To sum up this class- to sum up any English class- to sum up college education- to sum up your life- you get out of it, what you put into it. 99% of the students taking this class are not English majors (good choice ;)) which means there is a LOT you can learn about your writing. Your teacher, whether your smart enough to believe it or not, ACTUALLY knows what he or she is talking about. He/she has way more experience writing than you, so if you want to improve, you actually can. All you have to do is get off your butt and do something. I know that seems strange. So if you want your writing to improve, practice good writing for your blogs and turn in only your best writing to your teacher. I’m not saying I necessarily did all those things, I’m just saying that’s how you can get the most out of this class. And I can’t speak about how having better writing can help every other area of your life, but people keep telling me that, so for the purpose of this letter, we’re going to assume it’s true. Advice for the blogs, yes they’re a lot, but one at a time will make it better, and always try to work ahead, because you will forget at least one day, trust me, you will. And for the science-fiction, it’s not for everyone. Try to like it, but if you don’t, it’s only 11 weeks, so just make the best of it, it won’t kill you.
Dear English Student,
In looking back over these last few months, I can honestly say that I have learned a lot about myself as a writer. I have never really liked to write very much, and I can honestly say that I don’t really like it a lot more now, but I am better at free writing now than I was before after writing all of these blogs. It wasn’t always convenient, but I think it was a small price to pay to get as much credit as we did for doing them, Leslie allowed us to make up for any poor grades we might have gotten early on in the class by giving us credit for practice. It wasn’t always easy keeping up with the comments after a while either, but it was interesting to learn about the people in our class. Everyone is so much more interesting after reading their thoughts, something I haven’t had a chance to learn about anyone in any of my other classes. Watching the tv episodes were not so bad, I know I would have rather done that than read a bunch of articles, and I have been exposed to things I would have never done on my own. I guess that is why we are here, right? I also appreciated getting credit for rough drafts and then having the ability to improve on them, especially the big paper we had in the beginning. Writing a few pages at a time and adding to it was not as overwhelming as it could have been. Good luck, and just start writing!
Dear students of English 110,
If you are reading this right now, then that means you’re starting your journey of science fiction and blogging. Have fun with that. Haha I’m just messin’ with you. I’m supposed to tell you how I’ve developed as a writer, but I can’t say that I have completely developed into at least a ‘good’ writer. I’m still working on my writing skills, but Leslie did help me with my skills in a few ways. With the blogs, I have been able to lengthen my papers. Sometimes that’s a good thing, and other times, not quite so much. But I used to be the type of person that would sit down, get ready to start writing my paper, and completely freeze up. Another thing that helped was watching the show called Firefly. For this class, I was assigned to write in my blog about my thoughts of the show—not just summarizing it. Summarizing is a piece of cake, right? Well, analyzing a show is now easy too. Blogging helped a lot. Even though I admit that I whined a few times about them (Okay! Okay!! It was like 5 times..gosh!), blogging turned out to help me positively, especially when it came to easy points and extra credit.
Also, give science fiction shows a chance. The quarter will go by faster if you just watch it and get it over with. Try looking at it positively so writing blogs and papers about it won’t be painful. I was not a science fiction fan at all, and I can say that I’m not completely one still. But I had an open mind, and I actually came to enjoy Firefly more than I expected. I watched ALL of the episodes even though I didn’t have to.
Keep up with your blogging. Write them every day and pace yourself with the comments. Don’t wait until the last minute. It is awesome knowing that you have completed your 100 comments extremely early. I just sat down and wrote as many in one sitting as I could. I did about 20 a day sometimes, and they added up fast. And please don’t wait until the last minute to do your papers. I did that quite a few times, and the grade I received was a bummer. It wasn’t bad, but I could have done better if I had taken more time and visited Leslie during her office hours more. Speaking of office hours, USE THEM. Leslie is more than helpful when you go. It will take much stress off of you if you’re the type of person that doesn’t enjoy writing like I do.
So good luck and work hard, because you will receive the grade you DESERVE in the end.
