Napolitano 1 Nicole Napolitano Professor Susan Lago English 1100-College Writing 16 December 2013 My development as a writer Writing never

came easy. Even as a young girl in elementary school to a freshman in college, I always struggled with writing assignments. Throughout high school there was a strict writing style that was enforced: introduction, body, and conclusion. As a freshman in college and being introduced into English 1100 College Writing, it caused my writing to be drawn down the path of a opinion based structure. The drastic transaction caused my writing to overlap and form into an awkward piece of literature. I found myself finding it exceptionally difficult to express my thoughts down on paper. My first essay, The Necessity of Sadness, allowed me to learn from my mistakes. Looking back on it now I realized it needed a lot of improving. Not only does it lack a central claim but it also lacks structure. The phrase, Sadness is essential in order to make an individual stronger, was repeated over and over through out the end of my paper. I clearly meant to make this my central claim but never backed it up with strict evidence. What I should have done was stated the central claim in my beginning paragraph and back it up with evidence in the following paragraphs. The paragraphs should contain personal experiences and evidence from the Authentic Happiness Test in order to prove my central claim. In my next essay, The Alterations In Education, allowed me to strengthen the downfalls that my first paper expressed. Although I received the same grade, I feel as if my evidence became weaker. In my first paper, I didnt have enough evidence and in the second paper, I had too much evidence and

Napolitano 2 failed to explain my connections between the evidence and the central claim. There were a many points that were irrelevant and would have done much more justice without being in the paper to begin with. Although this paper lacked support, it had a strong central claim unlike my first essay. Along with a strong central claim, it also contained a supportive synthesis. I used the quote, Instability is meant to be normal (Sennet 315), in order to explain the situation with my mother. She worked all her life as an insurance agent at State Farm Insurance Company and one day that building announced that they would no longer be residing in Parsippany anymore. They gave the employees an ultimatum; either move with the company or stay and lose your current position. This synthesis made me feel proud because my teacher noticed it and commented on it. It gave me the boost I needed in order to improve on my next essay, Behind The Doors of A Rumor. The final product of this essay earned me a well deserved A. I was able to express my thoughts down on paper and fully explain the evidence connection to the central claim, which was unsuccessful in the first and second essay. I still need to improve in this area. In one paragraph I talk about the rumor then start talking about Knapps idea of good rumor. The paragraphs do not flow and connect with each other. I make each paragraph a separate point instead of connecting with one another. I tried to fix it in my fourth essay, Warning TO All DES Patients, but I was still unable to connect my ideas. My fourth essay topic was bigger than I had imagined. For this research paper I decided to write it on the drug DES. This drug was extremely technical and caused some ideas to become hard to follow. I used the case verdict against Margaret Perrotte in order to better explain the damages it is doing the community but only caused confusion to the reader. If I were to change this essay, I would have to take out certain pieces of evidence to prevent the confusion that this

Napolitano 3 essay topic has to offer. The evidence may have been lacking but the structure was on point. I was able to stay away from stating facts after facts and successful was able to explain the connection between the evidence of the DES drug and the central claim. This piece of writing had its highs and lows but I was able to accomplish the structure I was lacking in the first three essays. Some of these essays were more challenging than others, which caused the variation of difficulty that each paper called for. By the fourth essay, I was able to structure my paper that allowed the connection between each paragraph. The ideas that are portrayed in my mind are much easier to express on paper then it was with the first essay. The high school mentality has been pushed aside, which allowed me to express my own opinion- based ideas and examples in the essays. I am very proud of how far I have come with my writing. These essays allowed me to view a different side of the writing field.

Napolitano 4 Works Cited Sennett, Richard. No Long Term: New York and The Corrosion of Character. Writing and Reading Across The Curriculum. Ed. Behrens, Laurence and Rosen, Leonard J. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2013, 2011, and 2008. Print