An ancient proverb reads, "A flattering mouth worketh ruin." I'm not looking for flattery certainly. To be sure, I'm looking to see or hear what everyone has to say about her/his writing experience at FIU.
If ENC 1102 is your first writing and rhetoric course, then I'd like to hear what has helped or hurt your development as a college-level writer. How has reading literature played a part? How has your high school teacher played a part (or not played a part)? Do you think that you were previously a blank canvas, so to speak, or did you come into ENC 1102 with a set of skills that needed to be honed or improved upon?
Has ENC 1102 or 1101 surprised you in any way? Bored you to tears? Angered you?
Please write freely. No one is being judged certainly. I'm hoping to learn from these responses.
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ReplyDeleteI came into FIU being a pretty good writer. I cannot say I had a bad experience in High School because I actually enjoyed my english classes . One of the reasons why I enjoyed them so much was because of the books or plays we read. I love writing about things I read and that is one of the things that I haven't been able to do here in FIU. Most of the essays I have written are comparing things, or talking about an issue and that is not the type of writing I like to do.
ReplyDeleteI personally find ENC 1101 AND 1102 to be a little pointless. I feel like we learned all we need to know about writing in High School and everything that we are doing now just seems like busy work. I'm glad that after this semester I'll be done with english because it's something that doesn't help me at all in my major. I feel like english are just two classes that are mandatory for us to take for no reason at all.
- Alicia Felix
I think that ENC 1101 helped me a lot more then 1102, but overall, the english classes here have helped me improve my writing. I feel that because i was given the chance here at FIU to write freely with almost no limitations so i was able to express my self in ways that i wasn't allowed to before. The reason i say 1101 helped more though is because i feel like teh assignments given 1102 are more frustrating. I dont think i have really learned anything through the 1102 assignments.
ReplyDeleteI really like the face that in my ENC courses, i was able to write a short essay with good quality because here, quality, not so much quantity, mattered. Back in high school, Quantity was very important and it was a lot more stressful for me to write because instead of actually thinking about the topic i was writing about, i would stress on how to make my essay longer.
-camille gonzalez
I already had you for 1101. I took you for 1102 because i liked how you conducted the class. This year is different though. I do not like it as much as last year. I'm the type of student that likes to do things on my own and i feel the extra work is unnecessary. Also i feel lke sometimes our discussions do not help explain the topic to me.
ReplyDeleteComing into FIU I thought I was a pretty good writer. At least that’s what my high school teachers used to tell me. In ENC 1101 I applied what I learned in high school, but according to my ENC 1101 teacher I had a lot of work to do. I used the new information I learned in ENC 1101 and transformed my writing to what the teacher wanted. Then according to my ENC 1101 teacher, I was writing up to college standards. Now in ENC 1102 I have more adjusting to do. I have had to change my writing to match what the teacher is looking for. Overall I have learned a lot from each teacher and applied myself. I think I still have some things to work on, but I am learning to slowly find my own personal way of writing that works for me, and that I am comfortable with.
ReplyDeleteWell, I've already given some insight on this type of prompt in ENC 1101: http://dnunez90.blogspot.com/2008/12/argument-essay-last-of-enc-1101.html
ReplyDeleteThe fact that I'm being asked to address a similar prompt reinforces my point--it's all repetitive. I wrote an argumentative essay in ENC 1101, and now I have to write one for 1102. I found 1101 to be a waste of time, and 1102 is really no different. I'm not a fan of writing classes because at this point the only thing that I can truly improve on is the grammatical aspect of writing which revolves around rules, and to be honest I feel like writing has too many rules as is.
I have nothing good to say about the point of these types of classes so I'd rather not get into too deep a conversation about it. I'm taking the class because I have to not because I'm hoping to gain anything out of it. Just like with 1101, I enjoyed the class atomosphere but found it to be pointless, and the same applies with how I feel about 1102.
All in all, I'd have to say that I am pretty satisfied with the way ENC1002 has turned out. In highschool, I was lucky to have an amazing AP english teacher my junior year; I really wish I could say the same for 12th grade! The AP Lit teacher I had as a senior was, for lack of a better word, a nightmare. Just as I had begun to finally develop my own style of writing, she made me change it.
