The following testimony is a response to the prompt: "What aspect of your writing has improved the most and what advice would you give future ENGL 147 students?"
Fall 2022:
"A fundamental aspect of writing that has improved over the quarter is utilizing the uneven-u paragraph structure, which causes the argument to be presented in a clearer and more concise way. Future students must learn to not use phrasal verbs to avoid informality within academic writing."
"The importance of structure and attention to detail, especially with phrasal verbs and contractions, within your paper can greatly improve your professional writing skills."
"A writing skill that will improve because of this class will be the recognition of passive tone, as this concurrently increases the alertness of the student as they are writing."
"Removing hedging and overgeneralizations has improved my formal writing significantly. Be aware of fluff and filler words you may use unconsciously—removing them will immediately improve the quality of your essays."
"The improvements in personal writing skills that have developed over this quarter include the elimination of phrasal verbs, better paragraph structure, and more accurate citations. These improvements have led to clearer arguments and stronger writing. Future students should be aware that seriously approaching daily tasks is a great way to build writing skills throughout the term."
"When Professor Hamilton assigns a paper to you, immediately start outlining and forming your thoughts. I waited till the last minute most times, which always added more stress to an already stressful quarter. This class exemplifies “you get out what you put in,” so do not be afraid to volunteer in class to start discussions.
- Ameya Kumbhar"
"An aspect of my writing that has improved throughout my enrollment in English 147 is my expansion of intellectual vocabulary that forms stronger sentences and arguments. I would advise students to examine their usage of various words and phrases to make their writing more formal to avoid overgeneralizations."
"The most improved aspect of my writing is more clear and direct language.My advice is to avoid phrasal verbs and repetition and use a thesaurus instead."
"The aspect of my writing that has improved the most is the ability to be concise. After taking AP Literature last year, which emphasized flowery writing, this course improved this aspect of my writing and taught me how to become a more formal writer in preparation for the rest of my college career. Advice that I would give to students next term would be to embrace the challenge and to value Dr. Hamilton’s feedback."
"The formality of language determines the strength of an argument."
"An aspect of my writing that has improved this quarter is eliminating phrasal verbs. Even though I still use phrasal verbs by accident sometimes because using them is natural to me, I use phrasal verbs less often which makes my writing better. Advice I have for students next term is to look at the comments Dr. Hamilton makes on the daily tasks."
"An aspect of my writing that has improved is avoiding overused words such as “help”.My advice for the students next term is Dr. Hamilton’s feedback is valuable and use a thesaurus. Reaching out for help is helpful because its good practice to actively write well instead of a website doing all the work for you."
"The most useful lesson I have learned in English 147: Writing Arguments about STEM is how to avoid phrasal verbs. By avoiding phrasal verbs, my writing outside of class is more professional and convincing. Being able to clearly state ideas in written form is critical in STEM fields and leads to positive outcomes.
Bryce Yuen"
"A part of my writing which has improved is the use of formal language and the elimination of phrasal verbs from my formal writing. I have also improved in editing because of my skill to notice phrasal verbs.
My sentence of advice:
Use Grammarly and spell check; MAKE SURE you check over you’re writing after editing through Grammarly; Grammarly helps a lot but doesn’t fix everything.
Shane Williams"
"Throughout the quarter I have improved my ability to change the tone and formality of my writing. I now have a toolbox of stylistic choices to maintain a formal tone when writing about STEM related topics. These tools include understanding how to avoid phrasal verbs, avoiding logical fallacies, correct subject choice, and paragraph mapping. I also learned how to write with more of an intent, so that my writing directly accomplishes a goal. This skill that I am still developing is very important for my professional career, particularly in emails and cover letters. My advice to future students is to question and develop the purpose of sentences and words, so that they can be concise, convincing, and communicate their ideas successfully."