Dear Professor Moody,
As the last week of my Freshman year of college ends, I can definitely say this was my favorite course. Throughout this semester I have learned there is much more to writing then I expected. Starting with the the first essay where we were required to use pictures and a format to help with our arguments. Then to the second essay in which we used Adobe Slate to compose are essays. Then lastly, our advocacy essays which was the final test to really get me to learn how to use sources for back up. I've never done anything for a paper like what I did for these three essays. This class revealed that there are ways to make writing a paper fun and more interesting.
Semester Struggles
This course helped me improve my overall writing skills, but along the way I struggled with some of the concepts. The annotated bibliography was something I've never done before this semester. When I read over the essay three assignment and saw that it was something that was required I didn't know what to expect. When I first started it I was stressed because all the sources I chose for my essay had tons of information on them, and I didn't even know where to begin when having to annotate each one to certain requirements. As I got to my third one it started to become easier and began to flow. I think the fact that it was new to me made me believe I was going to struggle more than I did.
Another point in the semester when I struggled was essay two when we were required to use Adobe Slate. At first glance I had no idea what I was doing or if how I was doing it was correct. I thought my essay was going to be a disaster. The more I worked with Adobe Slate and figured out how to use it properly, I learned that it was my favorite way to compose a paper, and that it was actually really fun to work with.
All the essays were interesting to write about, but essay two was where I struggled. When writing this essay it was hard for me write a full paper arguing over Making a Murderer that would interest my readers. Finding sources for this essay was hard as well because it was hard to find credible information that backed up my exact opinion. A couple times throughout writing I wondered if I should change my topic but then I started to catch on and ended making a final paper I was happy with.
The Best Part and MY Strenghts
The best components of this semester for me were essays one and three. When we got assigned are first essay I was nervous to see what we were going to be required to do. Once I read through the instructions I was immediately excited because we had the choice of so many topics we could write about. I also enjoyed how the layout and even the colors were a big factor of the requirements. I had a lot of fun researching and constructing this essay, which doesn't happen ofter. Next, essay three added to that enjoyment. By this essay I was familiar with using pictures, headers, captions, etc. to create the perfect essay. We also had a range of topics we could write about for this essay as well, which always makes writing easier. I also liked the idea of the picture essay, I think this added depth to the topic of choice. It also gave a visual representation of what the author was thinking when writing his/her essay.
My strengths came in good use during this semester. I would say my strengths would be deciding how organize what I'm going to write about in my paper, and what major points I am going to focus on. When first choosing a topic I look at all the things I could write about, but then look at what would be best to write about and make the most since. This helped me with all my papers, and makes writing a lot easier and more enjoyable.
The Final Goodbye
This semester I have learned so much and have grown as a writer. The different ways we were challenged to write made me more interested in writing than I have ever been. The discussions were also helpful, they helped build up how the following essay was going to be composed and helped me understand the importance of these different aspects. I really enjoyed this class this semester. I would like to thank you Professor Moody for teaching me a whole different way of writing. I have always been use to just writing a paper on a word document, and just turn it in plain and in black and white. After this semester I now know that there are more ways that get to show an individuals creativity and let's a person expand more. It's been a great semester and it's sad to see it end so fast!
Sincerely,
Brighton Chapman