ReplyDeleteI love reading and I love writing, and I am glad that English is mandatory. But I am just as equally happy that it is only really mandatory for two semesters (for non-english/education/etc. majors). That aside, I think that English classes are needed and necessary until students can conjugate verbs correctly. It makes me so mad when I see the words "You're", "Your", "There", "They're", and "Their" used incorrectly on college students' papers. Maybe english class sometimes is no help at all...
The thing I liked about this class was the freedom we were given when writing our papers. Also, I liked the flexibility of the schedule and the many revisions we were able to do before handing in final drafts. Additionally, I feel comfortable enough with the professor to talk to him about what I should do to change my essay and how I can improve. As for complaints, I really don't have any. I mean for the most part I think the essay writing was pretty straightforward, but I did have a little bit of trouble on the exploratory essay and the one we have to hand in on Friday. The objectives of the two essays sort of confuse me.
- Stephanie Sims
ENC1101 was awesome. I think I like it more than ENC 1102 because it was more about personal writing. It was all about my opinion and point of view and never did I have to analyze somebody else’s work. Sure reading other works of literature will open up our minds but I just find it tedious and boring. I found ENC1101 to be a more creative writing type of class and that’s probably the reason I liked it so much. There is probably nothing more I hate than research and a lot of ENC1102 is based on that.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to teaching, both of my teachers were good, they know their stuff. My ENC 1101 teacher gave a lot of tests and worksheets on grammar and sentence structure; I felt that was the best way for me to learn. I like both of my teacher’s style of teaching but when it comes to assignments ENC 1101 wins the prize. Both classes did help me improve my writing by writing clearer theses and organizing the paragraphs in an essay to make it flow better.
I was never bored in either class because I was always learning something new or re-taught something that I had forgotten.
Well This is my first Writing/English class at FIU. My senior year in high school I duel enrolled at Palm Beach College. By doing that I took English at the college. This helped me as writer alot. I could see it from my first essay to my last. I think that FIU might be the only school that emphasizes pathos, ethos, and logos. I understand the concept I just think it is stupid. I do like how each level of ENC has certain essays to cover. By doing this it allows us to learn different ways to write our essays. I also feel that my english professors (ENC 1101 and 2) are very helpful. In both classes the professors have heavily explained the topics to make sure that everyone understands it. I also like that both have everyone participating in class. I always look forward to my english classes.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think that I could write well coming into college. I don't really feel that I've gotten very much out of my ENC classes. To me, it's just a lot of annoying essays, and relearning things that my high school teachers have been drilling into me for years. It's enough to make me regret not having tried for an AP credit, if only to avoid having to flounder around while I try to BS yet another research paper. I know I'd enjoy ENC if it were more reading and discussion, and less research and tedious paper writing. All the formal writing, and lack of discussion just bores me to tears.
ReplyDeleteI found ENC 1101 to be a bit boring. I felt like I was being spoon-fed everything. Coming out of highschool I knew how to write, but I wasn't to familiar with MLA format and all of the "extras" of writing a paper. ENC 1102 is different because it is more independent work than in class. I don't particularly like the restrictions that are put on what we can write about. Yes, some subjects have been done over and over, but what if the student has a new perspective?
ReplyDeleteI absolutely hated peer reviews in ENC 1101 and I still can't stand them in ENC 1102. I think it is a bit pointless because how much do we actually listen to what our peers correct? I have my own writing style and I don't feel like I should tell someone else what to change in theirs.
As far as improving my writing skills, I think they have become better! Writing comes a little easier to me know, but I still don't feel like I'm an accomplished writer. In truth, I probably wouldn't be taking the courses if they were not requirements. That sounds horrible, but I don't care for writing that much.
-Shelby Buxton
To start off, writing has always been my weakest subject because ive never had the patience to sit down and just read books. But while in highschool I had an amazing teacher who was able to not only get me to read, but to stay awake in his class. He showed me a good outline that I try to always use in my thesis statements, and it helped me pass my AP exam.
ReplyDeleteNow that im in college I was definately expecting a harder course, which it has been, but i wasnt expecting a Professor that was involved in the whole process of writing an essay. I think the most helpful part of this ENC class has been the freedom which we are given to express ourselves. I have found it to be a thousand times easier to write about something that I actually care about instead of those boring topics which are forced down our throats in highschool. I also appreciate the revisions that we can make on our final drafts, thats when students learn the most from their essays.
