Critic on College Comp 111-49

Dear Prospective Student,

This is my first semester back in college in more years than I am willing to tell you. This College Comp 111 class started off easy enough with more “busy” work than anything. In this class, you will read many articles and essays, some of which you will discuss in class and other I suppose were just for entertainment, and a lot of chapters in your book. Although I have to say, I really enjoyed the short YouTube videos of George Carlin and the Daily Show’s mocking skit on CNN’s “facts reporting”, and several others that were amusing and informative. Sometimes all the required reading can be a bit much to print and keep up with, so my first suggestion would be to buy a 3-ring binder and tabbed dividers and label them Course Outline, Course Text, Notes on Videos and Prompts, so you can find them easily if and when you discuss them in class. Print all required reading in Course Text and write notes in the margins and highlight any important points. I would also suggest taking the basic computer course before taking this class. Word, internet research and basic computer skills are a must in this class otherwise you will be spending a lot more time then necessary on each assignment.

I hate writing about myself. So the Diagnostic Essay (Original and Revised), What You Believe, Bog and Rhetorical Analysis were all hard papers for me to write. It was hard to think of a topic or example that I could write about, that would satisfy the required topic without having to get too personal. Especially since classmate were going to be reading and critiquing our essays. The Argument paper, although it required a lot of time and research, was my favorite. I could express my opinion in writing without it being personal. But even this paper I found frustrating because I don’t feel like we spent enough (any) time in class really going over how/when to cite other peoples ideas in our paper and how to avoid plagiarism, or how to do the work cited page properly. I found myself pouring over the Little Brown Book trying to make sure I included all the required information. Is the correct information in italics? Are all my periods and commas in the correct place? Before finishing this paper, it would have been helpful to have our Annotated Bibliography graded and returned, since this was based on our Argument Essay and would have let me know if I was doing anything wrong. Since I only made an 80 on the paper, I assume I made some mistakes, one of which I later realized was not putting each entry in alphabetical order. Did I lose 20 points just for that, or did I make other mistakes? Who knows! Any other mistakes I made are sure to be repeated on my final argument paper since I don’t know to correct them.

Although this course started off reasonable enough, I have to say towards the end it became very overwhelming. The workload was not evenly distributed and since I am a working adult and mother, taking three other classes, I found myself very overwhelmed. Half of our assignments, including our biggest project the Argument Essay, where due too close together, causing 800 out of 1000 points to be due within three weeks of each other. I felt like a recluse as I worked on one project after another, still doing the “busy” work reading for class and trying to keep up with the homework and studying for my other classes also. I hardly had time for my family and when asked what was for dinner, the answer was “Soup and Sandwiches, again” way to often. And the first time class is cancelled for whatever reason your initial thought is “Whooohooo! I will go home and get a head start on one of my writing assignments.” The excitement is quickly gone when you realize that the one hour class you had already showed up to before you knew it was cancelled and spent the time doing the homework to prepare for is replaced with about 2 – 3 hours of extra reading and a Blackboard assignment consisting of writing a critic of 300 words or more of what you read. If it is the last class of the week that is cancelled, at least you have several days and the weekend to work on it before the next class when the new assignment is due, however if it is the first class of the week that is cancelled, you only have a day and a half before all this unexpected work is due, which can be very incontinent and through off your schedule for the week. Never again will you be excited about class being cancelled.

I’m sure once the kinks have been worked out, this will be a very enjoyable class. The instructor is passionate and very interested in inspiring his students, their ideas and creativity. He is also very interested in his student’s opinions and although it may not come across in class, he is very willing to work with you if you prove you are truly trying and not just slacking. Good luck in College Comp 111. As for me, I think I will take a break from writing papers for a while, skip College Comp 112 this Spring and take a Math class instead. Math is more my subject anyways.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Conway