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Jessica Hampton
Prof. McGriff
ENC1101
16 November 2015

How Have I Matured as a Writer?

Throughout their academic careers, students often spend more time trying to prove how
intelligent they are rather than improve their intelligence. There are instances in life where
individuals learn something new without realizing they have been educated. While reflecting
upon my semester in composition one, I discovered my experience with Professor McGriff to be
one of those instances. I enrolled into this course believing that I my writing skills had already
been perfected and I could not possibly learn anything new. However, composition one greatly
challenged my writing techniques, improved my grammar, and taught me skills that will aid me
in my educational career.
Two significant elements of grammar that I learned throughout composition one were
comma splices and the proper usage of who and whom. For instance, when a writer is
referring to the subject of a sentence, they should use who. Therefore, when a writer chooses to
refer to the object of a sentence, they would address the object as whom. Comma splices are an
aspect of writing that I have consistently struggled with. A comma splice can essentially be
described as a run-on sentence that is incorrectly separated by a comma. Being educated on these
characteristics will aid me in constructing stronger essays throughout the remainder of my

academic career. The most useful skills I have learned are the various writing formats such as
MLA, Chicago, and APA. By knowing how to properly write essays in these formats, I am better
prepared for my future classes.
While reflecting on the essays I have written this semester I have realized that the
narration essay greatly increased my writing proficiency. The narration was a collaborative
assignment. Although I wrote the narration essay individually, I still learned a valuable lesson. I
learned to pace myself as a writer and not allow myself to become overwhelmed when a situation
does not go according to plan. When writing this essay I found myself being educated on
organizational methods for essays. I learned how to effectively organize events through spatial,
chronological, and emphatic organization. Chronological organization can be described as the
sequencing of events in the order in which they occurred. When using emphatic organization, a
writer would present the most climactic event at the end of their essay. While the probability of
writing narrative essays within my desired career are low; I enjoy writing in my spare time and
will use the techniques that I have learned.
Each essay that I was assigned by Professor McGriff introduced me to a new challenge,
but none were as arduous as the argument essay. The subject of the argument essay concerned
the impact of social media on communication and text messaging. Although I can think of a
multitude of reasons as to how social media is degrading relationships, I could not produce an
essay as quickly as I am capable of. For the first time as a writer I was at a loss for words.
Perhaps it was due to my intermediate knowledge of social media or the fact that I despise
arguing. While attempting to compose an argument that represented the viewpoints of both
proponents and critics, I became overwhelmed. I continuously doubted my in-text citations. I
was paranoid that my paper would be deemed plagiarized. Ultimately, I persisted and completed

the essay. I learned how to effectively argue a subject, cite sources within an essay, and avoid
plagiarism.
Every rhetorical situation is a writing situation, will be a quote that I will remember for
the rest of my life. It will serve as a reminder to not over think when writing. Every situation in
life is an opportunity to write. At the time of completing my essays, I truly believed that I was
not being educated on much. However, creating this e-portfolio has permitted me to reflect upon
and absorb how much I have matured as a writer.