Not to try and flatter or "brown-nose" you Professor, but this ENC 1102 has been alot easier then I expected and its not because the course is easy its because of the freedom that you give us.
-Daniel Ferro
I must say... Hurray to you Billy Lisenbee! It is very rare to find educators of any "core requirement" course who seem honestly interested in teaching something- or rather anything valid or worth knowing. Now I don't say this as a means of flattery but rather as evidence that your interest in student feedback does pay off.You listen to your students.
ReplyDeleteI did not take ENC 1101 at FIU. I have, however, had my share of both wonderful and horrific teachers. From the experience I have had in the past as a student the qualities of a great educator, in my opinion, are
1. a true understanding of the material/ class course
2. an interest in enhancing knowledge ( rather then pre made/test based lesson plans)
3. challenging assignments
I do believe you own those qualities and that is what makes you approachable ( which I believe to be the most important quality of a great professor.)
It is very easy to tell apart a professor who knows what he is talking about and one who simply read the chapter the night before.
However, I do believe there is always a need for a certain level of enforcement in any classroom. This is something I would have to say my ENC 1102 class lacked the most.
You as a professor, and especially as a writer understand the reasoning behind your assignments. Though it is more than wonderful that you are willing to explain the importance of your assignments to students, at the end of the day we the students have to just shut up and do them. Discussing assignments in class is very important yet, arguments about how "useless" or "boring" an assignment is during class time seem very irrelevant to me, and allowing two or three students to drag on their "points" as to why they don't want to do the assignment is honestly wasting the class' time AND MONEY on a subject that will do nothing to further their education.
I was somewhat disappointed with the amount of lessons accomplished during the semester. while the assignments were great the actual class time seemed somewhat useless in my opinion.
Which is a shame, I may not ever be a fantastic writer but I am certainly very interested in the subject at hand. i.e authors, books, writing skills, etc.
Before coming to FIU, my English and writing courses were purely structured out of books and procedural rules and regulations. Thus, amounting to a profound hatred; maybe not so much, more like, laziness... for writing. Since 3rd grade, I was placed in gifted classes for Language Arts and that's where the foundation for my fondness of writing began. We were unfettered, free to write creatively and imaginatively. It meant the world to me to be able to explore my imagination through writing. but, unfortunately, that fantasy ended quite abruptly once i entered middle school. Preparation for FCAT was forced upon us and we were restricted to writing in a certain way. By the end of high school, writing became something like an abusive relationship that, over time, numbs your senses. I wasn't even hoping it would get any better, i walked into my first day of ENC1101 thinking, "okay, suck it up, you can b.s your way out of anything..." My ENC1101 was class turned out to be exactly what i had hoped it NOT to be. The professor was relentless about assigning us paperwork, reading assignments from books, essays one after the other, in-class peer reviews...she was "old-fashioned", to say the least. It wasn't all that bad in the end, i passed with a 'B' but, i know deep, deep down inside i could have tried a little harder. Instead of clearing the slate, i continued to treat writing with the bitterness left behind by my passed experiences. I didn't make the best of it. so now, with whatever efforts i can muster, i'm trying my hardest to enjoy what is left of my writing courses for college. So, to answer your question, ENC courses haven't really helped my view on writing. Writing should be a means of escape, not torture.
ReplyDeleteFlattery may work ruin in the most extreme of cases (like calling a fat woman skinny), but i believe that most positive feedback instills a confidence in the person being complimented that causes them to be even better. It's the law of universal attraction. If you believe in something, It'll present itself to be true. But I digressed.
ReplyDeleteENC 1102 with you, mister Lisenbee, was far more than I expected. You have shown yourself to be much more hands-on than i could ever come to expect from any teacher in FIU. Who else types up individual responses to our essays? Your individualized approach at making us better writers is superior. And believe me, I'm not the kind of person to hand out compliments.
Not much can be said in terms of what you can do better. If anything, it feels as though you may be a bit too lenient on us, regardless that we're learning, which in the end is all that matters. And i don't mean lenient in terms of the speed by which you teach, or your expectations of us. I mean lenient in terms of how you grade us, and how much time you've alotted to us to complete a given assignment.
