Abraham Frei-Pearson - Writing Challenges

The mechanics of my writing are pretty solid, but, like anyone else, there are areas that could use work. Sometimes I struggle with figuring out what declination I should use for pronouns (who or whom, he or him, we or us, etc.). There are some differences between what I have been taught and what is correct in this class. For example, I always thought there should be a comma before the and before the last item in a series. Apparently, that is not so in this class. Nonetheless, I think that my education has prepared me very well for JMC 2033.

Helen Grant - Writing Challenges

Grammar is my weak point. I know, without exception, that my paper will look like it's been in a red ink drive-by when it is handed back to me. I'm really nothing like my grammarian friends, the ladies I know join Facebook groups like: "I correct your bad grammar in my head while you're speaking"; become fans of "Grammar Girl"; or post links such as "Learn Your Damn Homophones". That said, I have always been in an advanced placement English classes from grade school all the way through high school. I think I got into these classes, not because of strong grammar skills, but because I could really dig the themes presented in class, have always enjoyed analyzing content, have written interesting stories, and aced the tests. However, acing tests is something I've not been able to accomplish since starting this course. So, even though I may have tested out of Freshman Composition, I don't think my pre-college English classes have been helpful in preparing for this course.

Brittany Aubert--Writing Challenges

Yesterday, my suite mate needed help with her history paper. Her TA told her she had a lot of grammatical errors. When I showed her how to do basic things such as semicolons, she exclaimed, "Wow! I never learned all that stuff!" This is why I feel that my high school prepared me well.

However, I'm far from perfect at grammar. Sometimes I mess up subject-pronoun agreement. Who/whom/whoever/whomever can be confusing. I tend to forget if it's "This is she" or "This is her" or "Us students" or "We students." But I'm still learning and hopefully this class will help me!

Stormy Morelli-Writing Challenges

Some aspects of this class have been fairly tough, mainly because I've only been writing academic papers. It has been difficult to use short sentences and one sentence paragraphs in my writing because I'm not used to it. Also, I don't think that my high school prepared me at all for college. I went to a small school that if you went to college at all, it would be a community college or a trade school. This class would be a whole lot easier if we weren't being tricked the whole time in lecture. It seems like this class isn't really that bad. It just has a lot of work that you need to stay on top of to do well. I think this class would be really tough to do well if you fell behind.

Michael Acker - Writing Challenges

I find grammar a daunting task. My high school did not do any review on grammar. The last grammar review I had before now was in 8th grade. The challenging part is writing correctly instead of writing the way you talk. I have started to try to apply the lessons learned in class to my speech in order to start thinking about grammar throughout my day. Spelling is not as tough for me since most things are typed and can be spell checked. The punctuation I find most difficult is commas. Commas are something that I tend to overuse in situations that do not call for them. English Comp in college also did not have very much grammar review and could have benefited from having some.

Colin Parajon - Writing Challenges

High school English class was my time to shine. I loved writing, and teachers loved my writing. I am beginning to realize very quickly that my journalism classes will not be as easy and enjoyable for me. I had mastered high school grammar, and now I am back at square one learning an entirely new set of usage rules. You and I/me (both) know/understand that being convinced/persuaded that you're your way is wrong can be frustrating. I hope KJW is as good at what she does as she keeps telling us she is. Wish me luck getting through this class.

Lab 6

Hi gang! Here is your assignment today. Please complete the blog in class and bring back with you the take-home assignment on Tuesday.

IN-LAB ASSIGNMENT: Post to your LABlog a 100-word comment about the challenges you face in writing correctly in terms of grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. You may make this humorous if you wish. Did your high school prepare you for this? If you don't face challenges, focus on why you don't.

Begin AP Stylebook Exercises (Stovall 3.7, 3.8, 3.9 and 3.10)

TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENT: AP Stylebook Exercises (Stovall 3.7, 3.8, 3.9 and 3.10)

Have a great weekend!

Michelle