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Stephanie Williams
Stefan Britt
English 111 H02
12 December 2014
The Big Picture
English 111 has taught me many things. I have had ample opportunity to practice my
writing. I have had practice thinking, problematizing, discussing, and then writing about these
experiences. The work in this class has helped me improve my writing. I have also improved
my ability to problematize a situation, think about it logically, and discuss it in a nonthreatening
way.
My former humanities class helped me be prepared for this class. It gave me experience
with problematization and working with others. That class encouraged me to think more in
depth about problems. It gave me experience working with others and considering their view
points as I worked through my own. These skills were practiced and sharpened in English 111 as
we wrote about issues concerning Globalization in the 21st Century.
The text we used in English 111 included interesting, thought-provoking articles. The
selections covered topics of concern for people today. They provided appropriate material for us
to review and consider as we studied differing views and responded to them in our essays. The
articles were able to provide information, background, and good sources for us as we wrote
about problems in the 21st century.
Throughout the semester, my instructor helped me learn to synthesize material by
assigning writing pieces that became more involved. We wrote pieces with no reference sources,
then one source, and then more than one source. We learned to blend the sources, analyze the

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information, and synthesize that information in our writing so that it explained and supported our
academic argument. Our instructor encouraged us as individuals in the class to think for
ourselves and voice our thoughts. He gave many opportunities to share and have dialogue with
each other.
In our Introduction Essay, we wrote about our weaknesses and strengths in writing. This
helped get me started. This paper made me think about my writing. Afterwards I was given
comments by my instructor which made me think even more in depth about my writing. His
comments were encouraging and positive. Along with the positive comments, his questions
made me think how I might do more or word something differently. He nudged me to consider
alternatives. He made me feel I could make the improvements needed. Looking back at this
writing, I realize that I had many more weaknesses than I knew at the time.
Our Responsive Challenge Essay helped me in many areas of my writing. It gave me
practice writing for an academic audience. I learned I should not use first person in an academic
writing piece. I found that a few words can make a big difference in the meaning and feeling of
the writing. I discovered that the order of the words, sentences, or paragraphs can also make a
big difference. I began to know how to write more clearly about an opposing point of view. The
biggest thing I learned was that there are words which sound and feel negative when referring to
an opposing view. There are other words that question the view without sounding so negative.
In my writing and discussion, I will try to use this skill and be careful to word my questions or
differing views in a nonthreatening less negative way.
I learned a multitude of things as I worked on my Academic Multi-Source Multi-Media
Essay. I found that it is easier for me to write in the first person. I began to realize that my

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writing sounds more authoritative when I write in the third person and cite respected sources. I
came to know about thesis statements and learned that including a thesis statement early in my
paper would give it more direction. I found that continuing to specifically write about the thesis
gave more support and focus to my discussion throughout the essay..
The movie Crash gave me the inspiration for the topic I chose to write about in my
Academic Multi-Source Multi-Media Essay. It was a huge motivator in getting me emotionally
involved and thinking about the problems portrayed in the film. I had such strong feelings about
the movie that I needed to talk about it and tell others. I found that I discussed my feelings not
only with my classmates but with those at home. I found that I wanted to write about it in order
to tell others about the problem I felt was revealed in the movie.
While working on my AMS paper and writing about the problem, I gained experience
using academic sources. I learned to use more than one source to support my writing. I
discovered that I needed to read the sources I wanted to use several times in order to write about
their meaning and put that meaning into my own words. I had to think about what my paper
needed to say and how the source would help me say it. I realized that quotes and paraphrases
helped and made my paper more academic. I also found that including the credentials of those
authors I chose to cite gave more credibility to the quotes and references used. I came to
understand that one should not end a paragraph with a quote but add a sentence or more to
explain or reword the quote.
I was determined from the beginning of this class to learn to write pieces I would be
proud to share. I have taken part in class discussions that helped me put my thoughts into words.
I have listened to others ideas and then reflected about how they fit with my own. I have

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practiced revising, rewriting, and even starting over at times. And then I have learned that
editing and polishing the writing needs to be done so that I reach the point where I am proud of
the outcome.
I was able to get suggestions from others about how to improve my papers. One of the
consultants I worked with at the Writing and Reading Center helped me with punctuation and
citations in my papers. Her comments were encouraging. The faculty evaluation, which gave
feedback on the AMS paper, was also helpful. It was good to hear another instructors
comments which were positive but with questions that made me want to improve a specific area.
The evaluator encouraged me to organize and better synthesize the information from the sources
I used. These suggestions helped me to continue to improve my paper.
English 111 has been a lot of work. The work has been rewarding though. I feel I have
learned more about becoming an academic writer. While doing this, I have learned to read
carefully and question information. I have realized I need to consider and evaluate the credentials
of the writers of sources I use. I have had experience blending different sources and comparing
the issues they cover. I have completed an Academic Multi-Source Multi-Media Essay in which
I considered five different sources and how they related to the issue I wanted to problematize.
The effort I have put into this course has helped me develop skills I can use in my writing, in my
speaking, and in my thinking. All of these skills will be useful to me in real life situations.