Sarah
If you are reading this right now, then that means you’re starting your journey of science fiction and blogging. Have fun with that. Haha I’m just messin’ with you. I’m supposed to tell you how I’ve developed as a writer, but I can’t say that I have completely developed into at least a ‘good’ writer. I’m still working on my writing skills, but Leslie did help me with my skills in a few ways. With the blogs, I have been able to lengthen my papers. Sometimes that’s a good thing, and other times, not quite so much. But I used to be the type of person that would sit down, get ready to start writing my paper, and completely freeze up. Another thing that helped was watching the show called Firefly. For this class, I was assigned to write in my blog about my thoughts of the show—not just summarizing it. Summarizing is a piece of cake, right? Well, analyzing a show is now easy too. Blogging helped a lot. Even though I admit that I whined a few times about them (Okay! Okay!! It was like 5 times..gosh!), blogging turned out to help me positively, especially when it came to easy points and extra credit.
Also, give science fiction shows a chance. The quarter will go by faster if you just watch it and get it over with. Try looking at it positively so writing blogs and papers about it won’t be painful. I was not a science fiction fan at all, and I can say that I’m not completely one still. But I had an open mind, and I actually came to enjoy Firefly more than I expected. I watched ALL of the episodes even though I didn’t have to.
Keep up with your blogging. Write them every day and pace yourself with the comments. Don’t wait until the last minute. It is awesome knowing that you have completed your 100 comments extremely early. I just sat down and wrote as many in one sitting as I could. I did about 20 a day sometimes, and they added up fast. And please don’t wait until the last minute to do your papers. I did that quite a few times, and the grade I received was a bummer. It wasn’t bad, but I could have done better if I had taken more time and visited Leslie during her office hours more. Speaking of office hours, USE THEM. Leslie is more than helpful when you go. It will take much stress off of you if you’re the type of person that doesn’t enjoy writing like I do.
So good luck and work hard, because you will receive the grade you DESERVE in the end.
Sarah
Dear English 110 student for Winter 2011,
I have definitely developed as a writer throughout this entire quarter. I feel that I was pushed way over my limit but I think that was a good thing because I learned how to become a better writer. At first when I came into this class and found out the theme the class was going to be structured around was science fiction I was really bummed out because I’m not a fan of science fiction. I have to admit that I did not like every show we watched in class; some were better than others. I would suggest that you go into this class with an open mind because that will definitely help you to succeed. After learning the theme, I had somewhat of an open mind and that kind of made writing papers for this class more difficult because my mind was not completely open. I feel as though if you have a completely open mind to everything that deals with science fiction in this class, you will be a successful writer. I also recommend that you go to the Writing Center. Those tutors really helped me out into thinking differently about subjects for my papers. I would also recommend that you schedule your appointments with the writing center a week in advance because they get booked up pretty fast. Good luck with this class and I hope that it pushes you just as it did for me.
With love,
English 110 student from Autumn 2010
I have definitely developed as a writer throughout this entire quarter. I feel that I was pushed way over my limit but I think that was a good thing because I learned how to become a better writer. At first when I came into this class and found out the theme the class was going to be structured around was science fiction I was really bummed out because I’m not a fan of science fiction. I have to admit that I did not like every show we watched in class; some were better than others. I would suggest that you go into this class with an open mind because that will definitely help you to succeed. After learning the theme, I had somewhat of an open mind and that kind of made writing papers for this class more difficult because my mind was not completely open. I feel as though if you have a completely open mind to everything that deals with science fiction in this class, you will be a successful writer. I also recommend that you go to the Writing Center. Those tutors really helped me out into thinking differently about subjects for my papers. I would also recommend that you schedule your appointments with the writing center a week in advance because they get booked up pretty fast. Good luck with this class and I hope that it pushes you just as it did for me.
With love,
English 110 student from Autumn 2010
Dear English 110 Students,
I hope you are ready for a quarter filled with Sci-fi TV shows, blogging, and a little bit of formal writing. When I first started the class, blogging every single day intimidated me a bit. After a while though, I became used to it. 250 words may seem like a lot at first, but after you get the hang of it, you can do a blog in less than 5 minutes. As long as you keep up with your blogs every day, you should be able to get a decent grade in the class. Along with blogging every day, be sure to work on your comments! If I were to go back now and take this class differently, I would have finished my comments a long tome ago. Most people thought they would be fine putting them off until the last minute, but it’s not very fun when you have a week left and 50 comments to go. This class also has made me much more comfortable with my free writing. It is much easier to write freely, and blogging every day actually did help that. Another thing is watching the science fiction shows. For anyone that is into normal high school drama and a little bit of violence, I would suggest watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After a few episodes, I ended up enjoying watching the shows when I had to. The themes of each episode were also pretty easy to figure out, which helped in the end with my ARP. Good luck this quarter! Don’t fall behind and you will be sure to get a good grade!
