This semester was quite difficult for me. Online schooling is definitely not for me, however, I do feel as if my writing skills have improved throughout the semester in my English course. There were many essays and various writing activities that were assigned to my class. Some were short while others were longer. The important assignments were those of minor assignments one through four, along with two major assignments corresponding to the minor ones.

Whilst doing minor assignments one, two, and major assignment one, not much of my writing has changed from before the class since it was earlier in the semester. However, these assignments did challenge me in a way that would help me for my next set of essays. The new set of assignments (minor 3-4 and major 2), would be a research paper. Through the library program along with my professor, I was able to learn how to properly research a topic using the New Paltz database/library. It came to be an incredibly useful tool as it assisted me greatly in my papers. The database was full of information regarding my topic on prosthetic limbs. It allowed my citations to be filled with legitimate sources.

Another skill I learned while writing these papers was allowing them to connect together in a way to which they built up to the major assignment. Having the minor assignment three be a proposal and annotated bibliography, allowed me to prepare for the next assignment as it helped construct minor assignment four. Minor assignment three explained my sources, four explained my topic, and the major assignment combined those and added analysis. The major assignment also answered the question “to what extent do prosthetic limbs affect information literacy?” This challenged me to think outside the box as it may be hard for some people to see how prosthetics can affect that. Writing this semester also helped build my stamina. As I just came out of high school last year, I have not written extensively on one particular topic before. In total, these assignments were approximately ten plus pages.

Overall this semester in English helped me become a better writer. It has exercised my brain in a way that will hopefully prepare me for the remainder of my college career. This course pushed me to go past my usual limits.