Introduction

When I learned I did not pass the U.C. Analytical Writing Placement Examination, I was

taken by surprise. I had always considered writing to be an area in which excelled, but I came to

realize that my writing in high school was graded in a very lenient manner. I feared that my lack

of experience with rigorous English classes would result in my failure to meet the university's

expectations.

On the first day of class, my professor recommended that we reevaluate our approach to

reading and writing. She encouraged the class to be creative when developing arguments and

stressed the importance of avoiding the basic five-paragraph essay. I had trouble avoiding the

five-paragraph structure because I was accustomed to developing arguments using an

introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. I learned that this

approach is not the most effective because it restricts each piece of evidence to only one

paragraph and only permits the writer to use three pieces of evidence to support a claim. In

regards to reading, the professor introduced the idea of active reading. She claimed that a crucial

step for truly conceptualizing ideas embedded in readings is to annotate text. In order to strongly

grasp the readings, she recommended rereading. I thought it was a waste of time that a professor

was dedicating class time to teach a group of college freshmen how to read, but little did I know

that I would benefit from her lesson.

My first assignment was to read and take notes on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The

professor said that after reading the book we would be assigned an essay. I found it difficult to

take notes on a book without being given an essay prompt; I was uncertain of what to search for

as I read. This caused me to dissect the book for textual evidence that could be incorporated into

an essay. Through active reading was significantly more time consuming than simply reading the
book, it helped improve my understanding of what I read. This approach to reading made me

realize that I often read without understanding the meaning.

This course forced me to dedicate more time and effort than I had in my high school

English classes. I was used to earning As on all my English papers, but in this class, I realized

that my writing needed lots of improvement. I often struggled to keep up with the rigor of the

class, but I prevailed by taking advantage of my professors office hours and reaching out to my

peers for help during the review process. Apart from using resources available to me, I learned to

implement new techniques and steps into the way in which I approached reading and writing.

The fact that this English class was composed of only fourteen students made it very easy

to receive feedback from the professor and ask questions. The small class size also made it

possible to have class discussions regarding assigned readings. My engagement in class

discussions helped me to gain an idea of how other people interpreted the readings. I found it

fascinating that even though everyone in the class read the same content everyone had their

unique interpretation. Listening to other perspectives helped influence my development of new

ideas.

I started off the semester with experience in writing rhetorical and literary analysis essays

but in this course, I was introduced to writing film analysis and synthesis-analysis essays.

Throughout the semester, I have been introduced to new concepts such as the importance of

sentence variety and subordination, but the most important concept I have encountered this

semester was the revision process. I have been familiar with it but never implemented it into my

writing process. In high school, I would often submit an essay and never look at it again. I never

had teachers who revised my writing with such scrutiny. I found it helpful to understand the

weaknesses in my writing and have the opportunity to reinforce them. Through the process of
revision, I have learned to form reverse outlines. To create one, I write a preliminary outline and

then begin to shift around the structure in order to find better combinations of content that create

a strong sense of subordination between paragraphs as well as help the argument develope

exponentially. This process results in having to reorganize my use of evidence, overall structure,

and development of main ideas.

Through the process of making countless mistakes and spending innumerable hours

revising, I have reconstructed my writing process. The concept of active reading has allowed me

to approach difficult readings in a more efficient manner. R1A College Writing was a very

rewarding class, and I feel that the time I have spent throughout the semester is clearly reflected

in my portfolio.