ENC 2135 Review

Progress and Plans for Project 1:

Prior to the conference I was unconfident with my work. I knew I had the basis for the story I wanted to tell, but I felt it had little organization. It was more of a reflection of my ideas than a complete work. While reading my writing aloud to Mat I realized that it was not just unorganized, but also repetitive. After reading my writing Mat made a few suggestions that I believe will make my work a stronger piece. One suggestion being to introduce an item in the story ,that allows me to recall memories of a certain occasion, in the beginning rather than in the middle. This will give my story a better introduction an offer the reader some insight to what is going on in the story. Following this I need to add more details about a trip that I had went on within the story. Since a big topic of my story is creating memories with my friends I also need to recreate these memories so that the reader has a better understanding of the connection I have between my friends. This may involve adding dialogue into my story. Following this I believe it would be a good area to introduce the family that the trip was centered around and also to share their emotional story. To end my essay I intend to use it as an introduction to project 2 and explain how this event will affect my actions within the future.

Progress and Plans for Project 1:

The conference for project 2 was beneficial to me. Mat was able to give me some ideas that will help improve my writing. If there was a spot that could be further developed he gave me tips on how I could do that. However, there was also one instance where information could be removed because it does not apply directly to my message. Moving forward with my writing I have a better understanding on how I should wrap things up. One, I need to include much more research into my writing. I also need to provide more details, such as examples, to the claims I make within my writing. Before the conference I did not have a lot of confidence about the progress and development. However, after the conference I have more confidence which will be helpful as I add more to my writing. The reason I am more confident is because I feel that I have a better direction and have a good plan of what to add or remove from my existing essay.

Final Reflection:

Heading into ENC 2135 I was not sure what to expect. Since it was my very first college class I was nervous that I would have to do a lot of writings. On the first day of class Mat described to us that we would only have three major projects. He then described the projects very thoroughly and especially project one. Which involved each student writing an essay that would highlight a text found in a community that the student was involved in. As we moved into other projects I believe Mat described the projects very well which made it very easy to create each piece of work. I also found it beneficial when Mat held conferences at the “Sweet Shop”. He began these by asking what my main concern was with my piece of work. With my answer being the focus he examined my writing and gave me tips that may help improve my writing. This gave me a set direction for my writings. Overall, I enjoyed the class. It was great to have Mat as a teacher who seemed to have a passion for what he was doing and actually cared about the work of each individual student. Not only was he passionate, but also does a spectacular job at allowing students to express themselves through their projects, I am definitely glad that I got Mat Wenzel as my teacher. I feel that I had many opportunities to step out of comfort zone and be successful with things I presented to the class. I also cannot forget to mention the donuts he brought class on the first day. That was a great way to begin English.