Freshman Composition Wiki - Recently Updated Pages

Example Student

professorcooper — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:55:29 CST

Ugly Girl's Writing Portfolio

About me: I am a freshman at SMCC, and I am studying to be a pharmisist. I hope to transfer to U of A when I'm finished with my AA degree at SMCC. I love to play on the computer, and my favorite musical artist is Janet Jackson. JJ is awesome!
My Assessments:
- Assessment #1: Rhetorical Analysis
- Assessment #2: Essay (Use Essay #1)
- Assessment #3: ( Use Essay #2)
- Assessment #4: Argumentative Research Paper
- Assessment #5: Essay #2 Rewrite/Peer Reviews
- Assessment #6: Personal Reflection
Personal Reflection (Assessment #6)

[Cut & Paste your final personal reflection here. It does not have to be double spaced, but please use indentions for each new paragraph.]

Alisa Assessement 1

professorcooper — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:54:24 CST

This is my assessment 1

MichealD

madelos — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:07:48 CST

Michael D's Writing Portfolio

About me: Hey I am Michael a student at South Mountain Community College. I also play baseball for the school and play center field.
My Essays:
- Essay #1: Education
- Essay #2: College Success
- Essay #3: Movie
- Essay #4: Success
- Personal Reflection Assessment #1: Midterm Assessment
Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)
In this English class I started to struggle and had a hard time with a lot of things, ranging from sentence structure to different punctuations. After a while everything started getting a little easier, but still struggled with some things. Things that i would struggle on is were to put a comma or a semi-colleen. other things that i was good at were staying on topic with what my paper was about. Other things that were helpful were that I could go into my book and look up how something was done. Either way there are still things that I need to work on, but there are always things that you can also be good at. First, some of the different writing strengths that I have are that I am really good at staying on topic, and getting good ideas. These tools are good because yea they are easy, but they are missed a lot by people that do not even know it. it is very unnecessary to miss some thing so simple yet get off track with a paper that a student is writing. To be totally honest after a while and doing many papers it just comes naturally; because, I believe that I focus too much on my whole paper instead of just going by sentences to make sure I have good sentence structure. So I am going to keep doing that, but instead of just looking at the paper as one, I need to spread it out maybe to paragraphs to start out with, and then maybe get better at sentence structure. Secondly, another aspect of writing that is hard for me is using semi-colleens. These are mostly used to separate two sentences using a semi-colleen, and adding a conjunction after. Most of the time, I would put a comma in the place of using a semi-colleen. This is a very common mistake also by many writers that have trouble with commas or just with writing in general. When i look at my finished papers, I already know there are going to be punctuation problems. the good thing about this is that it can be a very easy tool that I can fix, it might take sometime to get it completely right, but I believe that it can be done. Another major writing tool that I need to work on are commas. Commas are very important because they can help lengthen your paper; and, also to help make your sentences make more sense and flow better. Both of these are great components, because they both help out anyone's paper. The aspects might be minor to some people, but I have a hard time putting them in the right spot. I believe that it is the most common mistake people have in writing today. Most people just write their papers and try to get done with everything very quickly without even checking what was wrong with it. That is just another problem that college students might have. Thirdly, some things that I learned in class were how to read and look at a textbook. This was good because a lot of students these days do not know how to read a textbook. Everyone knows that a huge textbook can be a little overwhelming; but, after purchasing a book from the store for this class i was already overwhelmed with how big it was. After starting the class it became easier to look at it, and understanding how to read it and what to look for. there is a lot of information that students can get from books just by glancing over it and understanding it. The good thing about that is students can look at it, take it in, and then processes it into their memories so that they can use it later on in life if needed. After a while of just looking at certain parts of the book, students will see that they already read most of the book, the areas that were covered pretty much just covered the whole book, they were just spread out throughout. In conclusion, my writing is probably just average; because, I know that reading and writing are my worst skills that i have as a student and have always had trouble with these tools. All I need to do is work hard at what I am good at, like staying on topic and use my good ideas. But i especially need to work on the writing skills that I am not very good at, like sentence structure and punctuation. As for textbooks, they are starting to become easier to read, because I have at least three that as a freshmen student need to have for my courses. After I am good on that and those writing skills, I should be good to go and off to a good start. But like everyone says, "practice makes perfect". Maybe it won't become perfect for me, but i can at least work harder on it instead of just trying to finish my paper with a quickness.

