Bennardi 1

Lexi Bennardi

College Comp. 1, pd. 1

Mrs. Cramer

11 May 2018

Self-Evaluation

While being in College Composition 1, I have learned many different techniques that will

help me to improve my writing for future papers I will have to complete. I have learned ten

necessary steps that will assure my writing is to the best of my ability.

1. Making an outline for my paper

2. Finding sources that are "scholarly" (if necessary)

3. Never plagiarize!!!

4. Use different rhetorical devices

5. When editing a rough draft, always read it out loud to find mistakes

6. Have very strong and complex sentences

7. Have others read/edit your essay

8. Avoid using nothing words

9. Listen to the advice others give you

10. Do not procrastinate a final copy of a paper

I have had to make several outlines for papers in and out of this class. For example, I

wrote a Synthesis Essay about the fears of public speaking and how to overcome the fears. Since

there were many different tips and ways to get over the fear of public speaking, an outline was
 Bennardi 2

very useful in this situation. The outline allowed me to organize my thoughts, so my paper was

not all over the place. For my College Application Narrative, this helped me to gather thoughts

about myself because I was writing about an incident that happened to me. Since I found this

very useful in this situation, it is something I will continue to do in the future.

In the case I will have to use sources to support my ideas, making sure I find scholarly

sources is very important. Scholarly sources are important because you want to make sure to

have factual evidence to back up what you are "arguing" or advice you are giving to someone.

Again, this was important in my Synthesis Essay because I used evidence from an individual

who struggled with public speaking and how she overcame her fear. When using sources, I need

to be sure to never plagiarize. Plagiarism is a serious issue and is something to avoid throughout

your whole writing.

For the editing process of my paper, I found reading my paper out loud has helped me

find numerous mistakes. These mistakes could be anything from stumbling on a sentence or a

grammatical error. Also, I enjoy having my peers edit my work because they may have an idea

on how to improve my paper or see a mistake I did not. For my Literary Criticism Essay, I had

several of my classmates edit it because this style of essay was one I had never written before.

Having others edit this essay helped a lot.

Finally, procrastination is something to avoid. I, myself, tend to struggle with this

concept, and it does not help when writing a final copy of your paper. You will do your best

work if you break up your paper into sections, and work on a section each night so you are not

cramming. This will not only help to improve your writing, but it will help relieve the stress of

writing a final paper.

 Bennardi 3

Overall, these ten steps have helped to improve my writing. I will continue to do these

different steps in the future, that way I can be sure my writing is the best to my ability.