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.

I improved as a writer this semester because I became better at composing sentences. I improved not only my grammar but also the content of the sentences and how I articulate my ideas. This portfolio represents an accurate picture of me as a writer, because it shows how I write in an academic setting and the subjects I love. This is apparent in the choices that I made in my selection of writings. However, it could better represent my progress if I had included my scores and comments from all of my assignments. Though, I do believe that this portfolio showcases my progress this semester.

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.

1. My writing has grown tremendously since my first essay of the semester. The first essay I struggled with organization and sentence structure. Considering my last essay, I have been able to organize information to make it much more pleasing to read. Likewise, in my second essay I had some trouble with the MLA format. However, in my last essay I managed to cite and source all information more favorably. Furthermore, in my third essay I had trouble with adding detail in my body paragraphs. In my last essay, I was able to demonstrate a full understanding of the assignment by providing great detail. Overall, throughout this course, I have been able to form my own unique style of writing

During this semester I had some strengths and weaknesses in my essays on my writing and think what I could put on each essay I did. In this portfolio I have included three of my essays that I need during this semester and they are American Nature, Recall my Home, and timed writing 2 called Privacy. They show in many ways how I have improve in my writing and what were my struggles in writing. I have some things that I need to focus on to improve as a writer, and this three essays that I showing, show in what I have to improve on. I have had many many obstacles during this semester in my writing, but I know that I have improved in some of them. I feel good that I have learned many things I did not know before. For example, I didn't know before how to write an essay the correct way and format. Maybe I dont know perfectly how but I know more than before, and I feel good about it. One of my weaknesses were how to have smooth sentences or paragraphs. Also one that I always had

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.

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

Writing is a long journey. You start to learn the basics of writing but then start to proceed to learn new skills to become a better writer. But in the journey you will go through ups and downs but you can always reflect on them. The Struggles I´ve faced as a writer this year is my grammar and my organization. My grammar issues still came along, Ive always had this issue in the beginning. I would mistakenly use past tense words instead of present tense words. So what I had to do to not make this mistake again was to know when to use past tense words and present tense words, plus I would search up examples. As soon as I got into it,

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?

My writing skills which I have worked on over the few months I have been in English 102 have changed quite a bit in my opinion. There are many things which I have improved upon that were amongst my weaker writing skills when the year began. On the opposite side of that point, there are also many things which I still need to improve upon if I want to truly elevate my writing to a level that I will be confident in. Finally, I have gained new skills outside of writing from this class, particularly the activities which we did in class at various points throughout the year. These things all cumulate together to give me an appreciation of English courses which I did not previously have.

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.

Before this semester, my essay writing would have been considered rather poor. This was because I did not understand the various components of a properly written and accompany them to effectively communicate my ideas. I lacked the most in keeping the audience involved hence, catching and maintaining their attention, to my writing from the introduction to the conclusion. To me, writing was more complicated than a speech since a speech involved direct audience who the speaker can gauge their feelings. I took writing as a difficult task since it involved indirect audience and ensuring that I meet the demands of such indirect audience, brought more confusion. Though the case, this past semester’s class has really improved my skills in writing. I have learned to to make an effective written piece. Through the various learning experiences such as individual readings, professional feedback and many others, I have been able to interact with diverse knowledge sources which have made me much better by removing the confusion and negative picture I had with regard to writing.

I learned a lot throughout each io, learned about how each little thing that affected Suskind affect Grenouille. Grenouille was basically affected by the mindset of Suskind but also the setting in which Suskind lived. Suskind lived during the cold war an era in which everyone felt that the world was going to end. Suskind was effected mightily by this so he was probably thinking he was dying and that the world was coming to an end. Grenouille also wasn 't considered human because he also did not have a positive state of mind because the setting was always changing and different from all the other people in his world. While reading Perfume for myself I often viewed Grenouille like Society did, as a freak who shouldn’t live on this earth. But these orals helped me understand how I was judging and not accepting just like society was towards Grenouille. I wouldn’t like to be judge either for all my flaws or just because someone says I’m not good enough. Yet society still had some sort of sympathy towards Grenouille even though they viewed him as a monster. Grenouille was a normal human that walked on the same earth as every other human. He just wanted to be accepted and loved like everyone else.

Do you have the habit of waiting tell the last minute to write a paper? Well this is what I would do when I would dread writing a paper for a class. I would start the night before the paper was due and I would write a draft, then proofread then print it off. Since gaining knowledge from taking ICW, I have gained experiences and ways to overcome my writing problems. My major problem was procrastinating, and overall just starting the paper. This was due to not having a process and an outline for the paper which was an effect of procrastinating.