What on earth is in a good paper?

That awkward moment when you receive your paper back from the teacher with a big "C" in red bold letters at the top of your paper and the person next to you gets an "A". How come you got a C?  I mean you did follow the topic that was assigned for the paper and you did turn it in on time! Well the case probably was your paper was mediocre! You did follow the assignment but your paper probably didn't have those special qualities that make it a "good paper". I feel that 3 qualities that make a good paper are: easy these, time order, punctuation, unity/focus and style.

Easy Thesis- I think the difference in an A and C paper is the thesis. In a good paper you always need a thesis or the whole point of writing the paper. It needs to be clear  to the reader and to the point. You shouldn't be all over the place with your thesis changing your mind or dropping hints. The thesis in the paper should be very clear and easy to understand.

Time order- The difference between an A and C paper is time order. Depending on your genre in a paper (argument, narrative, report etc.) there is always time order. For example: in an argument paper you are to clarify your stance and or opinion. so let's say I was writing about my stand on abortions. If my thesis was that I disagree with it then in would begin to give my list  on why I do and the negative affects there are to it. I would explain in time order and I believe that is what help to make a good paper.

Punctuation- I also think good punctuation plays a major key role in a good paper. Punctuation can help get your thesis and sentences to the point and clear. It can help make your paper look professional and clean. You wouldn't want to read a paper with a lot of misspelled words and unclear sentences.

Unity/Focus- An organized paper is a good paper. If your paper is organized with your ideas it's easier to read and understand. Every paragraph can have its own idea or point and make the paper look good and clear to the audience. If you read a paper with a lot of flashbacks from the narrator or ideas jumping around, it would make the paper super confusing.

Style- Finally I think style plays a role in writing a good paper. Whether your writing a paper that embraces your personality can really make the audience intrigued and enjoy reading your paper opposed to a paper that is just dull and has lists in getting to the thesis.

Assignment 2 :)

For the literacy narrative I haven't quite decided what to write yet, but I do have a couple ideas in mind. First idea is how I began writing my own short stories and poetry when I was younger. It helped me express myself and break out of my shell and gave me courage to even read out loud in front of the class. It also helped me cope with certain situations I was dealing with and writing most definitely helped me free my thoughts and stress I always had. The pros in this essay would be that it gave me power to be a better writer. I would have to focus on one event instead of multiple in this essay and stay focused on the thesis.

My second idea is the time I had to come up with a entire page in the yearbook and write a story with a group. I had struggles with this because I didn't know where to start. The teacher was also very bossy and if she didn't like something she didn't care to insult. This event helped me visualize how to write to different audiences and creatively. I was part of something big for the school and it helped me a lot expand my vocabulary and look at writing in a different perspective. This idea is a good topic because it shows how sometimes you have to adapt in writing depending on your audience and what you're writing .

My third idea is actually really similar to the essay we were assigned to read. I am Guatemalan & Puerto Rican. I was raised speaking strictly English until I was 6. I moved to California where all my family speaked spanish as their first language. I learned a bit of spanish listening to them talk. Til this day I can speak spanish to a certain extent. I pronounce things wrong sometimes or in the wrong tense, even my grandfather laughs at me! Its also hard to translate some words from english to spanish. This narrative shows that I have struggled with the spanish language in pronouncing certain words and the grammar as well as understanding certain words. While writing this essay I will have to focus on the struggles, be vivid.

Why am I taking English 101?

I am taking English 101 for two reasons. The first being given that it is required at Northeastern and the second is I would like to not only learn how to write essays using techniques and structure, but also improve my grammar. I want to be able to write ten page papers with no problem and actually turn them in on time! I don't want to be stressing every time I am assigned an essay or even a piece of writing (stress free please!). I have always enjoyed writing either it be poetry or a short story or I definitely would like to improve and apply it to my own writing. I have this weakness of drifting away from the thesis and points getting to the thesis, so I would like to improve that as well.                                                                                                           Good writing can contribute too many things in my opinion. I feel that good writing can also improve proper speaking and even help in job interviews and resumes which is a big part in life. I want to be able to impress my boss or anywhere in general I am trying to apply and get a job at. I think that Northeastern Illinois has this class required to basically do that and help to improve a student’s writing at college level criteria. I believe that it is a fair and useful that will help in the long run. Good grammar, proper speaking and essay knowledge can definitely help in the long run and I can apply it to life.