Everyone around me only knows how to speak Spanish.” When thinking about what we have done during the course, I related my experience to Amy Tan’s mother’s experience when going to the doctors. When going to the doctors, the mother spoke “broken english”. The doctors didn’t understand what she was trying to say to them, and in a way they down at her. The mother  was hopeless as Amy Tan was not there to help her. As she had “broken English” and I had “broken Spanish”, our experiences were very different. 

For phase 2 my essay leaned towards composing texts that  integrate a stance with appropriate sources. In my essay “we need gun control” I sided with the fact that the possession of guns should not be given so freely especially with people under 21. I researched and found that “most school shootings were caused by 18-19 year olds.” anyone could have guessed the age range but the fact that they are allowed to have possession of it is wrong. Ofcorse seeing the other side of it some people possess guns to protect themselves and others. We can’t really tell if they are bad people until something happens. The different points of views helped me explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations. 

As we enter the 3rd phase with the research paper, obviously, a skill that I have developed was locating research sources in library databases, archives and on the internet. With my essay “baby formula shortage” i chose a topic that i didn’t know much about. I found the CCNY LIbrary very useful for my essay. When using news outlets, they gave me information on what the baby formula shortage was, why it happened, why it’s taking so long to go away and more. My end goal was to give as much information as possible for people who breastfeed and consider donating. As stated, “With the baby formula shortage, women who are able to breastfeed should consider donating to families. Parents are currently suffering trying to buy baby formula for their kids as many brands have gone out of stock.” When using a peer reviewed article from the CCNY Library, “Is the US infant formula shortage an avoidable crisis” it emphasizes the benefits of breastfeeding and how it can help change the situation. 

As I finish these 3 phases, my work isn’t done. This class has a lot of writing, and writing involves lots of drafting and editing. Developing strategies for reading, drafting and editing was able to improve my writing greatly. With receiving peer reviews from my classmates I was able to see many mistakes in my writing. From proper formatting to grammar. With this and more feedback from my professor I’ve made multiple drafts so that you can see the end results on my website along with this one. I’m glad I was able to push through this semester and was caught up with work. I’m also glad that I have learned new things and can take these things outside of the classroom into the real world.