Emily
English 110 Autumn 2010
Dear Future English 110 Students,
Hey students who will be taking English 110 next quarter, overall I did a good job in this class. It wasn’t easy I had my challenges in this class especially with my two papers that I had to write. Even though I already know I am not a good writer I tried my really best on these papers. I also feel I developed some as a writer over this course and writing both of these papers. There is this place called the Writing Center that also helped me become little better as a writer.
The course theme of this English 110 session was science fiction. At first at the beginning of the quarter I didn’t like the theme of watching science fiction episodes and blogging about it. I didn’t think it was a bad idea; I just didn’t like the idea at first. As the quarter went on I found watching science fictions episodes to very interesting to watch. Once I found a series to watch that I liked made me like the idea even more and motivated to keeping watching different episodes.
There are some things you guys should know about so you all can succeed in this course of English 110. The most important thing you need to know is make sure you do everything that the teacher asks you to do. Even though you may like what you have to do, not doing can jeopardize your grade. Another thing you need to know about is all the help you can get, the main help comes from your teacher. If you have a question or don’t understand how to do something just email your teacher or go to her office hours. The other help is for your papers, which is the Writing Center at 475 Mendenhall Lab if you haven’t been there already. I went there more than once and I found it very helpful for my papers I had to write this quarter.
Sincerely,
English 110 student from AU10
English 110 student from AU10
Dear future student's of English 110,
When I first heard that the theme of this class would be science fiction I thought this class was going to be really geeky and stupid. I saw on the syllabus the shows we would be watching and thought I had definitely gotten stuck in the stupid class that everyone tells you not to take. The first thing I saw was about how we would be watching Firefly which is a show I had never heard of which I figured meant would absolutely suck because it wasn’t even on the air long enough to get any kind of a fan base. I then saw that Buffy The Vampire Slayer would be one of the shows we could write our blogs on. This was when things started to go from really negative thoughts to ok this class might not be too horrible. I used to watch Buffy so I was excited to write my blogs just so I could watch those. Then we watched Firefly and I actually didn’t fall asleep during the episode. I enjoyed the show and even enjoyed the last two shows Battlestar Galactica and Caprica. So my thoughts are that you should not be quick to judge this class because it is not as bad as you might originally think. You will easily succeed in this class if you listen to what you are taught and don’t skip class or you will get behind. I only missed one class and learned this. If you want to actually learn and not just take a class then this is a good class to take.
Sincerely,
English 110 student 2010
Dear students who will take English 110 next quarter
Hello! My name is Youngwook Kim. I took English 110 a quarter before you guys. I wrote many papers during the quarter and although they were kind of hard to write at the time I was writing, I think it improved me with my writing skills. While I am foreign student, my English was not very good. Before taking this class, I was kind of afraid of how I will do with the class because it is the class I have to take with Americans. I had many difficulties when writing the papers. However, the teacher helped me a lot by answering my questions carefully. As a result, although I was not good with writing and I got bad grade for the first paper, I did better for the next one and keep doing great for other papers. There should be some students who are foreigners and afraid of taking English class. I am not going to say this class is easy to take. However, if you try hard and ask questions to teacher, this class would not be very hard. Also, I am not sure that you guys are going to do the same thing but the most of the class were about science fiction and they were really funny. Lastly, the most important thing is the BLOG. We are writing 250 words blog everyday!!! I know it is hard and do not want to write it. However, it is important to improve your writing skills and it is also funny to read your blogs and other students’ blogs. That’s it for my last blog. I hope you guys do your best in this class!!^^
Sincerely,
The one who took class before you!!^^