Abraham

Abraham.Suarez — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:59:56 CST

Abraham's Writing Portfolio

About me: I'm a frendly person I like to have a lot of friends. I like to play soccer and go to parties a lot.
My Essays:
- Essay #1: Personal Goal
- Essay #2: People and Places that can help me be succesful in college
- Essay #3: Super Size Me Reflection Essay
- Essay #4: The Choices We Make
- Personal Reflection Assessment #1: MidTerm Assessment
Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

Being successful in life means a lot to me. Therefore I have to prepare myself to do everything excellent. Being persistent and putting effort on writing an essay repays after you have your final paper completed. One way or another everyone has success when writing an essay. There are also areas were there needs to be some improvement. The best part of writing an essay is that every time you write one you learn something new. To be honest sometimes I struggle a lot because I don’t get any ideas or I’m not concentrated enough. The only time I can write a perfect essay is when I’m really focused on the subject we have to write about. I write a perfect essay that gets my audience attention. If it is an essay where you have to create a story I get ideas fast. But if it’s like a book report or a summary of a movie I have to be focused until I’m done with the essay. When I struggle on my essays it’s because I’m not focused. Where I need some improvements is on what kind of words to use. I say this because sometimes I use the same word more than once. When it is an informative essay or a reflection essay sometimes I use the word “you” all the time. Probably it is because I feel that I am having a conversation with somebody. Other improvements that I need are that my sentences have to make sense with the main point of the essay. Sometimes I get out of the subject and I use other examples. What I have learned in writing essays is that first I have to brainstorm, or get as many ideas as possible. This way I will have an essay that will sound more interesting. Also what I have learned is that the topic sentence is the one that get the audience attention, so you have to start with a good topic sentence. Personally, I think that I’m doing well on essays and I know that I need some improvements. I am positive that I can do better if I practice more often. By giving all my effort in school I know that I will be successful not only in college but in life as well. People can be successful in writing essays; also we might struggle to get better, but by doing this we also learn from writing essays. Like I mentioned earlier, “successful” is a word I like to say because that’s what I want to be in life. Being focused in school and on what I’m writing about will help me a lot in life. I know I am capable of writing a perfect essay, everybody can. I might struggle sometimes but if I do it the right way I know I can do it. I have learned a lot of stuff not only in school but in life as well. I learned that without an education you can’t be successful in life. It only takes effort and willingness to succeed to become a successful person.

KennethH

ken196 — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:48:35 CST

[kenneth howard]'s Writing Portfolio

About me: well I'm the only child, I'm from lake in the hills, IL i just move to AZ , i enjoy try to figuring out ways to become rich (as you can see I'm still working on it !)
My Essays:
- Essay #1: compound and complex
- Essay #2: [cash
- Essay #3: College success
- Essay #4 effect essay
- Personal Reflection Assessment #1: MidTerm Assessment
Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)
Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know.( Daniel J. Boorstin) English is one of the hardest subject for me, I have several problems with English not all of them have been address, but after taking Eng071 i have learn numerous terms such as compound and complex sentence. I've also improve in my writing by using a outline, but there are still things i could in improve on like my grammar. In the next couple of paragraph I'll elaborate on the three topics i have listed above( compound and complex sentence,outline, and grammar) Starting with compound and complex sentence, Compound and complex sentences are something that reminds me of Eng071 because until i took this course i wasn't sure what those words even mean. Now I'm more familiar with those terms, but i can't say i have master identifying them in a paragraph. Next topic i been improving on is using an outline. I use to think outlines were a waste of time, and i didn't enjoy doing them at all. Later on as i kept on doing outlines, writing papers where no sweat. I would finish papers a lot quicker and i don't have those huge pauses about what to right next. (Compound sentence) outlines really break ever thing down so all i have to do is plug in the words. But I would advise using a outline, to everyone because some students are just fine with free styling their papers. Last but, probably the most important is grammar, I hate grammar with a deep passion and the worse part about it is grammar is the foundation of English, it's the blueprint for writing and i just can't get the hang of it. The reason is, i write the way i talk. Also another part of grammar and my biggest problem is punctuation i never no when it is a good time to use a common, a semicolon or if i wrote a fragment sentence if it wasn't for Microsoft word i would have awful grammar. Maybe over time i could master grammar. Theirs know one, who can write a perfect paper with no error that's why most writer have co -writer. As far as my writing goes I hope to continue to excel in writing by improving in compound and complex sentence, outline, and grammar because their always room for improvement so I’ll continue to write until I’m confident about my writing skill.

