|
Writing Showcase
Each semester McMurry University offers Introduction to Composition, a course designed to help students hone their writing skills before enrolling in English 1310, Composition and Rhetoric. This course focuses on paragraph development and sentence skills as well as essay writing. The works posted here are all excellent examples of the high quality of writing students strive for in this course.
Jessie Garcia
Mrs. Lopez
Intro to Composition
15 October 2008
McMurry
Even though McMurry is not one of the biggest or most prestigious universities, it is one of the best schools someone can attend. School campus is great. Many times incoming freshmen get lost on their way to class; at McMurry, class rooms are clearly numbered, making it easy for students to find the classes they are in. In addition, most of the classes are less than five minutes away from each other, which is great because it gives students more than enough time to move from class to class. One of the best things that McMurry has compared to other campuses is that the class sizes are perfect. At McMurry, the classes are small enough that the teacher can stop a lecture to answer questions students might have. Students have the benefit of being able to state their opinions on topics discussed in class and be heard; students are not just numbers. Also, the staff at McMurry truly cares about its students. Staff members are willing to take time to help out any students having problems and to provide students with tutoring at almost any time during the day. McMurry staff cares about the students’ success and do anything they can to help the students succeed. The staff goes out of its way to provide students with support, whether it is in class or simply cheering their hearts out at one of the many sports events they attend. McMurry University is the best place for someone with the thirst for knowledge, to co me, a place where no dream is impossible.
Nereyda Alba
9/2/08
Intro to composition
Ms. Lopez
In Seconds…
There is no turning back, the gun had been fired like a rocket into the sky. All I could hear was the sound of a herd of cows running for their lives. I felt the dew of the grass while I ran. I could hear the crowd shouting: “Come on keeping moving you’re almost there!” My legs were cramping I could feel my muscles tingling. I re’tasted the energy bar I had eaten that morning. I shouldn’t have had anything, especially an hour before my race. There were nine girls in front of me, but I was close enough to hear them breathing. My heart was pumping, and I could see the finish line. I gun it with a hundred meters left, for the two miles. I felt the wind blowing by my face. In less than four seconds, I was going to be a regional qualifier. Then my body shut down. I could not go any further. My heart was about to explode, furious that I was almost to the finish line. In the blink of an eye, a girl from Arlington High School took tenth place, the last spot to qualify for regionals. I came seconds after her. I was shocked at how close I was, but how my senior district race for cross country which I had worked so hard for was lost. It is amazing how a couple of seconds can change your life.
Hunter Blackman
Mrs. Lopez
Devs 0130
9/5/08
The Pressure
There were two outs, the bases were loaded, and our pitcher was in a bind when my coach started to the mound. On his slow, intimidating walk, he pointed to me in the outfield, but I didn’t know what he meant. Then as he began to wave furiously, I realized he was calling me into pitch the final out of the game. As I began my jog to the mound, I thought through all the possible scenarios and realized the full extent of the pressure now on my shoulders. It was the last out; we were up by one run. Their winning runner was on second a base, so a hit could score two for them to win the district championship. I couldn’t let my team down now! The crowd started chanting my name. When I got to the mound, coach said something to me I will never forget: “It is your show now; let’s show them want you have.” I threw my warm up pitches, and I felt great. The batter stepped to the plate, the umpire, yelled “play ball”, and my catcher gave me the sign for an outside fast ball, all in a matter of seconds. I nodded my head and took in a deep breath praying he does not get a hit. The pitch is gone. The pitch produced a ground ball to my second baseman and he made the play to first. The game was over; we made it to playoffs as district champions. My team charged the mound forming a huge pile of excited guys all because I just won the district championship in one pitch.
|