Jordynn Nielsen 1

Trevor Smith

English 1010

10 Aug 2020

Before taking this English 1010 course, I absolutely dreaded writing, specifically

academic writing. For me, writing was the most anxiety-inducing task, second to taking tests.

Not only did I find it impossible to articulate my words onto paper, I knew once that daunting

task was completed something worse awaited. The crippling peer reviews. However, shortly into

the course, my dislike for writing, very slowly, began to diminish. The first couple of

assignments of the course illustrated the importance of writing a not-so-good first draft. I believe

one ideal that made me despise writing was the false concept of how much easier it was for

others to write, and not only that, but it was easy for everyone to get it right on their first try. I

now know and understand that writing can be difficult for everyone, even for those who

absolutely enjoy writing or those whose profession is dependent on writing.

The first assignment I was able to connect with and learn from most was the Notebook #3

First Drafts. That was the assignment that lifted the curtain of misunderstanding and helped me

begin to be more confident in my writing. The first, most important step in writing the first draft

is to just begin writing. Get all thoughts, ideas and questions onto the paper in order to have

something to work off of. Without that not-so-great writing, there is no potential for something

great to be produced. The next assignments I appreciated were the annotating and the rhetorical

situation assignments. Because of these assignments I was able to learn better, more effective

practices when it came to analyzing. As I was doing the assignment I was able to become a more

critical reader and I was taught to see and identify not only what the text said, but how the text

was said and what the text is doing.

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As I mentioned before, with the assignments included in this course I was able to become

a better critical reader, which allows me to establish the rhetoric and action of the text, two

threshold concepts that I will definitely be able to apply throughout the remainder of my college

career. These skills are important in everyday life, as they provide the tools necessary to create

your own, proper opinions and better articulated arguments on matters such as current events.