Legge 1

Ethan Legge
Professor Collins
ENGL 1302
12 May 2016

My Improvements in English 1302

Before I started English 1302, I was in Pre-AP and AP English classes throughout high
school. Because of the previous courses that I had taken, my writing skills were already above
average compared to some of my other peers. The writing that I had done in those classes was
almost exclusively opinionated or focused on information that was prior knowledge and did not
require any outside research to complete the essay. Therefore, my ability to communicate facts
through academic writing was not very outstanding at the beginning of the semester. During the
writing and preparation of the causal argument and proposal essays, I was able to improve my
organization, research, and sentence structure abilities.
My organization was greatly improved after Professor Collins introduced me to the
MEAL plan method before writing my causal argument essay. The MEAL plan helped me
structure my ideas and evidence throughout my body paragraphs, which is something that I
struggled with mightily during high school and English 1301. For the causal essay, it helped me
alternate between information given in the documentary and outside research that supported the
documentarys information. Although it is not its intended purpose, the MEAL plan was also
successful at relieving writers block by instructing me on which element of the plan to use next
in my body paragraph. I was able to structure my essay in a way that had a flow that was
pleasing to read and also save valuable time all by adapting the MEAL plan. Since I did not have

Legge 2
much experience with research, it was crucial that I learned that skill speedily. Becoming
graceful at researching was a gradual process that was completed throughout the semester as
every essay required a particular amount of research. The most help in my research process came
from the annotated works cited page. This form of works cited page made it much easier to
integrate my research into my essays by giving a brief exert of the article before I began writing.
I was also helped by using the CRAAP Test. A CRAAP Test is performed by assigning a
numerical grade between zero and fifty to a source based on the age, relevance, authority,
accuracy, and purpose of a source. This test helped me determine the quality of my source before
I invested too much time into an inadequate source with outdated or incorrect information. I used
the annotated works cited page to assist my causal argument essay and the CRAAP Test was
used to jumpstart my research for my proposal. In my writing I have noticed that I have
developed certain patterns such as the words that I start my sentences with and my sentence
length. To improve my sentence variety, I used ratiocination as a way to proofread my essays.
This method of proofreading requires you to highlight sentences in alternating colors so that the
length is much more noticeable. It also requires that the individual circle the first word of every
sentence. In both cases, ratiocination works to improve the variability of sentences so that essays
do not become repetitive and lose entertainment value.
My ability to communicate through academic writing has greatly improved since the
beginning of the semester because of my enhanced ability to organize, obtain research, and add
variety to my essays.