My Achievements in Studying American Literature in ESL Class Essay

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Before joining the ESL class, American Literature was just another undefined vocabulary to me. For the first time when I enrolled in this class, I did not know anything about it and at the same time, I was not certain what to expect. At first, I was doubtful of my capability to fit well in the class especially due to distorted stories about the class that some people had given. But my first day stay in the class was not bad; in fact, the encouraging statements we received from the instructor impacted well on my enthusiasm to learn American literature. At that moment, I became determined in learning how to write a thesis statement which initially I had no clue about. Also, I was optimistic about improving in the area of a topic sentence and much eager to develop skills on how to narrow down a particular topic for an exciting essay. Indeed, I set myself goals that at the end of the semester, I should be in a good position to understand the key concepts of the ESL class. As the class comes to an end, I’m happy and confident that I have mastered and developed strength in three key areas of ESL: writing a clear thesis statement, handling the topic sentences, and narrowing down a specific topic of interest for an essay.

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Describing my strength in this class, the first area is the thesis statement. Understandably, the opening paragraph sets the tone for the essay as it introduces the topic one is interested in and it is the one that will ‘catch’ the attention of the readers. Any good thesis statement needs to assert the point of interest and provide the factual perspective of the arguments. In this class, I have been able to combine these three elements into one. Generally, the various group works, class assignments, and the instructor’s concise and articulate explanations and examples were very much helpful and instrumental in understanding this part. The writing workshops where elements of brainstorming, planning, drafting, and revision, were taught proved to be a fertile opportunity that gave me an in-depth understanding of how to construct good and readable thesis statements of various essays.

The second and third strengths lie in the areas of topical sentences and narrowing down of sentences where I have adequate understanding and the skills in approaching these parts. First, before joining this class, I used to write unorganized and illogical sentences, while ideas were not flowing. But what I have come to realize is that it is the correct arrangement of the topical sentences before starting any writing which acts as a “blueprint” or roadmap for the essay. One thing I have learned in this class is the need to find and understand very well a general topic of interest and then narrow the topic into a clear and reduced single view that you are capable of exploring and explaining. The topic sentence on the other hand generally organizes your whole paragraph and should be included in the major paragraphs of the essay. What I have learned is that most topic sentences in academic essays should appear at the beginning of the paragraph. At the same time, the ESL class has enabled me to understand that topic sentences act as a signpost for the argument of an essay paper as a whole; but in some cases, it can be seen to describe the extent of the paragraph. Another positive thing I have learned about the topical sentences is that in many cases, they act like small thesis statements and hence have the capability to make claims in an essay, and therefore it becomes necessary for the writer to clearly expand, describe adequately, and if possible, prove the claim in his or her essay.

I must be very frank that I still have some problems with word choice and word form in most of my essays. The challenge lies in the area of choosing the right words that can vividly bring out the meaning for the audience to understand. In most essays, I remain attached to the same words in most paragraphs and this contributes to a lack of clarity. However, I’m determined to continue with training in this area in the subsequent classes.

In conclusion, the ESL class has had a positive impact on my writing skills. I have mastered key aspects that are necessary for writing different types of essays. Topic sentences and narrowing is no longer a big issue to me while thesis statement has earned me numerous congratulations from the instructor. With these profound experiences, I’m sure the areas I still have problems in, word choice and word-forming will be a thing of the past when I take more training in the future. Indeed, I’m too grateful and indebted to this class; it will remain to be one of my favorite classes.

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"My Achievements in Studying American Literature in ESL Class." IvyPanda, 26 Dec. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/my-achievements-in-studying-american-literature-in-esl-class/.

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IvyPanda. 2021. "My Achievements in Studying American Literature in ESL Class." December 26, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/my-achievements-in-studying-american-literature-in-esl-class/.

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IvyPanda. "My Achievements in Studying American Literature in ESL Class." December 26, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/my-achievements-in-studying-american-literature-in-esl-class/.

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