Reflective Essay Example C
During the course of both English composition courses I took this year, which include English 101 and English 102, I have accomplished a variety of goals I once thought were unattainable. I have not only grown as a writer and a student, but as a person as well. I feel that through my experience of these English courses, I have gained the knowledge and confidence it takes to step out into the real world.
To be quite honest, all my academic life, I always categorized writing under English class only; however, I recently realized that the skills you acquire in English courses, will be extremely beneficial to you. Whether it is writing a business letter, to a history essay, knowing how to write, is always a must. As a young child, I loved to write stories to my mom, while using my creative, deep imagination. Writing was always a way for me to escape my every day life and jump into a much more elaborate, carefree, world of creativity. Although, I always enjoyed writing, during high school, I would often find myself frustrated considering I had the worst case of writer’s block. I constantly felt that I did not know how to write “correctly,” which caused me to begin to despise writing all together.
During the course of my English 101 class, we learned how to read closely, write a “text in context” essay, and how to write a reflective paper as well. Honestly, I found English 101 a breeze for me, possibly because my teacher was EXTREMELY laid back, and we never were pushed out of our comfort zones. At that specific time, I thought I was lucky because I was getting easy grades for a small amount of efforts. I was surprised for this outcome, because during high school I always thought college English was going to be much more difficult.
Now with English 101 over, I was faced with English 102. Possibly due to my feelings towards my English 101 class, I thought English 102 was going to be similar. I was completely wrong. I can remember the first few days of class, the feeling of being hit with the harsh and abrupt reality that I actually had to work hard this semester. Uncomfortable at first, I gradually caught on to the quick but efficient pace my teacher had required of us. Although there was a tremendous amount of work this summer, I look back now with a smile. I feel that all that work truly paid off, because now, I feel confidant that I could write a successful essay. I probably have learned the most about writing in just this one semester, than my entire academic career. My teacher was absolutely amazing and encouraged each of us to push ourselves to reach our goals. Not only did we learn how to write a rhetorical analysis, and how to research and construct a persuasive argumentative essay, but we focused on fine tuning our grammar, mechanics, and MLA format as well.
During this course, we also participated in work shopping our fellow classmates papers ( in front of the entire class). At first I thought this was time consuming, tedious and unnecessary; however, I soon realized how much it improved my own writing. Simply listening to the suggestions and remarks made by my classmates, I gradually realized how helpful their insight truly was. We alternated between higher order concerns, such as: structure, organization, and flow, to lower order concerns, such as: grammar, MLA, punctuation, and sentence structure. I realized that as the workshops continued, I began to point out the parts in the essay that could use revision much easier.
I also learned in this class how to project my suggestions in a positive manner, addressing the problem or suggestion kindly. I remember in the beginning of the semester I would start out by stating the parts in the paper that I didn’t like first; I quickly realized that I should begin my recommendation with a positive remark initially. This is the first class I have had through all of my schooling, where the class worked so hand in hand with each other. I thought this enabled us to reach our course goals along with our social and personal goals as well. Being a very shy person, it was hard for me to open up my ideas with the other students in my class, but I pushed myself to step out of my comfort zone, which resulted in me learning so much more.
Most recently, our class had written a revision of a persuasive and rhetorical paper. We were told to completely change the audience of the paper and to change it to letter format as well. When given the assignment, I was skeptical of how I was going to successfully change who I was addressing the paper to. I was trying to keep the paper sounding academic; however now, I was addressing the paper to a person which changes the genre completely. After I completely revised my papers and changed the audience successfully, I realized that I could accomplish anything if I just put my mind to it. This year I learned that to be a successful writer, you need confidence, the right guidance, and time to perfect the text itself.
I feel relieved that this semester is over; although, I am so thankful that I had this class taught by my teacher. There are so many pieces to becoming a successful writer that I did not even think twice about before I took this class. After each essay I had written, looking at the corrections made by my teacher, I realized that there was so much work I needed to do in order to perfect my writing. I never truly understood or applied MLA format as much as I did this semester. I actually was forced to read through my Rules for Writers book and apply the rules of MLA. Besides MLA format, word choice was also something I grasped onto more during this semester. I learned to consider more descriptive adjectives for my writing because it appeals to the reader more successfully. If I ran out of good adjectives to use, I started to use the thesaurus and look up new, exciting words that I thought would jump out and hook onto the reader.
Before I took this class, I wrote in one specific tone, which I thought was my individual tone and would apply to all writings I applied myself to; however, I was wrong. I know now, that during a reflective piece, such as this, I am able to use my tone to express my thoughts, ideas and feelings. During the persuasive essay, I learned how to write more academically, while projecting my argument but keeping my own voice flowing through out the paper. I learned that especially writing a persuasive paper, I needed to keep in mind which audience I was trying to persuade. For example, I needed to understand that my paper would need to sound different, if I was addressing the readers of the New York Times, or perhaps a magazine for parents of young children. I could no longer write freely, saying whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted; however, now I needed to write accordingly to how my specific, intended audience would respond. Now I was no longer writing strictly out of my own thoughts, but I was considering a variety of aspects in order to create a strong paper.
In my future, I hope to carry all of the skills I have acquired during my English courses. I think that they will be very helpful to me, regardless of what I am trying to accomplish. I feel that I am much better now, in persuading someone through my writings; which would definitely come in handy during my career. The responsibility I have gained during this experience is incredible and has taught me to be a much more organized person. During this semester I was faced with deadlines, rules and assignments that I could not work around. I found that all of these responsibilities have made me realize that I could definitely take the next step forward in my academic career. Each new experience I involve myself in has made me continue to grow and constantly learn something new. I have truly enjoyed my English classes and know what I have learned will be extremely beneficial.