[

WalterG

walter.grajeda — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:21:49 CST

Walter's Writing Portfolio

About me: This may be an introduction, yet what can I say my name is Walter I am a friendly person get along with everyone. I am finishing my first semester of college this is exiting.
My Essays:
- Essay #1: Essay #1: Study Habits
- Essay #2: People and places outside of campus
- Essay #3: Super Size Me Reaction
- Essay #4: Deciding of going to college
- Personal Reflection Assessment #1: MidTerm Assessment
Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

While writing an essay factors can occur are essays that where successful, skills that need improvement, and the learning that has occurred while writing assigned essays. Essays that where successful where I have to say essay number four which was titled Super Size Me Reflection. This essay has made the chance for me to express my feeling about the particular movie and my thoughts about it. This also had given me the chance to reflect on the plot of the movie on how it relates to the real world of today. Another Essay that was fame was essay five which was deciding on going to college this has gave me a chance to write a cause or effect of something by only choosing one side of the subject that I have selected. This has also given me the chance to do this on my own pick my own subject and do the writing process on my own. These are just some of the essay's that had made me a better writer. While writing essay's it seem that I lack on some skills and decently need some improvement on. The problems that I need definite improve on are writing longer sentences and not writing sentence fragments, the usage of more vocabulary words, and paragraphs need to be longer than five sentences. What I would improve on if I had more time it would be the usage of using more vocabulary words. This would serve as a more sincere to my writing assignment and would make more since with other big vocabulary words. These are the things that I need improvement on while writing essays. The learning that has occurred while writing assigned essay was being self deciplen on getting the work done and make since out of it. While in the other hand I have learned to use concept maps and the use of an outline to plan out your ideas before writing the essay. To think realistically about the topic that you are about to write and make it your own personal one not some other persons. Come up with original work concept of your own sincere work. This is what I learned as the assigned essays where given during the course of the semester. Writing essays in this course had thought me the basics of just the different types of essays and the different ones that there are. More over I had some successful essay and I am proud of them while I do still need some improvement over time I will get better with my writing the more I practice this. Over all there has been a lot of learning while the assigned essays where given and I feel that I have improve a lot on my own. This class has been an over all successful one with the basics just for me to improve upon. This is all that I have learned over the course of writing essay after essay.

BrandiC

brandi_88 — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:44:05 CST

Brandi's Writing Portfolio

About me: HI my name is Brandi i just graduated from high school so this will make my first year i am studying to be a pediatrician. Im 19 years old i have 5 sisters and 2 brothers.
My Essays:
- Essay #1: School
- Essay #2: People and Places on Campus
- Essay #3: Crash
- Essay #4: College
- Personal Reflection Assessment #1: MidTerm Assessment
Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

As I look back in the beginning of when I first came to this class I did not know much about five paragraph essays and sentence structures. When I came from high school I did learn these things but I forgot so I had relearned it again. This class also taught me a way of organizing my schedule so I want get things all mixed up I also learned some new ways to brain storm my papers I know that these new ways will help me with my future essays.

English is not one of my favorite subjects I am not a good writer, writing doesn’t come easy for me. In high school I always had somebody there to help me write my papers. Now that I’m in college I have to learn how to write my own introductions and come up with my own thesis because once the teacher explains it that is it and it’s up to me to get help if I need.

I believe that this course will help me in my next English classes because this course taught me the basics of writing an essay, for instance the three parts that go in to an introductory paragraph. Although I know the steps for writing the essay I still sometimes forget what to do. I’m not good at writing papers when I am given a subject because I may not know much about so I start to get frustrated because I’m thinking about the dead line and I tend to forget what I want to say.

The topics that we wrote about in class I thought were really interesting because they really made me think. I like the essay I wrote about the places on campus that helps me succeed because I learned the resources I can use to help me get through college I love going to the tutoring center because it’s people there that can help me write me papers.

The things that I learned in this course I will make sure that I carry it on to the next level. I’m happy I started off on this level because now I will know the basics to writing a good paper. Now I know were my weakness of writing a paper are and I will practice so I can get better

BrandiC2- essay 4

brandi_88 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:00:43 CST

Essay #: 4
Title: Success in College

When you graduated from high school what did you think you would do next? If you thought about going to college here are a few things that I am going to tell you about that help’s me to be successful in college The things on campus, what I can do to help me and the people that inspire me to do well.

The places on campus that can help me be successful in college is the library because it is very quite and there are not too many distractions. Another place that I like to study at is the technology center because they provide lots of computers for people to work on and if you don’t understand how to do something on the computer the people there can help you. Another thing that can help me be successful is the free tutors that they provide for the students that really need help.

