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Nicole Fryer-Nesbitt English 111 Professor Didio December 11,2012 One Last Thing College English is the most unavoidable class a student dreads to take. I, as a student, dreaded taking this class so much because I am not a strong writer. As the semester draws to a close, I have come to have become a stronger writer, as well as an even better reader. By taking this English class and putting forth the effort, it has improved my critical reading and writing by helping me control my inner critic, identify, and use writing techniques, and how to do proper research and document it correctly using mla formatting. Taking English 111 class has helped me control my inner watcher that looms over all of my writing. In the beginning of this, I read in an essay about the inner critic in every writer. The inner voice is this evil little critic in my head that doubts and criticizes my every move. The inner critic is there as a hindrance and sometimes as a big help. I have learned when to tune out this voice and when to let it scream at my writing. Leaning to control it has helped me improve my writing skills as well as helped me to not doubt myself as a write. That is the one of the most important things I have learned in this English class. This class has shown me how to do proper research and document it properly. Doing research is important for any class. In this class, I learned how to properly use the mla format. By using mla formatting, I was able to properly document my research and

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how to correctly place it in my paragraphs. I learned that it was important so that I was not accused of plagiarism. Also by using this format, it shows that I am using credible sources and not just using made up information from any site that showed up on the internet. The single most important thing I have learned for critical reading and writing is identifying writing technique and using it when I write or read essays. This class helped me with finding and understanding the tone, audience, purpose, role, and refinement and using it. Identifying these techniques, in the essay I have read, has shown me the difference between a poorly written and boring piece of writing to a well written and exciting essay. In the essays that I have written in this class, I would use the writing technique outline to help me find my audience and role, as well the purpose of the essay. It gave me some help in organizing my thoughts and finding the subtopics of my general topic sentence. Taking an English class is one of the hardest classes I have ever taken because I had to challenge my writing abilities. After taking this class, I have improved so much because I understand the writing process better. This class has improved my critical reading and writing by helping me control my inner critic, identify, and use writing techniques, and how to correctly use mla formatting. These three things I will take with me throughout the rest of my education and in to my career. The semester is over, but for me, it just the beginning as a writer.