SWA1

Short Writing Assignment #1

I did not take English 101 at USC. I received credit for the course for passing the AP English Literature and Composition test. In my AP Lit class, we spent very little time writing, and I can hardly remember the essays we did write. All of them, I believe, were essays in which we analyzed some work of literature. None of them were really argumentative, although I suppose it could be said that I argued to support my point in each essay. The one essay from this class that stands out the most in my mind was an analysis of Chopin’s The Awakening. I remember it so clearly because it was the only essay I have written in my entire life that received a perfect score. The essay was an argument on whether or not the protagonist’s actions were justifiable or pointless, and the prompt required us to use examples from the text to make our argument. This was certainly my greatest accomplishment in the class.

The best writing experience I have ever had was the same essay that was mentioned above. The reason it was the best is because I felt completely sure about my topic, which is rare for me outside of science classes. I was able to create convincing arguments for all of my points, and being able to do this was a very large accomplishment for me. As for my worst writing experience, I would have to consider it an essay I wrote on Bram Stoker’s Dracula last year. I made the mistake of using an online resource to get a summary of the novel instead of actually reading it, and so none of my essay really made much sense. Between my best and worst experience, I would say that the worst one affected me more. After that essay, I realized that I needed to change the way I was working if I was going to pass the class, and I proceeded to work much harder after that point.