Reflective Essay: What I Learned In My Writing Course

My writing experience about the career paper was more informative than I was expecting. By reading the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), I quickly realized that there was so much information about a career in medicine, I was not aware of especially with regards to employment and predicted employment rates. However, the most difficult part of the writing process was trying to incorporate personal information into the narrative while using statistics and descriptions from OOH to come up with a coherent essay. For example, with a plethora of personal information and details about factors that has motivated me to pursue a career in medicine, it was difficult to summarize and incorporate information from OOH into my

I immensely struggled when writing. Taking my scrambled thoughts and uncoordinated analysis and converting it into clean and understandable words on a page was arduous. I could not express my thoughts in proper academic format. I understood the importance of writing to every subject. It was essential that I learn to condense my ideas and feeling into coherent written word. After much debate, I decided that the best way to improve my writing skills was to take an advanced English course.

Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.

This semester has taught me a lot about the different types of writing. I have learned how to draft and compose a rhetorical analysis based off of an author’s ethos, pathos, and logos strategies. Not only have I been able to critically analyze rhetorical papers, but I have been able to search for more information to support my ideas or beliefs. Even though this can be time consuming it is well worth it to have a lot of support and evidence to back my ideas or beliefs on a topic. Throughout this semester I have more of a general knowledge on rhetorical goals, critical reading and writing skills, my processes on how to write a paper, and learning a new way of creating an idea through electronical environments.

Upon entering English 111, I knew I would be writing papers. However, I did not anticipate how much room I had for improvement. Throughout this term I have been enlightened with so much knowledge that I may have forgotten or have been exposed to for the first time. Certainly, my experience with essay writing has been solidified due to newfound knowledge of proper work citing, MLA standards and the steps of planning an essay. Perhaps, my time away from a learning environment slowed me down a bit, other times I feel as though I have an advantage due to life experience. An online environment has certainly been challenging but throughout the course I have provided solid work and consistent grades commendable of an A grading.

While taking this class, I have developed as a writer, arguer and college student. My writing style and organization have greatly improved this semester, as I have learned through writing several different papers. As an arguer, I have

Writing is an important form of communication. It is a personal process that portrays your thoughts and views to someone else. It is not only an important skill to have for school work and certain professions, but daily messages such as emails, texts, and tweets as well. It can have a big impact on how you come across to certain people. Because of this, it is very important for me to practice writing. I believe that this course has improved my writing, which will help me in many ways in the future.

When I began this writing course, I was asked what I hoped to accomplish. I even wrote a reflective essay as a journal entry on the topic. Looking back at the essay and reading it again, I am struck by how much I have learned in such a brief time span. My initial concerns were surrounded in a perceived fear of academia. I was insecure in my ability to convey thoughts in a structured academic format. I still take time to consider these concerns. However, this course boosted my confidence in my ability to learn to write academically, and effectively.

Looking back at this year I know that developing my writing was something that was there but needed some improvement. When there were no teachers around to go over my writing I found websites that would correct my grammar and used that to my advantage. This would either make or break my writing because it could make it shorter or longer. My writing when there is a rubric to follow is great because I know what to follow but with reflections like these, it’s hard to develop good

All my life I have struggled with English due to the fact that I did not learn English till the age of seven as it was not first language. Programs like ESL have helped me improve my English tremendously through high school. Over these past two quarters in college, I learned to improve my writing more than ever, as I have learned that there is no limit in writing. I was able to learn strategies that helped me improve my essays. Over the course of this quarter I was able to learn many new strategies that will help me write my future papers efficiently. I have also learned my strengths and weakness. This quarter I have learned the importance of writing. Throughout high school, I dreaded writing essays, due to the fact that I was not good at it. However, this quarter, writing 20 has changed my opinion on that.

This is assignment was one of the first writing assignments I have written since graduating high school in 2005. While writing this essay I learned several things about myself and become extremely excited when I learned I had earned 8 out of 10 points after submitting this assignment.

My writing skills developed drastically. I went into elementary school not knowing a word of English becuase my parents spoke Cantonese at home. Therefore, I struggled in elementary and middle school. However, the teachers at my high school have taught me amply. Therefore, English is a strong subject of mine. I learns the conventions of writing a well-structured and drive essay. However, I struggle in communicating. For example, I am slightly fearful of presenting, but I push myself into producing well-developed lessons. Additionally, I rely heavily off a script and is a skill I am actively working to

Before I came to college, I felt my writing had to follow a certain pattern and be fixated around one way of thinking. What I was fortunate to learn was quite the opposite. Writing does not have to follow any certain pattern, but can rather be structured through many different possibilities. I was also told in high school that my papers either had to agree or disagree with the given topic, even if I believed otherwise. This formulated a very one-track way of thinking when it came to my papers. Now I know that I can let my mind explore new and exciting ideas. I can agree, disagree, compliment, criticize, and question the author however my heart desires, as long as I have the evidence to back myself up. Many authors in the book, Writing About Writing, explain their processes as well as the processes of others when it comes to writing. As a writer, I can draw on my own processes and relate them to the authors, as well as use their ideas and apply them to myself. Through reading, I have learned new methods of invention, planning and revising, and incubation when it comes to writing. All ways I can use to create more meaningful and creative work.

The experience I gain from the five paragraphs assignment was insightful. I was focused on the assigned topic and it was not as difficult as I first thought. Staying focus was the main task. I believe I will learn more concepts of writing better papers in this class. It will be challenging for me but I will not give up on writing. It was reveal to me how important it is to communicate through writing. Being able to express you thoughts in writing is considered to be a requirement in the corporate world today.

Before taking this course my writing styles and habits were very different. I was the typical procrastinator because I would wait until the night before a paper was due to start it. This did not allow me enough time to properly proofread everything, which resulted in getting points deducted for simple grammatical errors that could have been avoided if I would have had the time to proofread. My writing styles have many strengths and weaknesses and I have been able to improve my writing because of them. I have learned from my strengths and weaknesses how to become a better writer.