Alexia Tawes
Atawes000@citymail.cuny.eduDecember 7,2018Mr Pawlowski
ppawlow000@citymail.cuny.eduDear Mr Pawlowski,

I moved to America in 2016, from a Caribbean Island. Because I am Jamaican and I never grew around people speaking proper English, speaking and writing was always a challenge for me. When I moved here, to America,  I wasn’t really taught a standard way of writing.

I came up with a strategy. I would write up a paper and label 5 parts, Introduction, 3 Body Paragraphs and my conclusion. I would then start to expand by jotting down ideas in each category. After I do this, I begin to write. I would write a lot then go over and delete irrelevant parts. I would then have my mom proof read because she was always better at English than I was.She was a teacher so she knew what it was like to go throughout high school and college writing precise papers compared to me who had no experience.She would take out the little words and include bigger words, she would delete parts she thought made no sense, she would sometime write an outline for me and make me follow it. Of course all of that has came to an end but when she use to do it , it was very beneficial and it made me grades far better than they were when i did it on my own. Sometimes when I wouldn’t think like her, she would get angry and make me feel dumb. She failed to realize that we were two different people with different thoughts.   I would edit my mistakes last.
Jotting Down, Writing, Proof Reading and Editing was a strategy that always worked for me so I stuck to it.

Junior and Senior year of high school, I did AP English. This was difficult for me because I learned a whole new way of writing that included a rebuttal, claim and counter claim. It was confusing for me but  eventually caught on.

The more writing I’ve done, I’ve came to the realization that writing is an art and it’s the way people choose to express their thoughts or their opinion. Most pieces have a meaning behind them or an idea that the author is trying to convey. All pieces evoke a different feeling and it’s up to the author to decide how they want the reader to feel.

The more I write, the better I get. I feel like I’ll never be great at writing because Essays have always been hard for me which is why I always write about things I can relate to. Normally if I’m going to write about something I cannot relate to , I write a lot including unnecessary things which I delete later. If a topic I don’t have insight on is introduced to me, I take the time to research it and find my stance then I begin to write. Writing is an art, just like making music, painting and craft was an art. I feel like there is no correct way to write,not speaking grammatically, but of course I may be wrong.  Also I cannot write on an empty stomach or in silence.

I feel like I haven’t developed a structure when it comes to writing but the class has really helped me . I don’t think I’m a bad writer but I don’t think that I have the skills to call myself a great writer. I also think I’m really hard on myself but this is only my first semester so I’ll see what happens in the future.

Sincerely
Alexia Tawes