Right now you are probably a little nervous and/or unsure about the work that is ahead of you in your comp class. I completely understand as I was in your shoes just a few months ago. However, don't worry! It probably won't be as bad as you think. At least that was the case for me.
Before autumn quarter started, I thought that English 110 was going to be stressful. I pictured myself writing essays or research papers every week. I thought that every assignment would be an academic paper like the ones that I wrote in high school. However, on the first day of class, I learned that this would not be the case. Instead, we would spend the quarter writing one analytical research paper, one essay for Commonplace, and some blogs and short informal pieces. It was a lot less work than I had expected, but I was still pretty nervous.
Before English 110, I had never written an analytical research paper, and I didn't have a lot of experience with writing for the public. There was definitely an academic tone to all of my writing, too. (I still haven't completely fixed this, but it's getting better.) Although this tone worked great in the ARP, it wasn't very appropriate for the public audience on Commonplace. This made the Commonplace essay a bit more difficult for me.
So, don't be too nervous about English 110...but don't start thinking that it will be a cakewalk either. You'll have to put in the time and effort to get a good grade. To make things a little easier, though, here are some tips:
1. Go to your instructor's office hours whenever you feel like you need help. Heck, go even if you don't think you need help! Your professor will give you tons of good ideas and help you to see things that you may have overlooked. You'll learn a lot about your writing style and how to expand on your writing topic, too. Looking back, I wish that someone had told me this before I started my comp class. I waited until the end of the quarter to realize what a valuable resource my instructor was. Please don't make my mistake.
2. Don't procrastinate. I had a bad habit of this, and I think that a lot of my work could have been much better if I would have spent more time on it.
3. At the beginning of the quarter, pick a primary source that you feel really passionate about. You don't want it to be something that you are going to get sick of. It will come back to haunt you for the rest of the quarter, so make sure that you enjoy it.
Please take my advice. I hope that it will be helpful. I also sincerely think that with some effort, English 110 will help you to grow in your writing abilities. It taught me the skills needed for integrating primary and secondary sources, and it helped me to feel more confident in my public writing, too. Hopefully you get something out of it and learn a lot. I wish you the best!
Good luck!
Brittnee Halpin
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