Running head: HOW MUCH MY WRITING HAS CHANGED 1

How Much My Writing Has Changed

Throughout My Life

Allison C. Reynolds

Salt Lake Community College

HOW MUCH MY WRITING HAS CHANGED 2

Abstract

This paper describes the differences and changes that take place between my different writings. I

used three examples to explain what changed between each of them. The first one (Appendix A)

is my writing assignment Slavery in America. I read through and explained why I wrote the way

I did. The second one (Appendix B) is my writing assignment Alien and Sedition Acts. I

described how much better it could have been and how little effort I put into doing it. The third

one (Appendix C) is my writing assignment The Effect Cultural Diversity Has in Classrooms. I

explained my passion and the work that I put into it. It shows how much I care about it and truly

believe in it by how much it would and could affect someone else.

HOW MUCH MY WRITING HAS CHANGED 3

How Much My Writing Had Changed

Throughout My Life

My writing has changed majorly since I was in 8th grade. I loved school and I loved

learning, but I wasnt a big fan of English. Ive never really liked writing I just did it because I

was supposed to. One big thing that has changed is my grammar. The way I talk is completely

different now. My opinions and how I feel are all different now than they were when I was

younger. My reasons for choosing what I was going to write about were also different. My

writing also changes a lot depending on who my audience is.

With my Grammar, then you wouldnt really think that it would have changed that much.

Graduating high school helped a lot. Going through Jr. high and high school helped me use better

grammar. In Appendix A there are a lot of mistakes that I didnt catch when I was younger. For

example, I know that if I had a mean and hard slave then I would faint so many times. Im

guessing that I meant to say that if I had a mean and hard master. I think the reason I didnt

notice is because it didnt feel important to fix my mistakes when I was younger. Another one in

Appendix A is, I wouldnt want to because would I was caught and punished. I looked at this

for a while and Im pretty sure that I was meaning to say, I wouldnt want to because what if I

was caught or punished. Its really frustrating to me that I didnt just take the time to fix it when

I was younger. When I thought about it I realized that I probably didnt realize that it wasnt

right. I didnt have the knowledge that I have now. That was actually a pretty good writing

assignment for me. Even with all those mistakes it still was one of my better ones. With this

writing assignment I did a lot of research on it. I was writing it for my history teacher. History

was an interesting subject for me, so I enjoyed finding out about those kinds of things. I decided

I would write my paper on slavery and I found some super interesting facts. For example, If the
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slaves ran away for the first time then they would get whipped, the second time they would get

an R on their check, the third on the other cheek. Thats something that isnt really stressed

about while teaching so nobody really knows that. It made me sad all over again just reading my

writing assignment again. I forgot about all that stuff. Its interesting that I felt like that even

though I was the one that wrote it. If it can make me feel that way it makes me wonder how it

affected anyone that read it. It helped that I cared about what I was writing about.

In Appendix B I noticed that I started a lot of my sentences the same. It caused it to seem like I

was just repeating myself. For example, The government is out of control and is taking our

power; the families have been separated because we have lost our freedom of speech. The

government has been taking over and taking charge. I started the first two paragraphs with the

government. This writing assignment wasnt graded and I knew that which is why I didnt try as

hard. If you notice it isnt very long and it doesnt go into much detail. I just wrote what was

necessary to call it an essay. When I read it now I am bored out of my mind. It doesnt have any

interesting facts and it just isnt very good. I could have taken the extra time to make it more

appealing to the readers but I was just being lackadaisical. It wasnt like Appendix A at all. I

wrote this one after Appendix A so Im not sure why it isnt better than the first. One good thing

I noticed about this writing assignment is even though it doesnt have much detail it does get to

the point. It has the important stuff in there. I knew that my history teacher was going to read it

but I also knew he wasnt going to grade it so I wanted to make his job easier. It made it easier

for him and me. He didnt have to read a forever long assignment and I didnt have to write one.

But reading it wouldnt really affect someone because it isnt as persuasive as it could have been.

If you look at Appendix C then you can tell that I am a lot older. My writing doesnt have

near as many errors. I took the time to fix my errors and didnt just rush right through it. It
HOW MUCH MY WRITING HAS CHANGED 5

sounds a lot more persuasive because it sounds like I know what Im talking about. If I talk the

right way the readers will listen more and theres more of a chance of it making a difference.

Another thing about this writing assignment is that I went into a lot of detail. I used some

research and some opinions to write it. It would help anybody that wanted to teach understand

the importance of cultural diversity. I put a lot of detail in some of the most important stuff and

was trying to help the audience get a better understanding on what the important stuff was. For

example, The most important thing to know as a teacher is how to respond to the different

cultures. The way we respond is going to have a huge effect on the students. Just reading that

you can see that as a teacher that would be the number one priority to learn about. I used the

word important a lot. I think the reason why I did is because I have a passion about teaching. I

love doing it and it means a lot to me. I feel like that is important and I wanted it to be important

to any of the readers. I knew that if I explained it and went into detail then they would see the

importance too. Writing for college also helped my writing to be a lot more detailed and better.

