Document their work using appropriate conventions (MLA)

Framing statement: MLA format is really important to give credit to the writer of the source you are using. I did not learn about MLA format until my senior year of high school. When we used MLA format that year, we learned about using a heading and using a works cited page, but very briefly learned about in text citations. During my college English class, I learned about it being really important to use both a works cited page and in text citations or else you are not giving full credit to the person who actually wrote it.

Work sample 1:

Analysis: In my works cited page from my first essay, I did not add a title. In my third essay, I included a title, making it look more organized and shows more clearly that I am given credit to the authors of the sources. I also did not add the URLs in my first works cited page. Adding the URLs makes it easier for the reader to access the sources that I used. My works cited page from my third essay is longer because I used more sources. In my third essay, I used quotes from five different sources, while in my first essay, I only used two. Having more sources allows for more perspectives and the more sources you use, the more your point is supported.

Work sample 2:

Analysis: In text citations are important so the reader can see where each quote comes from and they can see where to find it, if they want to look. The in text citations and works cited page work together because if the reader wants to find a particular quote in the source, they can look at the author and page number from the in text citation and go to the works cited page to find the article and the URL. When they go to the article or URL, they can go to the page number and find the quote.

Control sentence-level error (grammar, punctuation, spelling)

Framing statement: Correcting sentence level errors in your writing is also important. Correcting small errors will make your writing sound more clear and understandable. It will also help to strengthen your points by sounding better. Before college, I would quickly go through and correct sentence level errors during revision, but I would spend a very small amount of time. Now, even though I spent more time on global revision compared to local revision, I still spent a lot of time reading the essay and looking for small errors that could be fixed.

Work sample 1:

Analysis: This was feedback I was given from my professor on the introduction of my first essay after turning it in. I spelled Adrian Chen’s name wrong, which could have been easily avoided if I paid closer attention. All of the other words that were recommended make the sentences flow together nicer and give more context for the reader. My thesis statement was also not identifiable because I gave an example after my thesis, which took away from the main idea.

Work sample 2:

Analysis: This is the introduction of my third essay. I think the sentences flowed together better than they did in my first essay and I was more specific in what I said. I introduced the authors in my first essay, which is something I did not do much of in my first one. I made sure to check spelling and had no spelling errors. I have a clear thesis that explains what I will be talking about later in the essay. Reading the essay out loud and being more specific in what I talked about made this paragraph sound better overall.