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Catherine Manguso

Professor Batty

English 28

25 May 2017

What I Learned in School Today

This past semester, I learned many things; how to research thoroughly the subject of our

essays, through reading, listening and following the direction of Professor Batty while taking her

class, English 28. Taking English 25 I felt I hadnt learned much and was frustrated during that

semester, but in hindsight the course set the stage for better understanding for English 28. I

learned how to find information through the internet, citing that research, the use of examples

and quotations properly within contexts of my papers and presenting the material according to

MLA standards. The class also taught how to express oneself in a Narrative essay by talking of

specific experiences and situations I have experienced.

I was apprehensive on the first day of English 28 as several of students and I stood

outside the classroom waiting, hoping somebody was going to show up. Eventually he did, late,

a Professor Shea. He gave us instructions and syllabus for the class and listening to him my

thoughts were Oh no! Professor Shea spoke very quietly, had many pauses and seemed

disconnected and not interested in leading the class. I needed English 28, so I showed up for the

next class, which he did not attend. I had already researched out other classes to add after my

first class experience. After a failed attempt with his class went to Professor Battys classroom

and she was able to enroll myself and another girl for that semester. First impression in class

gave me relief and I thought to myself this will be much better, and felt very relaxed.
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Writing thoughts and feelings is a new experience for me as writing was not something I

had focused on before. Learning about rules of writing, being taught to use constructive

criticism and structure I feel more confident today when writing. To write an argumentative

essay was a challenge for me even though we were given options on topics for this assignment.

Again, not only was I learning to research, quote, cite, MLA, I had to structure it in an order that

made sense in my arguments, support the facts, quote research and finally give an opinion.

With a narrative essay it involved again, learning to express oneself, to keep the narrative

interesting both visually and mentally so that the reader/listener maintains an interest in the story.

For this class we submitted essay topics to our Professor, who read them over and

followed up with her feedback. Diana, a class tutor, was also available to go over our

assignments and she too gave also us constructive feedback.

Throughout the semester there were many different resources available besides the

Professor and class tutor; there is the writing center and also had others that looked over my

papers before submitting the revised essays. Towards the end of the semester there was an in-

class peer review where, together as a class, we went over an essay of an anonymous classmate,

and listening and discussing it as a class was helpful.

Finally I feel through this class experience, I have gained knowledge and confidence in

writing but also know I still have more to work on as I move forward with my writing.

Writing will help with the profession that I am pursuing, using the steps learned during

the semester. All elements of writing; reflective, critical thinking, argumentative, use of research

to support your writing will play a very important role.

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