Probably the most helpful thing I learned in this class was the concept of subordinate clauses.  I have always used them in my writing but never really understood why they seemed to make my writing flow so smoothly.  By taking this class, however, I now understand that subordinate clauses eliminate the clutter of additional or repetitive subjects and words, thereby making the writing more concise.  I have also seen where subordinate clauses can become extremely lengthy and awkward, thereby cramping one's writing style.  Once this point was brought to my attention, I realized that, at times, lengthy subordinate clauses have cramped my own writing.  To remedy this problem, I simply use some of the content within the subordinate clause in another sentence or eliminate the extra information entirely.  I plan to use my knowledge of subordinate clauses to continuously improve my writing style.

Another concept I learned from this class was the proper use of semicolons.  I never knew the proper way to use semicolons before taking this class; consequently, I avoided the use of semicolons in my writing.  Now, I understand that a semicolon separates two complete sentences and often uses a conjunctive adverb.  In the past, I was apt to use a semicolon to connect a sentence with a fragment or join two fragments with a semicolon, thereby attempting to make a complete sentence.  Now that I know the proper use of a semicolon, I will be using them more frequently in my writing.

I also enjoyed researching and teaching the concept of nouns to the class.  Through my research, I came across some information I never knew about nouns before taking this class.  The concept of noun plague really enlightened me as to how excessive nouns can really complicate one's writing and make it quite confusing.  Another thing I found quite interesting about nouns was how one can use just one noun to take the place of several words.  For example, one can use the word fanatic to replace the phrase "the very zealous, dogmatic, and adamant religious followers" in a sentence. Nouns can be used to make a sentence more succinct and interesting.  It was a rewarding and challenging experience to incorporate such concepts about nouns in my exercise and then teach such concepts to the class.

Though I learned much more in the class, these are the items of interest that I considered most helpful.  I plan to use the knowledge I gained in this class to become a more effective writer and to communicate more clearly to the audiences I will encounter in the future.