Portfolio Essay #2

Jacky Leung
Professor Sabir
English 201B, MW 1-2:50
20 May 2009

Portfolio Essay #2

This semester’s writing experience was very unique. I was expecting to write essays based on other subjects but instead, we wrote essays about grammar and punctuation errors in the book Stewart Pidd Hates English. I thought writing the Pidd essays would be an easy task but I was wrong. I made many punctuation errors while writing these assignments. The book, Stewart Pidd Hates English taught me a lot and it helped reviewed a lot of materials such as point of view, be-verbs, pronoun agreement, etc. My writing skills are far from perfect but I have improved a lot during this semester.
At one point in this semester, our class did an research paper on a local social entrepreneur. Although it wasn’t an easy task, I found it very interesting writing a paper about a person that’s trying to help the community. It felt as if I was there helping the community myself. It took many drafts to complete this research paper. I believe that drafting is a way to perfect one’s writing. Our class also did many free writes. We would walk into class and write about a random topic. When we completed our free writes, we would share with our classmates but it seems like no one in the class wants to share their work. Therefore, we were forced to swap papers with someone and post the free write on the blog for other students to read them instead.
My writing skills has improved this semester but I am still lacking on my reading skills. Reading is one of my weaknesses in academic achievements. This class has prepared me well for my next course. I wouldn’t say I deserve an “A” in this class because that would be a lie. I did not do my personal best. The other classes I’ve chosen this semester were very challenging. It caused me to spend more time and focus on working on other materials.. I will not make the same mistake again next semester. The highest grade I can possibly get in this class would probably be an “B.” I really enjoyed working with Professor Sabir and the students of the English 201 class this semester. I wish everyone the best of luck and hope to see you in English 1A during the Fall semester of 2009.