Covalschi 1

Angeline S Covalschi
Prof. Hanvey
STACC English 1
2 December 2014
My Journey of STACC Writing
During my STACC English class experience, I was able to understand myself in a
different manner. I once had a passion for writing prior to this class, but sadly it had stopped a
few years after primary school. The reason why I took a STACC English class this semester was
because I wanted to see if I still had a certain spark when it came to writing. Thanks to Professor
Hanvey, I was able to understand my writing strengths and also figure out what things need more
improvement as well as practice. Turnitin was a great program which interactively helped
explain my common errors found in my submitted essays this semester. At the beginning of this
class, I definitely can say I was very rusty on my writing skills. But once I began to write, I
noticed certain essays were better than others. My writing skills are surely stronger when I enjoy
writing about a certain subject. I actually can create a stronger essay, if I am able to relate and
give the essay a strong base of examples. My literacy narrative essay was by far the most
enjoyable while writing, as well as my strongest essay this semester. On the other hand, I believe
my in- class passage analysis of Schlossers text was the worst essay I had written this semester.
I can easily say that analyzing the specific passage was very hard to relate to, therefore I wasnt
very creative while writing the essay. I feel that analyzing passages from a book, can sometimes
create a dull writing effect on myself. I felt the essay didnt flow well, because I couldnt give
specific examples of my own. Other than the displeasure of writing essay number three in class, I

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learned that I have a comma and semi colon issue. I have a tendency to use them the wrong way,
as well as not use them when they are actually needed. The only obstacle which may have
affected my writing abilities was my heavy work schedule. Work has stopped me from revisiting my essays an additional time for revision. Therefore as a result I had a lot of subject verb
agreement errors on my last essay, as well as some typos. Honestly I feel like my last essay
would have been better, if I had looked over it before submitting it in. This actually teaches me a
lesson; to find time to write my essays earlier, as well as revising them a couple of times before
submission.
In addition to the idea of revising essays, my in class essay was by far the worst out of all
my submitted essays this semester. I forgot to introduce one of my MLA in text citations, and
didnt pay close attention to my spelling. One very successful element while writing my in class
essay was a strong introduction. I started off very strong, structuring my entire essay off of three
clear main points which I found in the text of the given passage. I discussed replication, comfort
and familiarity which supported Schlossers thesis for the given passage. The essay of course
was written during class, therefore it needed more improvement then my other essays. I quickly
fixed all common errors, and improved the depth of the elements used to provide support for
Schlossers thesis. As I wrote this essay in-class, I did realize my supporting key ideas were very
dull in connection to the thesis because I enjoy writing at a more personal level.
Furthermore, my in-class essay number three was the essay I chose to revise. I havent
been very enthusiastic about this piece of writing, but I have gained more insight to what can be
done to fix this essay. I kept most of the essay exactly the way it was written, but I fixed my intext citation error, as well as any grammar errors I previously had. With more time writing this
revision, I was able to add some extra details to support Schlossers thesis. I decided to keep one

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of the more unusual key elements in support of Schlossers thesis, because I realized Schlosser
emphases of speed was based on the drive thru element. The drive thru can be seen as another
key aspect of what Schlosser covers in the passage which was given. The first time you read the
passage you probably wont see it, but if you take another look at the passage it can be used as a
main point to Schlossers thesis. Revising this essay, or any essay in general ideally has helped
my writing skills improve. Editing a written piece can be connected to ones ability to
comprehend and observe what they have written. You begin to realize the strong elements used
in your writing, as well as its clarity. A written essay must flow easily throughout ones entire
writing process in order for the reader to comprehend its meaning. In the future, I will definitely
make sure I have enough time to re-read any written in-class essay, before submitting them. This
will save me from many minor errors, as well as make sense of my writing style.
In conclusion, taking STACC English with Dr. Hanvey has been one of the best learning
experiences this fall semester. I was surely rusty in writing, and was afraid to take English again
for school. After taking this class, I have become more confident in my writing abilities, and
believe I can improve my writing skills with a little more practice. Im tremendously sad I wont
be taking another STACC English class in the spring, but I am grateful I took this writing
journey with my fellow peers. This class has showed me that I am still capable of writing wellstructured essays with a sense of clarity. This class was definitely a great learning process. I will
take every tip Dr. Hanvey provided me with, in order to improve my writing skills in the future.
All in all, I believe this writing journey has helped me become a stronger writer. I appreciate all
the given enthusiasm and passion for writing, it really helped me grasp my own love for writing
once again. Thank you.

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