Tiffany Jones

ENG 101

June 10, 2014

These past few weeks in my ENG 101 class has been very interesting. Aside from learning about the food culture, I have also seen myself grow as a writer. Prior to taking this class I considered myself a decent writer even though I was never comfortable writing essays. I have been writing poems since I was a freshman in High School and this class has made me realize the true difference of being a good writer and a good poet.

Unlike poems, essays have structure. I was so use to just writing and going with the flow of my poems that my first essay in my ENG 101 class was horrible and I knew it was going to be. Like I said earlier, writing essays was never my forte and I knew that researching and writing would give me problems. But I have seen a change in my work. My vocabulary has increased drastically and once Professor Smith taught us the different elements of an essay, for example, the claim, citing sources and evidence, I slowly got the grasp of how to write a proper essay.

I can honestly say that my weakness still is citing my sources and making my claim clear but I have improved. I understand now that in order to be considered a good researcher, citing your sources are very important. Even with my weakness still lingering on, I feel confident moving on to the next ENG class. I understand that more research and more writing will be required, and I have mentally prepared myself for that. I can carry along with me a lot of skills I learned from ENG 101 with Professor Smith and I know it will help me pass that class.

While learning how to write a proper essay I also had a chance to read “Fast Food Nation” By Eric Schlosser. This book really opened my eyes to the fast food corporations. The book basically shows us how fast food restaurants use the advertising   strategy “Cradle to grave” to invest in life long customers, as I stated in my blog 5. The author also educates us on what exactly we are eating. Because the food comes from slaughter houses, the author illustrates how the animals are treated and what is put into the food that we are consuming.  Although McDonalds is my second home, the book has made me slow down with the big macs.  Learning that eating that food a lot causes diabetes, cancer and obesity, I do not believe it is worth it to eat everyday like I use to.

I believe writing and researching will play a miniscule role in my future nursing career but it is always good to know how to write an outstanding essay.  Now when my sister needs help I can help her.