Hello! My name is Youngwook Kim. I took English 110 a quarter before you guys. I wrote many papers during the quarter and although they were kind of hard to write at the time I was writing, I think it improved me with my writing skills. While I am foreign student, my English was not very good. Before taking this class, I was kind of afraid of how I will do with the class because it is the class I have to take with Americans. I had many difficulties when writing the papers. However, the teacher helped me a lot by answering my questions carefully. As a result, although I was not good with writing and I got bad grade for the first paper, I did better for the next one and keep doing great for other papers. There should be some students who are foreigners and afraid of taking English class. I am not going to say this class is easy to take. However, if you try hard and ask questions to teacher, this class would not be very hard. Also, I am not sure that you guys are going to do the same thing but the most of the class were about science fiction and they were really funny. Lastly, the most important thing is the BLOG. We are writing 250 words blog everyday!!! I know it is hard and do not want to write it. However, it is important to improve your writing skills and it is also funny to read your blogs and other students’ blogs. That’s it for my last blog. I hope you guys do your best in this class!!^^
Sincerely,
The one who took class before you!!^^
Well I am supposed to be writing a letter to anyone taking this class next quarter. The class seems pretty bad at first but it really isn’t as bad as it seems. This class has a lot to do with sci-fi. Don’t worry if you don’t like sci-fi because I don’t either but I actually kind of liked it during the quarter. The shows really aren’t that bad and I much rather watch the sci-fi than have to read some boring book that I have no interest in. Blogging at first sounds pretty bad too. 75 blogs sounds like a lot of work but once you get used to it, it doesn’t seem like much. You do get to learn a lot about your classmates. I think that is what I liked the best about the blogs. Although I did hate having to write a blog on Saturday and Sunday. Those are school day and I don’t think we should have to do them then. The blogs did also improve my writing somewhat. The two papers you are going to write aren’t too bad. The AP paper is definitely harder than the CP paper. The CP paper seems to be a lot more open and it is just easier to write. The class was pretty tough but I could tell that my writing was much improved from the beginning of the quarter compared to the end. It is a lot of work but you will get a lot out of it if you are willing to work hard.
Hello new English 110 Students,
So as excited as I know you are about writing research papers and doing blogs I’m here to tell you that it is just about as much fun as it sounds. But on a more serious note as scared as I know you probably are to take this class, because it is rather intimidating, but don’t worry you can make it through. Don’t forget to do your blogs! As little fun as they are they are worth easy points and I wish that I hadn’t forgotten to do so many so that I would’ve had a little more padding. And work with Leslie I know it’s scary to talk to a big bad grad student but she will help you out as much as she possibly can but remember that she has things to get done to and that her life doesn’t revolve around you so make sure to be polite and courteous and wait patiently for her response and assistance, especially via email. The class isn’t that bad the nice part is that the hard work gets over in the beginning and you can semi have a life for finals week which is funny because you won’t have one anyways but you might be able to have a little bit of one instead of absolutely zero. Aside from all that this course will probably be harder than your second writing course so you should probably take it seriously.
Have fun and try to write your best.
Danielle Kurnick
PS don’t use text language!!!
Dear English 110 student.
English this year was probably a lot different than any other English I’ve ever taken. The fact that it was based off of science fiction already made it a bit strange. If you absolutely hate science fiction, then I think that your mind may be changes, because science fiction entails so much, and it can be pretty cool. In the beginning you will have to watch an episode from a list of science fiction TV series every day, and then blog about it. Watching TV will basically be your homework. Blogging everyday will get a bit annoying at times, especially since it must be at least 250 words. Eventually you will have to write a paper on the TV series you have been watching, and blogging will turn into whatever you want. At first, all of this will seem extremely pointless to you. It almost seems like it is a waste of time, but it helps you in a way that is not easily recognized at first. Towards the end of the year, blogging 250 words will be a piece of cake and writing will seem a lot less intimidating to you. You will learn to analyze different television shows and compare them to real life. You should listen to the teacher during class time, because the structure for writing a paper is very specific. Take advantage of the extra credit opportunities. There are many of them, and it can change your grade completely. Try your best to have fun with the two papers you have to write. Especially the second one since it can pretty much be about anything. Try to have fun in the class, and I hope you do very well.