But what am I saying. Who doesn't love getting an A?
Really, if it's not broke, don't fix it, and your enc 1102 class is certainly far from broke.
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ReplyDeleteWOW! I have taken both ENC 1101 and ENC 1102 at FIU. To say the truth, I have been bored to tears. Sometimes, if not all times, teacher's fail to actually challenge students and instead overwork them. To say the truth, I do not remember the first or second papers I wrote for this class... The only paper that actually stands out to me is the paper on Necrophilia. It wasn't just a topic that I wanted to write about, it made me curious and interested. It was something I knew nothing about, and I wanted to learn more.
ReplyDeleteI think teachers fail to recognize topics going on around the world that their students would be interested in writing on. Teachers themselves seem to be uniformed about the world around them. It's so hard to find substance in pointless topics or text that we are not interested in. Meanwhile Flannery O Connor was interesting to me, I just don't want to write about her writing. If it where up to me, I'd rather write about books like 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed. A book about innocence being given away. A book about love and suffering. A novel I AM ACTUALLY INTERESTED in writing about.
Actually I think I'm going to use that for my research paper...
hmmmm....
PEACE!
I have always concidered myself an average writer, and in college that hasn't changed. I did have a set of skills, but I was openn and hoping to both improve and learn new skills. Both of my ENC classes haven't bored me to tears, even though I thought they would, they were nothing like I expected. At times they were a little boring, but they did surprise me. In high school in english class writing was so boring because we didn't really have any freedom. But in college even though we have assignments we have more freedom or lee-way which for me makes writing a little more fun. And the best way to learn is when your enjoying what were doing. I have been fortunate the for both my English teachers ratemyprofessor.com did me justice(cause some of my friends have really crappy teachers). Because it has made the English experience that I was dreadding much better than i expected.
ReplyDeleteENC 1101 and 1102 have been different then what I expected them to be. I feel like I have learned and improved my writing, but I still don't feel like I am a great writer. For me I have always seen it like this, your either an english person or a math person. Me I'm a mathlete.
You know, as I scroll down this posts’, many of them are negative which I find ironic. I think you are a great professor and there are teaching styles are for mature students. In ENC 1101 I switched teachers because I felt that she held no challenge for me.
ReplyDeleteIn ENC 1102 I feel challenged and expressing my thoughts comes easier to me this semester’s. However, I must say I was more passionate about my writing in ENC 1101 than in 1102. I guess that’s personal but I enjoy class.
I resent these comments because you treat us as adults and give us a lot of space and freedom to choose what we want to write about. Just because many of was really don’t have a direction is not a reflection of you as teacher but a reflection of our somewhat lazy way we present our writing.
The only thing negative I have to say about this class is that the grading process isn’t as fast as id like it to be. I’m a type of person that learns through mistakes and if I would get my papers faster, I would be sure not to make the same mistake in future papers. One thing that I miss for sure for sure is discussing literature in general but I do not think ENC 1102 covers that.
You know, as I scroll down this posts’, many of them are negative which I find ironic. I think you are a great professor and there are teaching styles are for mature students. In ENC 1101 I switched teachers because I felt that she held no challenge for me. In ENC 1102 I feel challenge and expressing my thoughts comes easier to me this semester’s. However, I must say I was more passionate about my writing in ENC 1101 than in 1102. I guess that’s personal but I enjoy class.
ReplyDeleteI resent these comments because you treat us as adults and give us a lot of space and freedom to choose what we want to write about. Just because many of was really don’t have a direction is not a reflection of you as teacher but a reflection of our somewhat lazy way we present our writing. The only thing negative I have to say about this class is that the grading process isn’t as fast as id like it to be. I’m a type of person that learns through mistakes and if I would get my papers faster, I would be sure not to make the same mistake in future papers. One thing that I miss for sure for sure is discussing literature in general but I do not think ENC 1102 covers that.
marilyn c.
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ReplyDeleteIn high school the English teachers I had weren’t very helpful. They would assign busy work just because they didn’t want to teach. In fact, the closest we would ever get to writing would be one-paragraph responses to questions on poems or just different topics. Because of this, I didn’t write too many essays and I became an average writer.
