Evaluation of What I Have Learned In English 112

Since this is a mandatory class I needed, it was important to find one that worked into my culinary schedule.  With limited availability my best option was a combined History/English class at the JSR Parham Campus.  Being familiar with the area really paid off with the extra 15 minutes of driving to this class would add to my schedule.  At first it was hard to distinguish whether it was going to be an extension of our History 112 class or not, but it finally started to form into a solid English learning environment. 

English 112 is the research portion of the learning environment.  There are tools that I did not get privy to in my refresher English class, or the English 111 class that I gained in this class environment.  The mixed ages and ethnic diversities that comprised this class really forced you to think out of the box.  Communication and being forced with someone you don’t know makes you either work together, or play with your cell phone and pretend you are working together. Working together allows interaction that is a necessary skill of communication and social development.  One of the skills necessary to work on our research assignment; “Ray Puglia”.  This required lots of notes and was hard to keep within the details of the box.  Once we expanded our research, it opened a boatload full of information that assisted dotting the line to some of the missing pieces.  Mr. Puglia’s life was not boring to say the least.  Now I have a full understanding of the Rhetorical Triangle concept.  Not the audience, message, author, or the noise with all the distractions, but the Ethos, Pathos, & Logos.  We have read much about the world that was never known to me before.  Some of I guessed, but had never seen in writing.  Emotions are best left in the closet about sequestered knowledge unless the “wise ones” did not want us to go ballistic on them earlier in our lives.

The research process became easier, especially for our discussion board in history.  It was very useful to read each one to get an understanding from multiple points of view.  You could tell who read and understood the subject, from those that could not grasp the content.   I have learned that it is sometimes best to stop talking and just listen.  The information gathered can sometimes assist with little details.  I now know how to use a team search blog to annotate your work as you go.

For me to use an undrafted non-corrected draft looks sloppy, so I can say I did not turn autocorrect off.  I still have found words that should not be there, but were!  Read, re-read, and read again.  Movement is acceptable, if it still does not fit, remove it or save to a separate document so that the thought is not lost.  There is a reason why we structure thoughts at certain times.  What point are we trying to make?  I still have trouble with different methods of annotating sources, but I am more aware of the process and more eager to correct.  I still need to make my message for the age group, not just the crowd.  There is a difference with depth of understanding that comes with age. 

I am grateful to have known and be associated with these classmates and the professors.  If I had the option to do this class again, I would.