Hello future English 110.01-ers! I guess this blog post is supposed to discuss my feelings about the course and any extra advice I would potentially have for you. This course is a general English course, so the difficulty level isn't that high, but don't let that fool you into thinking this class is a joke, because it isn't. There is a good amount of effort that you put into your essays (well, if you want decent grades on them, which you do). If you do put in a lot of effort, your writing will improve. On the other hand, if you slack off or really don't care, or maybe your writing skills are already off the charts, then this class won't really do much to improve your writing skills. In this course I feel that your effort will show through your writing, and that if a decent amount of effort is put into your writing then you will definitely develop some better writing skills. I think overall, my writing style developed a bit more. More importantly, my idea developing skills improved quite a bit. I'm better at formulating ideas and connecting them into a good topic or statement to back up whatever ideas I want to discuss. I've realized after taking this class that I don't hate English as much as I do. I have never been a fan of English classes, mainly because I don't like writing and writing for me is difficult because I'm not very good at conveying my thoughts into text. After this class, I realized that when I write about things I'm passionate about or have a great deal of interest in, I really do enjoy writing! Hopefully those of you who take this course will find some sort of interest or connection with the things you write about, because that's what writing is for isn't it? To take an idea you really care about and sharing that knowledge of viewpoint to others.
Dear New English 110 Student,
If you are a freshman, welcome to Ohio State. If you are a returning student, I hope everything in school has been going well for you thus far. Everything you have heard about this class is probably true. You write a pretty decent amount and the work that you actually turn in to be graded counts for a lot. The class is very laid back, easy going, and nowhere near as difficult as a lot of your other classes will be for many of you. That being said, you shouldn't take this class too light hearted. It is an easy way to boost your GPA if you put the time and energy into earning your grade. The class is also a great way to improve your writing. It doesn't matter what major or profession you plan on pursuing, writing in the english language is extremely important, and every one has room to improve. This class has improved my writing a great deal. It has also made me extremely conscious of my writing at all points in time. Even as I am writing on facebook or even in a text or email to a friend, I am constantly watching myself to make sure my writing is correct. All in all this class is great for a lot of reasons. It boosts the GPA, isn't any work that is too strenuous, but it does help you out in many ways that are important.
Sincerely,
Former English 110 Student
If you are reading this you are taking English 110. Welcome. The best part about this class is you don’t have to read very much. In fact, for the most part, you will be watching television shows. If you don’t have Netflix I suggest getting it, because almost everything you watch is on it; it really makes life easier. The class focuses on televised science fiction, but don’t worry because most of it is entertaining. I suggest watching Firefly or Battlestar Galctica (yes, you get to choose…kind of) both are pretty good. The thing that I found most aggravating was doing blogs every night. They
In the past, when I tried to write something I wasn’t always confident. Maybe it is because English is my second language and I was nervous to make mistakes and afraid to show my paper to someone. That was the biggest problem for me. Even though I took Eng107 and Eng108 which are only allowed to international student, when I find out that I should take Eng110, I felt that I wasn’t ready for this course. However, I didn’t have many choices so I took it and finally I’ve completed all the required papers and homework.
The biggest thing that I achieved is that I’m confident to my writing. It doesn’t mean that my writing is perfect or I don’t make any grammar errors. It is just that I don’t hide from writing anymore. Now, I can write faster without concerning about my writing skill and I think at least people can understand what I’m trying to imply in my paper
English 110 was challenged to me. Especially discussing about TV shows and criticizing papers as a group with native speakers was little bit difficult for me. However, I’m sure if you already decided to take Eng110, your writing skill will me better. This class requires a lot of writing. You have to write 250words a day for 75 days. When you first hear this, you might get little bit embarrassed. But don’t worry. What you would get after you finish this class is worth than what you think. I recommend you to take Eng110 with Leslie Chambers. Your writing will be perfectly improved.
are only 250 words, but they are 7 days a week for the whole quarter. You’re allowed to miss a few, but they are always looming over you. Keep on top of them, and do comments on other people’s blogs. I am playing catch up with the comments (you’ll need 100) right now, so again, keep on top of it. Not only will you have blogs, but there are also a few papers to write. It’s not too involved, but it still takes a fair amount of time and effort. On a positive note this is one of the few classes that I have taken that gets easier as it goes along. There also isn’t any mid-term or final to worry about; another plus to this class. The biggest thing it got from this class was that it got me used to writing a lot. I still don’t like to write but at least I don’t dread it as much. So in closing all I have to say to the future students of English 110 is good luck and Godspeed.
