Lessons Learned: From Thought to Paper

Julie Bretado

Professor Rankin

English Composition II

May 6th, 2012

Lessons Learned: From Thought to Paper

English Composition II, the name alone is enough to intimidate someone. After all, English is a broad topic. It is a journey that starts early in life and never really ends. From learning to talk, to learning to read, to learning to write, this journey takes every learner on a adventure that hopefully leads to the ability to communicate well both aloud and on paper. English Composition II has been an enjoyable experience. My journey in this class lead me down the path of learning about writing in general (as I expected), to learning about writing with authority, to realizing that it can be most valuable to know many formats for writing an essay.

Writing and learning about writing in general is what I expected this class to be about when I enrolled. Writing essays, writing journals, writing stories, writing reports, any and every kind of writing was fair game. Writing for school, writing for work, writing for the community and writing for pleasure; it all applies. Learning to write essays in MLA format is what this class is all about. I learned a great deal about writing essays in MLA format as this was uncharted territory for me, other classes often require APA format for writing essays. I also had a nice reminder that the basics of writing, sentence structure, word choice, punctuation, etc. are so very important. Any one can write, but it takes time and work to learn to write well. This class taught me that paying attention to detail in writing is a must.

Writing with authority, like I am the expert, was something that was unexpected for me. The effect that writing from third person has on the reader is evident. I realized that I often write from first person for essays and learned writing from third person can be beneficial. If someone writes from third person it is easier to convince the reader that the writer is an expert. If the audience believes the writer is an expert, someone well prepared to write, the reader is more likely accept the authority of the writer. Often siding with them if the paper was argumentative. Also writing in third person for essays keeps the focus on the topic and off of the writer. Knowing when to write in third person or in first person is handy tool to carry on this journey. As I learned in this class writing in second person is never recommended. It only leads to confusion about who the writer is talking about. So writing in third person is almost always a winner, writing in first person is fine when someone is writing about themselves and writing in second person is forbidden, at least in essays. For most papers,