Maxwell Gallahan

Major Garriott

ERH-101-03

12 December 2016

“Attacking the Problem of Writing”

ERH-101 has been a class that has made a major impact on me as a writer. Ever since I have stared my academic writing career, which would have probably been 6th grade or middle school, I have struggled with formulating a sold argument. I had always had either a point that was to general or a point that was a fact rather than an opinion. But Major Garriott’s ERH-101 class has helped me to understand writing structure better through the revision process, which has helped me to develop the skill of formulating a thesis statement that is an arguable claim while at the same time having some merit and accuracy to it. This ability will in addition to help me perform better on my academic writing, it will help me be an effective Marine and Lobbyist.

For Project 1, about discourse communities, my drafted started out as 78% and after the revision my grade climbed up to a 91%. I think that the key to my success in that process was the amount of time given to me to fix my mistakes and that time allowed me to think in depth about specific parts of my essay rather than focusing on the entire essay. In this project my beginning thesis was, “…history is how the past and the present are linked together and if you can understand that link between the two, then it will be easier to understand the human condition.” This quote to me shows how far I have come. This thesis statement is very vague. It doesn’t make a specific argument about the article and website that I was analyzing. So the first problem with it is that I didn’t set myself up for writing strong, focused paragraphs in the body of my essay. That leads me on to not answering the question that I was told to answer by Major Garriott, that question being; What is the purpose of the text? After getting the chance to revise, I was able to produce a solid thesis; “Essentially, the purpose of history is to gain a better understanding of the environment surroundings you and how it all works in order to understand the consequences of different decisions in life.” (STPTUTP, Gallahan) This thesis statement provides a clear arguable claim while at the same time, specific to the article and website I choose to analyze this claim. The thesis also answers the thesis questions, which were how does is the text applied to one or more discourse communities, how it applies to the main discourse as a whole, and what the purpose of the discourse is. The way I was able to develop a solid thesis on this assignment which led to a solid paper was by getting multiple eyes on my paper to give me advice on how to fix up my assignment. I got three different eyes, Major Garriott, Mrs. Parson and Cadet Ayers, to look over my work during that process. I was able to assemble the points of view of those 3 people and use what I thought were the best ideas and execute them in my paper, which in the end resulted in a solid essay and ideas to carry over to my next projects.

In project 3, which is the last project I have completed, I utilized the pointers given to me in my first project, which were simply just focus on the details of the rubric and if you are stuck on writing a thesis, then write or outline your body paragraphs first then summarize them as your thesis. I did this with my Project 3 assignment, and when I met with Major Garriott she had very few things that she felt like she needed to correct and she also told me it was a “very strong start.” I think this shows how far I have come from my first project. On my first projects I had to have multiple meetings before I could develop a sound thesis. But after having gone through the writing and editing process of two papers, I think I have gained a feel for how to develop a well-organized argument for my thesis. And I think this development in my literacy while serve me well down the road in my life, especially in my potential future career fields.

My career aspirations are to become a Marine Corps Infantry Officer and either stay in for life or get out and become a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. The main key to both of these jobs that relates to ERH-101 is communication with all sorts of people. You could be talking to Democrats, Republicans, superiors, inferiors, people who like you or people who don’t. But you need to be about to talk to them about your opinions and convey them in a way that they will understand. Conveying your opinion is simply projecting a thesis of your thoughts verbally. So me developing into someone who can create a strong, clear thesis is essential not only for me now in my academic life, but gaining this skill will help me be an effective and impactful Marine Corps Officer and Lobbyist in my future.

My ERH-101 class has specific implications that have the ability to impact my life in some serious ways, in addition to the lives of others. Being about to developing a solid thesis now will give me time to master it by the time I get to the fleet. I am going to need to keep focusing on the revision process to improve my writing. That is the place where I have gained the best understanding of writing structure, and as the same time pick the brains of my teachers continuously to discover new ways of looking an certain writings or different approaches for different types of writing.

 

 

Works Cited

Gallahan, Maxwell. “Study the Past to understand the Present.” Essay, Virginia Military Institution. 2016.

 

 

Page Count: 3 pages