Where I’m starting

Hello! My name is Abigail Stetter. I am a first year student at the University of California Irvine. I am from the Midwest, specifically Wisconsin, and I’ve been there all my life. My major is Environmental Engineering although I plan on adding a minor in global sustainability because I have a deep interest in the protection of the environment. If you want to know more about me just click “Me in 6 words”.

Last English Class:

My last English class was taken during my senior year in high school; it focused on comparing novels through literary devices. The class also covered plays and poems but it was mostly a preparation course for the exam at the end of the year. One of the most important things I learned in that class was when the teacher pointed out that there is no deeper meaning but a wide range of different views that people can take. I thought that was a really cool point that also made it easier to express my ideas. Another important thing I learned was how to format a formal essay correctly. In all of my previous English classes I was never taught how to format essays, it was expected we already knew how, so that was something I thought would be useful for the future.

Self-Assessment:

Currently I think my ability to write and communicate my thoughts clearly through text isn’t very good. I have a weakness with grammar and the technical aspect of writing because I was never taught basic grammar or writing functions which hindered my writing. In past classes when the teacher would assign a peer review day I wouldn't know how to edit my peers papers because I couldn’t tell what was incorrect. I believe this was because I don’t know basic writing conventions. One of the times I felt most successful in an English class was my senior year class. The area I excelled in was reflecting because that was a requirement for every assignment, so I got better at it as time went on. Although the reflections never looked back at how the writing quality was, it was more of a reflection on how the process went in creating the final assignment.

Diagnostic Test:

The Language and Grammar Diagnostic test was a struggle for me. When I looked at the first question I didn't know what subject-verb agreement was’ in fact on most of the questions my answer was a complete guess because I didn't know how to go about getting the correct answer. Although I did do better than I thought I was going to, I don’t know if that was luck or because I actually knew the answer. The questions I most often got wrong were the subject-verb agreement and punctuation. The ones I most often got correct were identifying incomplete sentences and pronoun references. I noticed the questions about commas were about split down the middle which is interesting because most times when my papers get edited I’m told I use too many commas so I didn’t think I would get most of those questions correct.

Core Elements of Class:

Syllabus:

1. The syllabus states that I should plan on spending 12-14 hours per week completing the required work: reflection blogs, exploratory writing, podcast, narrative essay, and website. It’s highly encouraged to be curious and stay on top of all the work so I do well in the course as well as don’t get too overwhelmed. There is also a section about being respectful and communicating with the professor and about the plan made for issues concerning plagiarism.

Course Objectives:

1. The main course objectives are to improve reading and writing skills through practice readings of a variety of texts and reflection posts. The class should create and help sustain useful reading and writing habits to improve overall confidence and accuracy of communication.

Grade Contract:

1. The grade contract for this class is present to emphasize improving and receiving feedback from written work instead of thinking about the grade; it also states the student will earn a B by completing all assignments showing the reason for the contract. It outlines all the things needed to receive a B mainly showing effort and improvement in writing skills.