Brady Knight
English Final
May 9, 2017
Reflexive Argument
Before entering my career here at Longwood University, I had always hated writing. I was a “math guy.” I would have straight A’s in my mathematics courses, but received B’s and C’s on my papers. Throughout high school, I never found my voice or my own style of writing. And to make matters worse, my papers where chalk full of grammatical errors and run-on after run-on sentences. Then, upon entering my second semester of college, I was looking forward to this writing and research class. Maybe this would be where I found my voice, where I might find a love for writing. Although I may never have a love for writing, I have found my own voice and writing style throughout this semester at Longwood University; as well as, improved upon my grammar, citation, and sentence syntax skills.
My first paper this semester “The Nutcracker Surprise”, where I discuss the steps I took to surprise my girlfriend at her last ballet recital, I had made several mistakes. The first mistakes I made were poor word choice. I wrote, “Essentially, a fancy way of saying dinner and show.” (The Nutcracker Surprise) when discussing Longwood’s Music Department Holiday Dinner. Another instance I wrote, “Since the beginning of our relationship when she was a freshman and I was a sophomore. I had seen every Nutcracker performance.” (The Nutcracker Surprise) which should be one sentence, not two. And lastly, my biggest problem with the paper, is that I had no argument. I did a fantastic job of providing the exposition and details of the story, but the underlying take away, the argument, or the morals of the story, were not there. In the ladder of the paper, I wrote about how I proved myself wrong that I could get what seemed impossible done if I set my mind to it. Which is great for myself, but the reader would take nothing away, only the knowledge of what I did and how I felt. Incorporating and thinking about the audiences of my papers is something that I have worked on, but still have a lot of improving to do. This first assignment allowed me to find my voice and become comfortable with my writing style, but debuted my how much I need still needed to improve in my grammar and writing skills.
Although I considered myself a mediocre writer, I still had a some very great moments. My third short writing assignment is “What is the Fracking problem?”, where I argue how fracking is a reliable, efficient, and safe method of obtaining natural gases. In the paper, I did a great job of citing sources, and bracketing my supporting evidence with my argument. From the paper, I state my argument, “Many activists claim that fracking has contaminating cities water’s supplies and has caused serious damage to people lives.” I then provide evidence quoting “’Environmentalist say potentially carcinogenic chemicals used may escape and contaminate groundwater around the fracking site. The Industry suggests pollution incidents are the results of bad practice, rather than an inherently risky technique.’ (BBC News),” and then close my argument, “So although there is serious concern about the environmental effects, when done correctly by licensed companies, fracking poses no threat to any water supply.” (What is the Fracking problem?). In those few lines, I made sure that my argument came through, my own style came out, and I had not made any grammatical syntax mistakes. This was one of my favorite assignments because I felt that I had made all the right moves in improving my writing and proving to myself that I was not just a mediocre writer. But in the same paper, I made a few mistakes too. I failed to provide anything close to a naysayer’s argument. The sources that I did use were all pro-fracking, or were in relation with a fracking company. I did not include a source talking about fracking has negatively impacted a person’s life or livelihood. I was very quick to provide sources that shot down a naysayer’s argument about flammable water or dangerous chemicals, but never did I provide a concrete example of naysayer. So, although I was proud of making sure my argument was known with credible sources, I still made mistakes in my writing. It just goes to show that I still have much to work and improve upon, even after growing and learning so much this past semester.
Moving past the beginning writing assignments and moving into my research paper. I had a lot of work to do. I needed to make sure that my argument was known, I had established credibility, provide concrete evidence, as well as naysayers into my argument. My research paper, “Difficulties with Mathematics” considered why children struggle with mathematics, and what society can do to fix those problems. Being a mathematics secondary education at Longwood University, I could establish my own credibility, as I know a great deal about mathematics and several aspects to teaching the subject. And because this topic was about my area of study, I incorporated my own personal voice and still maintained a professional tone. I also included several credible sources and a few naysayer arguments to my claims with proper citation. I had clear language and few grammatical errors. With this final research paper, I could show how much I have improved as a writer. But more importantly, it allowed me to see where my writing stands and everything that I still need to work on. Whether it’s a common grammar mistake or making sure I appeal to my audience, I know where I have grown throughout the semester and I know what I am going to continue working on as I am only starting my writing career here at Longwood as a freshman.