Things that I can do to help me be successful In college is, I try to keep a positive attitude towards my classes because if I have a negative attitude it will start to reflect on my work. Another thing that I can do is buy me a calendar so I can keep track of all my home work assignments, test dates and any other appointments that I have like doctors, dentist and even my work schedule. A calendar also helps me to manage my time because some times I forget things and I make plans on days where I had important things to do and then I would have to reschedule. I also try to encourage my self to not give up because if I give up I will be giving up on my future and I will hurt a lot of people that are counting on me to do good. I also don’t listen to people when they say negative things about me like I’m not going to make it I don’t even pay thoughs people any mind because I know that I can do any thing if I just put my mind to it.

My family plays a big role in my life because they all want me to do well. When I feel like giving up they tell me not to give up and they say it want always be this hard. My mother also encourages me to do well she tells me that she is really proud of me because I am the only one out of her four daughters to go to college. Even the song artist that I listen to has inspired me to not give up Yolanda Adams says life may throw things at you but you just have to have the strength to go through those obstacles and you can’t give up. People all around me inspires me to do good in college they all have some kind of encouraging words to say to me.

There are so many things on campus that can help me be successful, I can also help me to be successful and the people around me can also inspire me to do well. I am so happy that I have people in my life that really cares about me because if I didn’t I probably would have given up already.

Personal Reflection: I have trouble writing my introduction and my conclusions i think that is my weakest areas in writing papers.

BrandiC2-essay 3

brandi_88 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:57:15 CST

Essay #: 3
Title: Crash
Have you ever gone some where and some one treated you different because of the color of your skin are your heritage? Crash depicts the racism, personal conflict and redemption. We say and do things to people but we don’t realize how that affects them.

One of the issues that were dealt with in the movie crash was racism. All of the main characters were perpetrators of racism or stereotypes the character “Anthony” was (portrayed by Chris Bridges) had a negative comment about every race the he encountered. There were situations were people had to interact with other races and acted ignorant and insensitive. For example Anthony’s car was not working so Anthony and his best friend Peter (portrayed by Lorenz Tate) had to walk to their destination Peter wanted to catch the bus but Anthony said no because the big windows that they have on the bus is for every body to see the black people that are reduced to riding on it.

The characters also had personal conflicts within themselves. Graham (portrayed by Don Cheadle) all he wanted was acceptance from his mother because he felt that she only cared about her youngest son. Mr. Thayer (portrayed by Terrance Howard) he was battling with his ethnicity he was black but he tried to be white but all the people around him only saw black. The owner of the corner store kept getting robbed because his back door was broken. He thought it was the lock so he called someone to fix the lock but he didn’t understand that he needed a new door.

The characters went though situations that altered their lives and opinions. Officer John Ryan was a dirty cop he pulled over an innocent couple he and his partner Tommy frisked the couple officer john while he was frisking the wife he molested her too. Towards the ending of the movie he ended up saving her life. Another form of redemption is Anthony car jacks a couple and later on releases a van of smuggled Asian immigrants. When Miss Colbert fell down the stairs the only person who helped her was her maid Maria, there were still some unresolved issues.

We still live in a world where racism still exists. I believe crash was trying to get us to understand how some people really are. Some people are nice enough to realize that they were wrong and they will do something to try and make it better.

Personal Reflection: this essay was bigger so it took more time to write and get my thoughts together. I think i was to nervous and i was thinking to hard about the movie but i think i could have done better on the conclusion because i got frustrated and just thought of a quick ending and i did not reword my thesis thats also an area that i need to work on.

BrandiC2-essay2

brandi_88 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:52:09 CST

Essay #: 2
Title: People Off Campus
My family helps me succeed in life, they play a big part in my life especially my Aunt Vickey and Auntie Carol because, when I feel like giving up they encourage me to keep on pushing and stay in school. Even tough my Aunt Vickey is concerned about me doing well in school, she also can frustrate me a little but I know she wants the best for me. They also tell me that I need to utilize my recourses at school plus my Auntie Carol tells me that education is the key to success and it will help me achieve my life goals in being a pediatrician. My Aunt Vickey tells me that I need to look at my past accomplishments and see what I’ve done to over come those obstacles. Even a song artist that I listen to influences me to not give up. She says that “sometimes life will place a stubborn block in your way, but you have to keep the faith and bring what’s deep inside your heart to the light and never give up don’t ever give up on you.” I am so happy that I have people in my life that care about me.