I noticed that with these three different writings of mine there were a lot of differences

and similarities. The audience that I was writing it for helped change the way I wrote a lot. With

Appendix B then I didnt try very hard and I didnt care because it didnt affect my grade. With

the other two then it was something that I was passionate about and I did a lot better job on it. I

have noticed that most of my writings then they are usually persuasive writing assignments. I

looked through many of my writing assignments and more than 90% of them were persuasive

essays. I think the reason for that is because Im the kind of person that usually thinks that Im

never wrong and everyone else should think like me. I can get a lot of research and backups for

what I believe in. If I put my mind onto something then it is hard for anyone else to say its

wrong. I usually will put enough detail in so that I can get everyone to believe what Im saying. I
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dont know whether that is a good quality to have or bad. I did notice major improvements

throughout the years that I wrote the assignments. Im also hoping that in a few years my writing

can get ten times better. If I keep writing then maybe it will improve and keep getting better.
HOW MUCH MY WRITING HAS CHANGED 7

Appendix A

Slavery in America
If I was a black man and was in slavery I would get really tired. It would be
so hard to work all day and only get a little amount of sleep. Slaves were treated
terribly most of the time. If I was free I would be treated unfairly, like they would
make me pay three times more than white man. The slaves would get so tired
that they couldnt even move so their master would whip them.
If you were a man and under twenty years old, you were the most
expensive slaves because you could live a longer and stronger life. The slaves
were the only ones who knew how to make rice so they forced them to make it
for them. They made the women work right on the side of the men while they
made rice. It was so hard for them to be slaves especially when their masters
were mean.
If the slaves ran away for the first time then they would get whipped, the
second tome they would get an R on their check, the third on the other cheek. I
would not try to escape but, I would hope that I had a nice master. If you did
escape and make it to Florida then you would be free. They were very unfair to
blacks, even the court was.
The white man had to carry their guns to church because it was the only
time that the slaves didnt work. They were scared that the slaves would gain up
on them and kill them on Sundays. If I was a slave I would work as hard as I could
so that I didnt get whipped. I know that if I had a mean and hard slave then I
would faint so many times. I would do what Olaudah did and save some money so
I could buy myself out of slavery.
If I had a nice master I would probably get a little bit of money each month.
If I saved it I could buy myself out of slavery. Actually, if o had a nice master it
wouldnt be as bad to be a slave. Even if I were an indentured servant it would
still be just as hard but not as long as a slave. If I was an indentured servant I
would only have to work for about seven years.
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If you were a slave and your mom was half free than you were not free. If
your mom was all of the way free than so were you. If I was a slave I probably
would not get married nor have kids. I would rather die alone than have kids and
them be in slavery. I think that they should have not even started slavery and
indentured servants.
Not all masters were bad because some owners bought slaves just to free
them. I would also hate to be on a slave boat because the rooms were the size of
a coffin. Every day you would have to be let out and you would run around the
boat hooked up with other people. You also had to be chained to you bed so you
didnt run away.
Slaves worked really hard but, if you stumbled, tripped, etc. then they
would whip you. A woman slave did something wrong so her master took her to
court, and she had to get whipped. Then the court said she could go free and she
didnt have to work for her master anymore. She just had to work for him for a
little longer then she could go free, but then her master sold her to someone else
and she had to leave.
Soon she ran away and nobody ever saw her again. The people became so
strict with slaves so that never happened again. One time a group of slaves talked
about running away so the next morning they killed their masters and ran away.
They were trying to make it to Florida so they could be free. While they were
running some people joined them. After a while of trying to dodge the
government they were caught.
That is why I wouldnt want to run away. I wouldnt want to because would
I was caught and punished. I wouldnt want to risk getting whipped by the court
like some slaves did. I would just be careful because being a slave you are always
in danger no matter what you do. Slaves were nice and good people and didnt
deserve to be slaves and get a life like that.
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Appendix B

Alien and Sedition Acts

The government is out of control and is taking our power; the families have been separated
because we have lost our freedom of speech.

The government has been taking over and taking charge. They are taking away our money and
kicking out immigrants. They took out houses and our animals. The people need to be protected and
stand up for their freedom.

When immigrants come to see their family the government has been sending them to jail. He
will no longer allow outsiders to come into the United States. The families have gotten broken hearts
and are dying.

The government is not letting people say anything bad about them. They will not stop searching
for people to disobey one law so they can send them to prison. They wont let you appeal in court for
saying something bad about the government.

The country needs to stand up to them but not exactly rebel. They need to fight for what is
right. Or the country will lose money from all of the taxes so the government can make more jails. They
need to help by standing up for what they believe in.
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Appendix C
The Effect Cultural Diversity Has in Classrooms

And How It Effects Teaching

Cultural diversity effects so many different people in different ways. It has a huge effect

on teachers and the way we teach. It also Influences teaching and the way the students learn. The

way we respond to it is also super important. We need to be able to respond in a way that it is

effective and makes a difference in a good way.

Culture is the way we are, like what we wear and do and how we act. Cultural diversity is

the different cultures that you can find in a classroom. It is super important to understand what

culture diversity is because what we say and do can and will affect the students. All the students

are going to have different beliefs. The Language they speak is one example. Part of a students

culture is what they are influenced by at home. If they dont speak English at home so they dont

know English it can really stunt their learning abilities. With some cultures the parents have high

expectations. It causes the kids to achieve more because the parents expect nothing less.

The most important thing to know as a teacher is how to respond to the different cultures.

The way we respond is going to have a huge effect on the students. We should help the students

accept their different identities and the way they are. If we include the different cultures it will

help the students be more involved and care more about what they are learning. We need to be

available for the students to come and ask for help as much as possible. As a teacher you should

involve all the students equally. Also, Create a tie with a student. Let them know that you care

and want to help them as much as you can. Understand the student and know what they need,

you shouldnt force a kid to do anything. If you give a child the choice they will respect you a lot
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more. If we include the students ancestry whenever we can it will help the students feel more

involved.

Culture Diversity is an important thing to know and understand. It can change and help us

daily in our teaching career. It is important to understand that everyone has their own culture just

like us. If we put ourselves in the students position and think about how we would like the

teacher to respond and act, it can really help you with your teaching. The student needs to feel

like you care and they will care and want to please you.