I now feel, after being a member of this class, that being succesful in business or school requires the ability to organize, arrange, and compose thoughts into a comprehensible format. Without these skills it is impossible to convey thoughts and emotions grammatically. Reflecting on the past three months, I notice that our English 101 class has learned skills necessary to develop personal, informative, and persuasive essays. These are essential attributes needed to become successful in today's society. In previous English courses that I have participated in, I never realized that essay writing skills were so important. Because of this class, my attitude toward writing has matured into an understanding of what it takes to be a good writer. Without the knowledge of why writing skills were important, I was concerned about "just getting by". Now, I enjoy the challenge of composing an interesting and thought provoking essay; I find myself developing an essay with my reader in mind, and pondering what might stimulate them to read my work. This class has awakened my senses and aroused my curiosity in the literary world and I feel I have made significant strides in my writing process. The most important of which being how, by the proper use of commas, transitions, and supportive quotes, I transform my mediocre essay into a well composed, interesting literary work.

An interesting literary work must have a flow; this is accomplished by the use of proper transitional phrases. At the beginning of the semester I had no knowledge of what transitions were, but now I find myself spending most of the editing time concerned with how to use them correctly. As I look back on the diagnostic essay that I composed on the first day of class, I notice areas where transitional phrases could have been helpful. This is shown at the end of the second paragraph when I state,"I learned a very valuable lesson the hard way and now I have a second chance to make my parents proud and become successful." This leads directly into the third paragraph stating,"I have been back in school now just over a few months now and I feel real good about myself." Putting aside all the grammatical errors, to correct this mistake in the essay I could have used a transitional phrase between the two paragraphs. A better developed essay could look like, I learned a very valuable lesson the hard way and now I have a second chance to make my parents proud and become successful. Even though it takes a lot more than a hard lesson to become successful, I feel that I have taken a step in the right direction by entering into school again. The second paragraph now flows directly into the third without an abrupt beginning or end. As this semester comes to a close, I feel that through the use of well placed transitions, I can successfully compose a fluid essay. Through the course of the semester I have learned how to properly use transitional phrases to connect different thoughts in my essay. For example, at the end of the second paragraph of my final essay states, "Because of this disappointment I now realize that hard work pays off, and school is not a right it is a privilege. To be successful in college it takes determination and hard work." This flows directly into the next paragraph begins with, "I left college due to the fact I was not ready for the hard work it took to become successful." By the proper use of transitions, a writer gives his reader an interesting essay that is easy to follow.

Transitional phrases are important to keep the flow, but without the correct placement of commas an essay is very difficult to read. Throughout the semester, correct placement of commas has always been my greatest challenge. I have placed forth a conscious effort in the editing process to overcome these challenges. In my diagnostic essay, I had many mistakes involving commas, run-ons and sentence fragment. In the middle of my second paragraph I state, "My parents were not as convinced as I was. I was ready, but still did not have a goal but still wanted to get out of this rut I was in." These mistakes made it hard for the reader to follow the story line because it was so choppy. Looking at these errors, I discovered a way to improve the sentence structure, and help the reader follow the plot progression. I re-worded the essay so that it read," I wanted to enter into school again, but my parents were not convinced I was ready. Even though I did not have a goal, I still wanted to progress out of this terrible predicament." Through constant practice, I feel that I can successfully compose an essay that a reader can follow without any annoying comma splices or run-on sentences. In my essay, "Life is a sum of all its learning experiences", I successfully use commas to deliver an interesting point. This is seen in the middle the third paragraph when I state, "Leaving school, at first, seemed to be a good move but this notion was about to change. Having a job was a new experience. I liked having money in my pocket and I thought I was making a good living for myself. I was able to go on vacations, go out in the evenings, and purchase articles I wanted. This was a great time for me, I was happy being able to do what I wanted when I wanted." With the proper use of comma's, an essay progresses from words on paper to an easy to follow and understandable literary work.

During this semester I have learned that an essay has to be easy to follow or it will not indulge the readers interest. The writer must try to keep the readers interest in his/her work alive. Other than the correct placement of commas, the use of quotations can initiate an interest in a literary project. Before this course I never thought about using quotes to develop a point before. To find a quote that correctly states what you want to say is very difficult and time consuming. The time it takes to find a quote is well worth the effort because it raises the literary work to another plateau. A quote gives the reader something to think about, it lets the reader discover what the quotation means to his/herself. In my final essay, I used the last stanza form the Robert Frost poem "The Road Not Taken". This quote, I felt, developed and summed up what I was trying to have the reader identify with. This was to say, I wanted the reader to understand that my life is the way it is because of the unfamiliar road I chose to follow. The quotation used was"

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

"The Road Not Taken"

Frost, Robert. 1920