Personal Reflection: I think this essay was better than the first my thoughts came a little better because the topic was interesting. I got to think about the people in my life that really helps me to succeed. i still need more practice writing in some areas but i know i will get better.

brandi essay 1

brandi_88 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:45:34 CST

Essay #: 1
Title: College versus High School

It’s been said that college is better than high school. College is completely different from high school because you have to pay for all of your class; the teachers aren’t as lenient as high school teachers, if you don’t turn your home work in on time the teacher is not going to give you extra time to finish it, it’s going to be your fault. You are held responsible for your on actions in college. High school is a whole nother story; the teachers are nicer and more lenient. They will let you turn in your home work late and still get full credit. Another thing about high school is you get two sets of books a set at home and a set at school, you don’t have to pay for school the only classes that you have to pay for are the electives. Even though you have a lot more responsibilities in college if you manage your time and stay on top of your home work you’ll have a better outcome in achieving your college goals.

Personal Reflection: this first essay that i wrote is the worst essay i've written for this class. I think if i could rewrite this essay i would pick something a little bit easier to write about.

Abraham Essay 4

Abraham.Suarez — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:24:09 CST

Essay #: 4
Title: The Choices We Make
The choices we make can be either positive or negative. At my young age I have made many choices, yet many or positive and yes there are some negative. The choices we make really depend on the way we feel. Every time I make a choice even if it’s good or bad it reflects the way I’m feeling. One of the choices that I made not so long ago and that I regret is drinking. Like I just mentioned choices reflect the way you’re feeling and at that time I wasn’t feeling good about myself. Sometimes when you make a choice you don’t think about the consequences. Most of the time that you don’t think of the consequences is when you’re making a negative choice. It was a Friday night; the plans were to go and party with my friends and have a good time. Before, I left home I had already thought about drinking, because of the way I was feeling. Things weren’t working so good for me, but yet I didn’t think of the consequences of drinking. While I was at the party I started drinking and drinking until I couldn’t drink anymore. I know I’m not supposed to drink but that’s the choice I made. The choices I make are usually smart choices, but at that time I made a poor choice. Now that I remember how I felt at the moment, I think the way I felt wasn’t enough to make that choice. Drinking didn’t help relieve my pain or changed the way that I was feeling. Instead, the pain got bigger and it made me feel worse then ever. This choice didn’t solve my problems, instead it made my problem bigger, and just because it was a poor choice that I decided to make. Poor choices can bring a lot of consequences to your life. Some times the consequences can be unforgettable and you have to pay for them the rest of your living. Fortunately my consequences were not fatal. I just felt really bad about myself for doing that. Worse yet, the next day I had a huge hang over, which for me was one of the biggest consequences of my choice, but I just think something worse could of happened to me. Reliving that part of my history would make me choose a different path. First of all, I would have never decided to drink that night. Instead I would have chosen to fix my problems the way they’re supposed to be solved. My choice would be very different if I was to relive that day. If only I would have known then, what I know now, my story would have been a whole different story.
Personal Reflection: [What did you do well? What still needs work]

Abraham Essay 3

Abraham.Suarez — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:16:13 CST

Essay #: 3
Title: Super Size Me Reflection Essay
Movies have a message that can make you think something different every time. Can you realize that a movie can change the way you think about certain stuff in life? Obesity is a major health problem in the United States; over 60% of adults Americans are obese. When I watched the movie SUPER SIZE ME I learned that eating junk food affects everyone. People in the Unites States really enjoy eating fast food, but unlike the majority of people I realize that I don’t want to be affected physically and mentally and struggle because of the consequences of junk food. One of the reasons that this movie got my attention was that fast food can affect you physically. I am a person that cares a lot about my physical appearance, and when I learned that eating fast food can lead to obesity, I set a goal for myself. Usually I would go to McDonalds at least four times a week. When I learned about the physical problems like diabetes and cholesterol I tried to lower my visits to fast food restaurants. Obesity diabetes and cholesterol are just a few of the side effects of an unhealthy diet. I think everyone in general not just myself should take a healthy diet in consideration. Mentally is the number one thing that got in my mind. Especially because of the way people, look at you. Every human being has a certain way of thinking of you. People discriminates each other first of all by the way you look. This affects you mentally because of the way you look you start feeling less than others. In one of the episodes in the movie Morgan frequently pointed out that throughout his day, he felt depressed and sad. This part of the movie actually proves that eating at McDonalds can be addicted and affect you mentally. Like I mentioned earlier eating at McDonalds is addictive and in most cases can be a struggle to stop eating there. Now a days people depend on fast food, just like a smoker depends on nicotine. What I’m trying to say by that is that it is as hard for an obese person to stop eating fast food, just like a smoker struggles to stop smoking. So why is there so much attention on the smoker and non on the fat food eater? There is more people who depend on fast food and the struggle continues for them because its not taken in consideration. Obesity is a major health problem in the United States that affect the majority of adult Americans. Most of the people in the United States don’t realize how fast food can affect you physically and mentally and how big of a struggle it can be to stop. I’m happy I watched this movie because it helped me realize many consequences of eating Fast Food; and now I lived a healthier life.
Personal Reflection: [What did you do well? What still needs work]