ReplyDeleteENC 1101 was a total waste of my time. My professor was horrible. She would sit there and talk about her son for an hour and when it came to assignments they had to be done her way. She wasn’t much help to her students and she would get annoyed easily when you would ask too many questions. I expected ENC 1102 to be a waste of my time just like ENC 1101 was. I’m more of a math person so writing isn’t something I enjoy and it is something that doesn’t come easy to me. ENC 1102 wasn’t that bad in the sense that we had more freedom and that we were treated like adults. We weren’t restricted to writing in a certain way and help was always available. What I didn’t like were the topics assigned, I know that this has nothing to do with the professor but with what the English department wants us to write. I just feel that some of them were kind of pointless. Something I think professors need to improve on is the amount of time it takes them to grade our papers. For ENC 1101 my professor gave us the grade for ALL of the assignments two weeks before the semester ended in order for us to revise. In my opinion that was kind of pointless. If they are given back before the next assignment is due then we would have time to fix our errors and not do them again in the next paper.
After taking these two courses I feel like I might have improved my writing skills just a little bit, but I still don't feel like I am a great writer
My writing experience at FIU has been lame to say the least. In ENC 1101, my professor would have us read a chapter in the textbook and then turn in an essay. The following week, the essays would be graded and returned.
ReplyDeleteIf the point of an English class is to better ones writing skills, this class failed. In order to help someone grow as a writer, you must address their specific needs. It's difficult to do this without a little extra effort on the professors part, which is why the one-on-one meeting with Prof. Lisenbee has been the most effective method yet.
I think that coming from Puerto Rico i definitely had a disadvantage in terms of writing skills. Although i consider myself to be a decent writer, just because i don;t really enjoy it, I do feel that what is struggle with the most if wording. I put together words that in spanish make sense but in english they don't and i wont recognize this sometimes. I feel like ENC 1101 didn't really help me with this. I did very well in the class but unfortunately she screwed me over so i didn't really appreciate that.
ReplyDeleteI do feel that my skills have gotten better this semester though. I saw it my essays. Thats why i believe 1102 has met my expectations.
To be honest I liked ENC 1101 a bit more because personally I don’t really enjoy analyzing someone else’s work. To me someone else’s opinion is their own opinion and does not concern me. This class was not bad though, I enjoyed reading “The Displaced Person” and writing about that instead of having to analyze essays all semester. It was also very helpful that Mr. Lisenbee was always there to help us, since not all professors are like that. I can definitely tell the difference between ENC 1101 and 1102, but it seems like every teacher tells us to write a different way. Before I came to FIU I considered myself a mediocre writer, now I honestly haven’t seen much improvement but I don’t think it’s because of the course since I feel like I just don’t have the passion for writing as other people do.
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ReplyDeletePrior to taking ENC 1101 last semester, I had not composed a paper in six years. As a result, I found ENC 1101 to be a bit of a challenge. It was not the assignments themselves that were difficult, but rather the process of getting reacclaimated in my writing. I approached the course with only the expectations of becoming comfortable expressing my thoughts, and getting a good grade. Being that I was so far removed from my last essay, I also did not enter with a perception of my writing ability. Nevertheless, leaving the course having met my intial expectations, I was able to draw my own conclusions about my capacity to write.
ReplyDeleteIt is not that I thought of myself in terms of a "good" or "bad" writer. I did, however, believe that I was equipped with the necessary tools to write effectively, along with some areas that needed ironing out. One of the areas, relate to the grammatical aspects of writing; an aspect that I found tedious and hoped that I would acquire along the way through osmosis. In any case, I was far from an empty slate. I brought all of my previous baggage, complete with misconceptions about my writing, and writing in general. Of course I did not realize my approach to writing was slightly misinformed, until reading George Orwells essays. Then little by little...
I realized that good writing is not being a verbal exhibitionist. It is not about the flaunting the SAT words you were forced to learn in high school. I remember being given a list of words that I had to incorporate in my essays. The result was much like a six year old putting on her mommy's shoes; I was awkwardly fumbling around with words I did not know, and ultimately an essay I did not own. Unfortunately, it is a practice that became imprinted in my writing. At times, I feel that if I don't use X amount of "eloquent" diction, then I have not produced mature work. However, what I have learned in this class, is that eloquent has nothing to do with being superfluous. Especially after reading Orwell's essay, I took a step back and examined my writing. The way I wrote, was not eloquent. It was not mature. It was wordy, excessive, and pretentious in effect.
