Reflective Essay Writing

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.

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.

Writing influences the way humans communicate. Good writing skills are essential in the working world and it’s important for our own self. The love for writing creative stories that engage the reader personally feels like an impossible task. After thirteen years of English I’ve realized that English does not come easy to me. It’s important to note that my writing skills have improved over the years. Going into my first year of college, I was nervous. I knew that my writing needed improvement. During my first semester of college, I was able to take the WAC 101 class. This class not only improved my writing, but it also encouraged me to start reading again. I look at reading as a task instead of a hobby, but I know that it can progress toward something that I like to do on my free time. WAC 101 is a class that helps develop a student’s writing skills. To measure the progress, outcomes in different areas of writing are reflected upon.

I am particularly interested in the 1st STEP program because of the opportunity presented to acquire advocacy, persuasion and presentation skills that are fundamental not only in the court room but also in all areas of lawyering. As a continuing J.D. student, and ranked 86 (47%) of my class, I wish to engage in the fundamentals of litigation so as to better serve possible clients. Because I was pre-admitted into the program upon my acceptance letter, I choose Golden Gate University to learn and grow and hope this program will further my education.

I totally agree with what the author is saying in the text. It takes time to get a good product out even though we think some people are deep and wonderful they still have the same struggles that we have when it comes to writing. I like this text because it is realistic it is giving an account of first drafts from common day people and shows how it is even for professional writers have problems with. This point is important because as people we sometimes feel we are not as good or capable of doing something not realizing that the people we look up to have the same problems we do. Another point that I agree with the author on is that you have to start somewhere. Many times as writers we don’t know where to start when it comes to writing. That being said we will just sit and think for ten twenty minutes when we could've just been information on the paper and then editing it later. In addition I liked that the author used examples from his professional experience when it came to writing food reviews. By him using details like how he went to the restaurant and sat down with friends and took notes of what was said. This was good to me because it helps me connect with him and the things that he does to write his reviews.

I have always prided myself on my thoughts and ideas; it is my ability to convey those thoughts through writing, with which I struggle. In highschool I managed to get by fairly well in my English class. We were primarily graded on reading comprehension, and so my poor writing skills had little opportunity to negatively impact my grade. I did not find this to be so in Writing 100, however. It quickly came to my attention that I would need to improve my writing if I wished to do well. I realized that in order to improve my writing, I would need to fix one of my worst qualities as a writer: my tendency to begin writing without properly understanding the prompt. This past semester in Writing 100 I have made an effort to fix this, and it has led me to become more intentional of the purpose of my essays, which, in my opinion, has helped highlight an intellectual depth that my work was incapable of displaying before.

     One of the techniques I am going to use through out college is talking to

Writing has been a challenge for me. After reading the feedback you gave me for my essays, I realized how bad my writing was. While reading my journal, I found the following note: “I was able to summarize and to point out the main ideas of what the authors were trying to say”. Obviously, I did not know how to incorporate those ideas to my argument. Analyzing the articles I was reading and using evidence to support my argument was an issue as well. I struggled with the structure & organization of my essays and making my paper longer. My paragraphs were disconnected, and I had trouble establishing my thesis. I had lot of work to do so that my portfolio revision could be at least, acceptable. To write a better essay, I had to understand what the authors were trying to say and the only way I could understand these articles was by annotating. We talked about this technique in class at the beginning of the semester. And to be honest, I did not use it until now. My first attempt of writing the conversation paper was a complete disaster. My writing was confusing, and my ideas were vague. How could I write a good paper if I had no idea what the authors were trying to say?

Writing is a place where you can get lost to create stories or grab attention for an audience. However, writing can be done pretty much anywhere and by anybody. For me, I can say writing has provided me many open doors. Helping me to get closure from my father, gained positive aspects, and in some areas, I struggled. But writing is an influence that you must have because it brings out the inner part of you to rise above. Like maybe you can't specifically say it to a particular person. Where as to me I've been in that situation but I've found it easier to write to them. Providing a sense of you going out of the way to provide time to write to them means a lot to a particular person or for me. Sometimes writing is a place where I can get lost or maybe find my weaknesses and strengths overall writing has influenced me to do good.

If there is anything that this class has taught me, it is that writing is more complex than I ever imagined. I have concluded that writing is like a cake- the good ones are creative with many layers. Coming from a small public school, I was raised on the five paragraph essay style. If you were to get a pile of my senior classes final research papers, it would be hard to tell them apart. We all wrote the same, and our style hardly changed from second grade on. Metaphorically speaking, we all created the same plain vanilla cake.

“There’s always room for improvement” (Shannon Fritcher). In your opinion, you may be the best you can be but non-the less, there is always a place that could use improvement. In the past months, I feel like I have accomplished a great deal. As the semester comes to an end I find myself reflecting on not only how I managed to survive the first semester as a freshman in college, but also what I have learned. One of the most valuable things I have learned thus far is becoming a better writer, mainly because I didn’t think I could become a better writer. I once believed you either had what it took or you didn’t, but I was wrong. As with any skill, it takes practice to make perfect and even then, you still need to adjust some skills to make them even better! I have grown as a writer, and I am now in the process of meeting at least half of the course outcomes. My writing and learning process, now being able to compose sentences that are accurate, concise and varied in structure, and lastly the amount of learning I have left to do are all factors of my growth as a writer.

Writing, the bases of change around the world. People around the world use writing as a way to connect to others and to form a bond with others. I have learned what it takes to heighten my writing and create pieces of work that lays a template of my further growth. As I learned how to perform better on my reports than what I was previously able to do. Through each report I had continued to learn more about my shortcomings and had progressed to a beyond passable grade. It is because to my development that I can confidently say that I have reached all the needed criteria that is needed to pass GSW 1110.

People gain new information everyday they spend on Earth, whether they are aware or not. Students especially, are exposed to new information and ideas daily. What and how students learn varies due to the different subjects requiring a different approach as you tackle those subjects. For example math and chemistry require one to do more written and hands on practice while history and sociology calls for more retainment of materials in the course study. One subject demands something different which makes it stand out is Writing. For Writing you have to use a blend of materials. For examples: personal experiences, general knowledge on topics, practice, and effective research just to name the general few. During this first semester of college Writing 101 has been the class that require the most work from me. Not saying it was hard, which it was not at all. Throughout college you are required to compose many papers for various subjects and with Writing 101 it prepares you for the possible written assignments expected throughout one’s college career. One paper that I enjoyed the most would have to be the exploration and argumentative because it allowed me to discus a topic that I really enjoyed.

I remember being extremely nervous to begin graduate school, but I was especially anxious about taking PC700, Communication and Intro to Scholarly Writing. It had been a long time since I had written any sort of formal paper, so I was uncertain how I would accomplish my goals. I knew that since I had not written recently, I would need to be well organized and I would need to read all the recommended readings in addition to the required readings. I settled into the fact that this was going to be a difficult semester and began to work while hoping for the best.

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.