MelissaG

GarciaM — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:58:37 CST

Melissa's Writing Portfolio

About me: I am an outgoing and fun person, who loves to dance.
My Essays:
- Essay #1 How Dance relates to school
- Essay #2 Different resources to help you succeed in college
- Essay #3 Crash
- Essay #4: [Title]
- Personal Reflection Assessment #1: MidTerm Assessment
Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)
Self-Assessment There were many essays I have done to improve in my writing. I have done essays that reflect to college success and essays about a film “Crash”. In these essays I believe there was great success into completing them. Some of the essays I would say needed some improvement in some areas. Overall, I have learned many of the importances on writing an essay. In the majority of my essays they were successful. In some of the essays I explained my passion for dance. I used dance as an example for topics such as; how it can help someone be successful in college, and what it brings as a responsibility. I believe my essays were meaningful to get the point across. I tried to give a strong and powerful vocabulary. And with the main points I gave strong detail. These essays also could have used some improvement. Some of my essays were a little short. If there was an extension of time I believe I could have been more expressive and gone more into detail with each essay. I also could have done some more research on the individual topics to give a stronger image on the essay itself. For all of the essays I have learned about each one as I completed them. Each of the essays taught me the importance’s of explaining a topic in order. Making sure you edit and revise an essay was also important. I have also learned that writing an essay can help someone picture the point that you are trying to get across. I have learned as a writer, when writing an essay it takes time, thought, and importance. In my conclusion of my findings, I have explained what essays I have learned from. How I believed the essays were successful or not. The many improvements that I could have made to complete the essays. What I have learned from the essays, and as a writer myself.

Melissa Essay 3

GarciaM — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:23:57 CST

Essay #:3
Title: Crash

Crash I. Our world is beyond judgment. A. Is our society based on racism, or stereotype? i. Like they say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. ii. There are many people who are beyond judgmental. iii. Many characters in the film, Crash are represented to be racist to different types of people. iv. I believe there is more to being judgmental in the world. In the film Crash, the moral of the story explains strongly how our world is more than judgmental. v. So, are people in this world racist, stereotypes, or beyond judgmental? B. Thesis: According to related stories from the movie Crash, there are reasons why people are judgmental, racist, and stereotypical. C. Blueprint: I will inform you the reasons why our world is beyond judgment. II. Topic Sentence (Blueprint item 1): First I will explain to you about one of the reasons on racism. A. Example: In the movie Crash there are characters such two black-male friends, who live off of stealing cars. B. Explain: One of the black male characters believes that they don’t get treated as fairly as a white male does. In this case they look at it as a racial issue. III. Topic Sentence (Blueprint item 2): Another example of a racial issue is being stereotypical. A. Example: In the film there is a white couple that seems to be stereotypes of a Hispanic male. B. Explain: The Hispanic male has a job of fixing the white couples house door. The white woman believes that the Hispanic male is a bad person or a gang member. She believes this because she sees he has tattoos and because of his ethnic background. IV. Topic Sentence (Blueprint item 3): Now that I have explained to you about racism and stereotypes, I will finally explain to you about beyond judgmental. A. Example: There is a part in the movie where there is a black couple, and the female is being harassed by a white male cop. B. Explain: The female is not only looking at it as harassment but as being stereotypical and racist. Therefore, I believe she is being beyond judgmental. V. Conclusion: In conclusion those were some examples of the reasons why people are beyond judgmental. A. Reworded Thesis: Now that you have knowledge of some examples from the film Crash, you may now understand the reasons why people are racist, stereotypical, and judgmental. B. Summary (Blueprint items): I have explained to you the reasons about racism, how examples from the film can relate to racism. Another example about racism issues being stereotypical, and how people judge without understanding. And I also explained what it is to be beyond judgmental. How people are not only racist and stereotypical there both. C. Clincher: So now do you still believe our society is based on stereotype and racism?

Personal Reflection: In this essay what I did well was explain the importances about the film and give the important facts. I don't feel I need to improve on this essay.