With an awareness of my pitfalls as a writer, came a revised definition of eloquent and effective. Eloquence is defined as is "moved by foreceful and appropriate expression." I love that definition, particularly the word appropriate. Appropriate is not verbose; it's clear and concise. It's not about proving how articulate you are, or how many words you know. It's about staying true to the message you are trying to convey, focusing on what you are saying rather than how you are saying it.
I am by no means impervious to the habits I described. Just the fact that I said impervious, may appear to some that I'm falling into the very trap I have been trying to avoid. Maybe I should have used the word immune. Nevertheless, I think the most important thing that I am grateful for, that I have taken from this course, is the awareness. I now know where I aspire to be, as well as the components I need to change to get there. I am pretty sure this awareness began this semester in this class. Does mean I want to write about it in a blog, or write in a blog every week for that matter? Far from it. I did not want to do this assignment in the first place and now I've written a monologue. Go figure.
I've taken 1101 and 1102 and well 1101 was horrible. I had an old lady that supposedly an editor. She provided no room for personal expression and a sense of humor. I loved putting humor in writing but she kind of killed that for me. That is unless she had no sense of humor. ENC 1102 has been great compared to 1101. You have given us freedom to write about any topic and encouraged us to chose one that we actually like. One thing I have to say is that I hate drawing out topics/essays far beyond their expiration date. For the proposal and next essay for instance I am kind of at a loss on what to propose for my topic. Is it a proposal on a way to change/help/solve my topic. What exactly are we supposed to propose? Is it a proposal on our final essay? and if so what are we supposed to propose for our final essay. I might not make sense, but that's how my brain works.
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ReplyDeleteI have had a very good experience in my ENC classes. Although the essay where sometimes boring, I believe they all taught me something I could carry out with me through college. I think the fact that there was many different kids of essays helped me learn a lot too. The classes were much better than any of the high school classes i took. In high school I was never really taught how to write an essay well and because of that my ENC classes were very helpful. I did not really have any expectations for the class so it did not really exceed or fall short of anything. I also liked that we got to write an essay on a short story. I believe reading makes u a better writer and I would say that is one thing the ENC classes lacked. Overall though, I found my Enc classes helped me become a much better writer.
ReplyDeleteSofia Debs
My experience with enc 1101 was not as I expected it would be. In high school, writing was not emphasized as much as reading; therefore, I expected more out of enc 1101. The class was structured, which I enjoyed. However, I felt the material covered in the class was very generic. The writing assignments were not intriguing. The class seemed as if it could have been for freshmen in highschool due to the topics chosen. On the contrary, our enc 1102 has changelled me to step out of the "generic" box and into the creative box. This class has made me think about topics I had never touched upon. I have learned new ways to right and feel as though I am improving.
ReplyDeleteENC 1102 has been the first writing/english course I have taken at Fiu. I found the class to be helpful in improving my writing skills, because even though I found my high school experience in writing to be good, there were little things I was able to pick up from this course, that my high school teachers did not help with. In high school I felt as though all my essays had to be a certain length, making my writing wordy, when it shouldn't be. It's something I have a hard time with because of all the years I've HAD to do it. With taking this course, I realized it's ok to be concise and to the point. I don't need to drag on my sentences. However, I wouldn't say that my high school teachers were bad, on the contrary, I feel as though they prepared me well enough to get through college. I guess with every course I take my writing will evolve, as I pick up different things that make my writing better.
ReplyDeleteSteffi Guba
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ReplyDeleteMy high school english experience was very helpful, for my high school education; I think it helped me for the type of writing that I needed to use during high school but I was very good at it and I owe those skills to my high school english class.
ReplyDeleteI think that for english 1101 I had a base of knoweledge from back in high school, but it wasn't even half of what I needed to know to write the papers for 1101. I learned a lot, I learned about techniques and term that I hadn't learned before, I definitely got better at my writing.
