Having already completed Higher English 2 years ago, and achieving an A grade first time, I was fairly confident in my grammar and punctuation abilities. However, upon reading the Study Skills book (McMillan and Weyers 2012) I realized that there were some points which I was not sure of, or could not adequately explain.

Grammar in the English language is known for being confusing, and as we grow up learning it, the technicalities of grammar are often overlooked. The Study Skills book gives a fairly detailed explanation of grammar and what constitutes a sentence for example. This was a useful reminder and I will be looking back on this section when proof reading my upcoming assignments.

Punctuation is another sticking point for many people while writing. I can remember an English teacher while I was in high school who drilled punctuation into us, and as a result, most of this chapter reminded me of her.

Personally, I feel that my weakest area in terms of academic writing ability is critical writing. When writing my Advanced Higher dissertation last year, I was told that my critical writing was what let me down. I hope that this skill will improve as I progress through university, and reading this book has been very useful in beginning this process.