Melissa Essay 2

GarciaM — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:21:13 CST

Essay #:2
Title:Resources to help you succed in college

There are many different resources for helping you succeed in college. I always look for resources (S). Before I give up when looking for resources, I try harder (CX). There are resources such as; family, friends, work, and even hobbies. For example, Marisa loves to dance (S). Marisa is studying to become a psychologist, and she has a hobby of dancing (CP). Having a hobby will keep Marisa successful in school. Because Marisa has a hobby of dancing, it will keep her disciplined and focused (CX). Marisa loves her family (S). Marisa talks to her family about school, and she looks up to them for advice (CP). Marisa has several classes with her friends; she also looks up to her friends for advice or help with being successful in college (CP). Marisa knows how hard it is to keep up with work. Marisa also knows how work and school are both very important. Because she uses these resources, Marisa will be a successful student, but she will need to use them wisely (CC).

Personal Reflection: In this essay what I did well, was explain the differences for helping someone succeed in college.

Kala

kala007 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:20:29 CST

Kala Fortune

My name is Kala and I am a freshman at South mountain community college. I love spending time with my family and friends and listening to music.
My Essays:
- Essay #1: [ Kala Essay 1SuccessInSchool]
- Essay #2: Kala Help outside of School
- Essay #3: Kala crash Essay 3]
- Essay #4: KalaEssay4ThreeJournals
- Personal Reflection Assessment #1: MidTerm Assessment
Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

Writing an essay has not always been easy for me. It is my least favorite part in English, but I know that writing an essay can improve my writing and help me learn better. I think that overall I am a good writer but there is always room for improvement. Some of my essays that I write come out easy and I can write them with no problem but with others I have a hard time getting started and end up not doing a good job. I think that I did well on the essays that I turned in, the prewriting assignments really helped a lot. They helped me plan out what I wanted to say and how I should start my essay. The assignments in my book also helped a lot. They broke down how I should go about writing a good essay and showed me how to do the prewriting activities. I think I can use some improvement in writing a good introductory paragraph. I think that that is the most difficult part in writing an essay because you want open up with something that will catch the reader’s attention right away. Sometimes it is hard to find the right words to say and that can really mess up your essay. I think that I can also improve on my prewriting activities. I should do more free writing when it comes to writing about the topics. I sometimes can write a lot about a subject and other times I can’t even think about how to start the activity. When writing this essays I found out that you can really write an essay on just about anything that you learn about. I think that the topics that we had were good and really made us think about what we wanted to say. I really liked the last essay we did about the movie Crash because the essay made me think about what I wanted to say and the movie had a good message in the end. I also liked how we could choose from the different ways to do a prewriting activity we did not have to stick to the basic mapping and clustering. In writing this essay I have learned that when a person writes they are sharing their personal feelings about something whether good or bad we should always stop to read what they are saying. I also learned that nobody is perfect so that means your writing is not perfect. You should always do your best no matter how good you may think that you are. Sometimes your writing is more helpful than you think and there is always somebody there to help you when you do need to improve your writing.

Melissa Essay 1

GarciaM — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:17:06 CST

Essay #:1
Title:How Dance relates to school

Dancing relates to school in several ways. Such as, passion, self-discipline, and practice. Dancing involves these things because they are just as important as going to school. To be successful you need to use these things as part of your daily life. Not just with dance, but also with school. You will learn what it takes to become a successful dancer in the following ways. Dancers have their own individual passion for dance. Some dancers like to put dance on their everyday schedule. Other dancers make dance their career, or job. All dancers need to have self-discipline. This relates to school in a matter that, students need to discipline themselves to be focused and successful. Self-discipline consists of physical and emotional strength. To have self-discipline it will make a dancer stronger. Dancers also need to practice, practice and practice. This relates to school in a matter that, to become successful students need to practice. Weather its, reading, writing, spelling, or anything that involves learning. Just like sports, or music, it takes practice to make you physically, and mentally stronger. If you do not practice, you may forget and start to become weak. Therefore, when using the skills of passion, self-discipline, and practice, you can become a successful dancer. These skills will also help you become successful in school.

Personal Reflection: In this essay what I did well, was explain my passion for dance and how it reflects to school.