Now, even though I learned and enjoyed my experience in 1101 I wasn't as prepared as i thought for 1102, fisrt I think that the essays of 1102 even though they have a thesis and en extructure that has to be met, it gives you more freedom, it gives you t he opportunity of writing in firdst person and writing all your opinions, I have to admit that the grading criteria is much harder than the one in my 1101, but i think that is is veru helpful because that way you do relize what you are doing wrong and how your writing can get better, besides we have the opportunity of rewriting the essays so we can fix our mistakes. I think this class has helped a lot and hopefully it helps me throughout all college, unless i get a teacher that doesn't like first person and freesom in writing, but I think that my writing skills are much better now, ofcourse I have a lot more to learn.
paula gutierrez
In Fall 2009, I enrolled in ENC 1101 and passed with an ‘A’. I didn’t expect to get such a good grade because, in high school, I passed my writing class, Great Books Honors, with a ‘C’. My high school teacher graded essays harder compared to my ENC 1101 professor. I tried my best to write a better essay every assignment. I read literature in Great Books throughout the year. Reading literature helped me recognize different formats of writing and introduced me to more advanced diction. Sometimes it was difficult to comprehend though.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, my ENC 1101 professor made me feel that my writing was up to par. Writing takes practice and both writing and rhetoric courses have helped me progress as a writer. My writing experience at FIU has been a lot of work. I came into ENC 1102 with a set of skills learned from ENC 1101 and high school courses that needed to be improved. These skills where slightly altered with the rules of writing, such as paragraph formatting. ENC 1101 and ENC 1102 are much easier compared to Great Books, which is surprising. I became frustrated at times with the essay but with peer review and my professors’ assistance, I was able to complete my essays.
-Britanya Woodstock
I liked both ENC 1101 and 1102 because they don't make you write essays like in high school with an introduction, a couple body paragraphs, and a conclusion. In high school the students that would use big words in their essays would be the ones that got A's. But in college, so far I keep being told to get straight to the point and be clear on what I am trying to say. This is the way I have always wanted to write my essays and it makes it easier for me to write more then i usually do. I feel like a better writer when i can express myself without having so many rules to my essay. In ENC 1102 I feel more relaxed writing my essays because you don't give us a limit on how many words or pages but as long as we give enough information and make our point clear in our papers. College has really made writing easier for me.
ReplyDeleteFor the first 3 1/2 years of my high school education, I went to school in a New Jersey suburb. I think partially because of that I haven't been straddled by the same forced conventions that other college students native to the Miami area have been. However, even though I feel that my high school English classes were less restrictive, ENC 1101 and 1102 were a breath of fresh air in regards to freeing up my writing. In both classes, and especially ENC 1101, I feel that I learned a lot of things concerning writing techniques and about the task of writing itself that will help in both college and the working world. There are probably some things I learned that I won't be able to use that often in college since I got the impression that the classes were somewhat unconventional compared to other college English courses. One thing I didn't like about the classes was taking days off from class to give more time to writing essays. In the long run, an extra 50 minutes for assignments probably wouldn't help us much and the class time might be used for something else. Overall, I liked the classes and would recommend them to anyone coming into FIU who wants to learn the basics of college essay writing.
ReplyDeleteDarrin Dorsey
I am an average writer. I came into college thinking that the ENC classes would really improve my writing more then they have. My ENC 1101 class stressed grammar and sentence structure. My ENC 1101 teacher was a very easy grader so I did not have to put much effort into my essays to get an A. The only new material that I learned in my ENC 1101 class was ethos, pathos, and logos.
ReplyDeleteIn this class, I have written many different types of essays. I dont think I have improved as a writer because I have not been able perfect any of the formats required. I do think that for higher level writers, this is the correct method to expand their writing knowledge. For writers like me, I think more general formats are necessary before we get to more tricky essay like the exploratory essay. Overall the class has not surprised me. It isn't a very hard class but it does demand time and effort.
I've never considered myself a creative writer. Creative yes, writer no. One out of two ain't bad, I got no problem with that; that's why my buddy Rob writes our scripts. Have these classes helped me? Not really, but a lot of core classes haven't really helped me. I'm a history major, I'm probably going to carry nothing I've learned in this class to my major(I don't believe history papers are MLA format). Overall, this class is what I expected.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I've definitely enjoyed a few of the essays I wrote in 1101 and 1102. In particular I really enjoyed my visual analysis(on the album cover to Nirvana's Nevermind). It's a chance I had to write creatively.There's really nothing I overtly dislike about the class. It's what I expected, basic english stuff I'll never use for my intended career. Still, nothing's useless I suppose.
