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Bryan Gregorio
Professor Ditch
English113
May 8, 2015
Improving as a Writer
Writing has always been an issue for myself. It is not because of time consuming,
however, I get distracted easily, which causes to take me twice as long. Also, Ive never had the
passion nor desire to write an essay or some type of paper. Its always been a tough job for
myself. Most of the time, I find myself struggling to write it. However, during this semester,
taking English 113b took a quiet load of problems off of my back. I figured numerous ways to
construct a well strong, structured essay.
During this semester, I can easily count the days Ive actually slept the average duration
time. It has been busy, yet a well-informing year. Having two different teachers for each semester
was very challenging. I had to adapt to new styles, policies and theme. Last semester, Ive
learned the rhetorical strategies, and I could not be more thankful that I did. It carried on through
this semester and made it easier for me to write essays. Writing essays this semester has been
challenging. Every single essays required multiple sources, either credible or scholarly. For
example, in our project space essay, we had to have multiples sources from the class and outside
of class. At first, I had trouble connecting ideas from class readings to my essays. I tend to forget
which quotes can be effective and strong. However, as the class progress, I adapted to her journal
entries every reading assignment. Although it was long and tiring, it actually helped me develop
my ideas and back up my claims. Reading and annotating at the same time is lifesaving, as well.
It saved me from flipping pages to another to try to find helping quotes/ideas. Also, the visit in

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the oviatt library helped me find credible sources faster. The Search engine that sorts out
whatever youd like to see can be easily found through CSUNs oviatt library website. Its a
clever website and very sufficient engine when writing essays.
In addition, the SI class was very helpful in many ways. Mrs. Minaj gave us different
practice work to develop our essays. She was always all ears to all of her students. She tried her
best and would make time for anyone that needs help. For example, my group mate, Devon, had
various questions to ask about project web. Instead of going to the LRC, Devon did not hesitate
to ask Minaj and she made arrangements, although he didnt make an appointment the day
before. This shows that Mrs. Minaj is a very kind and intelligent person. She is there whenever
her students needed her.
Secondly, another technique or idea Ive attained from this semesters English class is the
use of an outline. Our class was taught to do a prospectus before writing an essay. A prospectus,
in my opinion, is very efficient and helpful. Brainstorming is like a map for writers. It is there as
guide to visually see where the writer is going. It generates ones mind from creating imaginative
ideas. Also, what I like the most about brainstorming is, the fact that it is like a computer. It has
an invisible backspace whenever a writer changes his/her mind. Brainstorming can help change
ones perspective from a blink of an eye. For example, during the first draft of the project space
essay, I had a different idea to write about. However, 2 days later I realized that it might not be as
effective nor strong, so I decided to change my topic to Basketball. Doing the prospectus was
one of the reasons I changed my idea. When I was formatting it, I had difficulties finding
examples to back up my claims. What I did was, I brainstormed different cultural themes and
figured which theme would have been the strongest and well effective. At the end, the theme I
chose was the basketball culture.

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Lastly, writing an essay is not an easy thing to do. There are requirements to meet to be
able to get a good grade. One of the required things to do is to keep the work in present tense.
Whenever I write an essay, I struggle to meet this rule. I tend to forget because of all the ideas
running through my head. However, as the class continued, I learned the mistake Ive been doing
and correcting it by reading my work out loud. At first, it was hard to get used to it, then I started
to do it more often so I can adapt to it. For example, in the project text essay, I had a quiet
problem keeping it on present tense. I get confused because I would tell a flashback story, which
has to be on past tense. Since, our class are required to go to the LRC, I took the advantage and
asked for helped. Several tutors advised me to read my work out loud twice, so that I can hear
how it sounds like. It helped me throughout the essay, yet it did not prevent me from having a
perfect work. In addition, towards at the end of the class, we learned the use of punctuations,
sentence fragments and subject verb agreement. These grammar and mechanics helped revised
my essay to get rid of run on sentences and comma splices. For example, in my project text
essay, I had several grammar errors. After refreshing my mind about mechanics in class, I was
able to fix these errors easily. I used punctuations like semicolon to break off sentences. Also, I
used the rule, FANBOYS, to avoid comma splice and run on sentences.
In conclusion, English 113 has helped me in a tremendous way. It taught numerous ways
to structure my paper. I learned that taking a long way during an essay is, actually, not a bad idea.
All of the assignments, like reading books, articles and doing journal entries, are helpful on
building an effective essay. There might have been tons of work to do throughout the semester,
however, these works were there to guide us to a perfect essay. It might have hurt our sleeping
schedule, but it helped students to have a better understanding. All three projects had definitely
went outside my comfort zone, which helped me improve as student and a writer.