Melissa Essay 4

GarciaM — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:57:45 CST

Essay #:
Title:

[Cut & Paste your essay here]

Personal Reflection: [What did you do well? What still needs work]

Axel

axel10 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:53:53 CST

Axel's Writing Portfolio

About me: I'm a friendly person, I like to play soccer and I also like to go to parties. My name is Axel, but my friends call me "ACX"
My Essays:
- Essay #1: Importance of school
- Essay #2: My parents and friends are the role models for me.
- Essay #3: Supersize me (movie review)
- Essay #4: Classificaton 5 paragraph essay
- Personal Reflection Assessment #1: MidTerm Assessment
Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

I never thought I will get out something good out of this class. I am surprised of what I been doing. I been doing essays, but not that successful as the ones I made in this class. I feel proud of myself. Successful is one of the keys to succeed in life. I had used many skills to improve my essays. Skills are another of the keys for education. My personality also helped on the learning of the writing of essays. It makes me think as a writer. During the first semester of college, I felt like a stranger in my English class. I introduced myself to the teacher, and then the writing portion of the class came. At first I thought I was not going to be successful in the essays, because I thought I was the only college freshman. I made my first essay and handle it to the teacher. I was nervous, because I didn’t know what my grade was going to be. Then I made three more essays I felt the same way like the first one, nervous. At the conferences, the teacher told me my grades of the first two essays. I was surprised. In the first one I got a 98%, but in the second one a 76%. To be my first time writing essays in college I did great. I was so happy and very confident about myself. It was t hen when I use my skills to improve my work, because I know that I could it done better in the second essay. I did the second essay in a hurry. I could it spent more time in it. In the first essay time was the skill that I used in order to improve it. I also used many examples of the topic, so it could it be good. I have to work in m y spelling, because I am not that good in writing big words or sentences. In order to do that, I have to put more effort to what I am doing. That is when my personality comes out. My personality also plays a big role in the improving and the learning of the essays. I had learned about myself as a writer, and about how to write an excellent essay. When I am writing an essay I feel confident about me and think like a writer. I did not know how to write an essay, but since the beginning of the semester my thoughts change. I grow up inside of me as a writer. I have learned that obstacles are just a piece of life that I have to face. My personality had change, now I think positive about the things that I am going to do, and why I am going to do those things. I know that inside of me there is a writer waiting for a moment to come out. Remember, there are many keys to successful, but the one’s that are helping me succeed in life, are the one’s we all have. Skills and personality had helping me develop a new kind of learning, that in the future I am going to need it. We need skills to improve and to make things up, and we use personality to keep up our dreams. If you cannot succeed, then you should learn about these.

Freshman Composition Wiki - Recently Updated Pages

Example Student

Ugly Girl's Writing Portfolio

About me: I am a freshman at SMCC, and I am studying to be a pharmisist. I hope to transfer to U of A when I'm finished with my AA degree at SMCC. I love to play on the computer, and my favorite musical artist is Janet Jackson. JJ is awesome!

My Assessments:

Personal Reflection (Assessment #6)

Alisa Assessement 1

MichealD

Michael D's Writing Portfolio

About me: Hey I am Michael a student at South Mountain Community College. I also play baseball for the school and play center field.

My Essays:

Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

Abraham

Abraham's Writing Portfolio

About me: I'm a frendly person I like to have a lot of friends. I like to play soccer and go to parties a lot.

My Essays:

Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

KennethH

[kenneth howard]'s Writing Portfolio

About me: well I'm the only child, I'm from lake in the hills, IL i just move to AZ , i enjoy try to figuring out ways to become rich (as you can see I'm still working on it !)

My Essays:

Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

WalterG

Walter's Writing Portfolio

About me: This may be an introduction, yet what can I say my name is Walter I am a friendly person get along with everyone. I am finishing my first semester of college this is exiting.

My Essays:

Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

BrandiC

Brandi's Writing Portfolio

About me: HI my name is Brandi i just graduated from high school so this will make my first year i am studying to be a pediatrician. Im 19 years old i have 5 sisters and 2 brothers.

My Essays:

Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

BrandiC2- essay 4

BrandiC2-essay 3

BrandiC2-essay2

brandi essay 1

Abraham Essay 4

Abraham Essay 3

MelissaG

Melissa's Writing Portfolio

About me: I am an outgoing and fun person, who loves to dance.

My Essays:

Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

Melissa Essay 3

Melissa Essay 2

Kala

Kala Fortune

My name is Kala and I am a freshman at South mountain community college. I love spending time with my family and friends and listening to music.

My Essays:

Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)

Melissa Essay 1

Melissa Essay 4

Axel

Axel's Writing Portfolio

About me: I'm a friendly person, I like to play soccer and I also like to go to parties. My name is Axel, but my friends call me "ACX"

My Essays:

Personal Reflection (Assessment #2: Final Exam)