- Marcos Gonzalez
The ENC courses at FIU have been as their title intended: focused on writing and rhetoric. Having taken the AP English classes in high school I believed the work would be similar. This time though I hoped that with my previous experience I would find the classes less difficult. 1101 was almost exactly the same with the daily analysis of short stories every week. But I have enjoyed the ENC classes, as they are more focused on writing and developing one’s skills as a writer. Although English has always been my weakest subject, I consider myself a good writer. Both ENC writing courses have not been overly difficult and I believe this is thanks to the superb English teaching I had in my final two years of high school. They provided enough focus on reading and writing that allowed for an easy transition to the college curriculum.
ReplyDeleteAs far as expectations go, I felt the ENC classes should develop my abilities to express my ideas on paper, and they have, as I consider I am constantly improving. The thing I found most helpful are the comments and criticism provided by the professors on how to improve one’s writing and avoiding similar mistakes in the future. I have also been able to use their instruction as a guide on how to approach future papers. The only thing that I would have preferred with my 1101 professor would have been to receive feedback on my papers sooner. 1101 and 1102 have each had their unique take on the subject and overall I have enjoyed the instruction I have received in both courses.
-Edgar Quezada
Coming into FIU, I already thought of myself as a pretty good writer. All my high school English classes were great and built a good foundation for me. When I got into ENC 1101, the teacher was great, but the class only reinforced what I already knew about writing and didn't really teach me anything new. ENC 1102 has felt a little different for me because the writing seems to require a little more creativity, but they are not so many restrictions. Every time I have written a paper in my life I always feel like I'm trapped inside a 5 paragraph structure essay with a thesis statement that forces me to plan out exactly what I'm going to write about in the body. ENC 1102 has also taught me to write simply. In high school and in ENC 1101, I always had unnecessarily long sentences with ridiculous vocab that nobody would ever normally use. For the most part, ENC 1102 has helped me to improve my writing.
ReplyDeleteENC 1102 has helped me to be a bit more organize when it comes to work and sentence structure. Over the years, i haven't quite understand the correct way how to write because professors and teachers have taught me ways that I try to adapt to. I have not took ENC 1101 seriously cause i understand the concept. But when I enetered ENC 1102, it is another ball game. It is a more in depth course that focus on detailed assignments. I must remember that I need more improvement if I am going to survive my time at the unversity.
ReplyDeleteI think my ENC 1102 Prof. is more helpful than my 1101 prof. You give us feedback and constantly ask for our opinion on the essays. You let us write freely on subjects of our choice. My 1101 professor did teach me that inscene introductions are a good way to grasp my audiences attention. I enjoy this class and i have learned much. I do wish that we would get our papers faster that way we can revise them faster as well.
ReplyDeleteEnc 1102 is my first English course at FIU. My enc1101 class i attended at BCC. Although, I dont remember it at all. I guess that tells me it was not a memorable class at all. I also previously took enc 1102 before this and had a teacher who taught me absolutely nothing about English. She mostly just sat around n talked about everything but English. During this course I have learned so much. But while learning it has not been dreadful or boring. I have always enjoyed every class i have attended. I can honestly say this class has taught me how to actually write an essay.
ReplyDeleteI've never had the best experience with english teachers. My junior year of highschool my english teacher was the head baseball coach. Although he taught fairly well, his priority was not the class, and he was hardly ever there. Senior year I had an excellent teacher which I took advantage of because I didn't care and all I concentrated on was the social aspect of my life then. When I first started at FIU the professor I chose was a actually a teacher from my highschool. In highschool he was known as the teacher you would go to when you needed help in any type of way. All the students loved him. He was the 'slack' teacher all the kids at school wanted to take. I didn't expect anything else going into the class. His teaching technique was very chill like I expected. We had one teacher conference on a paper and never met again. Over the fall semester he fell very sick and would hardly ever hold class. In all honesty no body knew what was going on in the class. We turned in all of our essays at the end of the semester by taking it to the highschool where he worked at, I ended up with an A in that class. My ENC 1102 experience is a lot different. A lot more demanding and structured. It's not that I don't like it, I was just never used to. I think it really hurt my chances of doing well in the class.
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