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.

This class has been a stepping stone to my accomplishments as a writer. Over the course of semester, I have been challenged to tackle several different writing styles and succeed in each one in a unique way. It is through the rhetoric, technology, research, and collaboration used in this class that has progressed me as a writer and an individual.

Life is a cycle of learning and the dissemination of what we’ve learned. In each day of our lives we learn something new to add to our list of skills and knowledge. When I first entered university, I thought the writing courses were useless and just a waste of time since we all can write. Later, however, I realized how those courses are beneficial in improving our critical thinking and communication skills not only the style of writing.

Writing 102 has been a great journey with so many hurdles and loopholes, but overall it has been an exciting experience. This class has exposed me to areas in my writing that needed improvement – especially my punctuations and grammar. One major struggle I had was learning to use more formal words instead of using slang. I learned the importance of structure and the importance of writing in order to organize my ideas and convey my message appropriately to the reader. This class made me realize my greatest fault as a writer, which was not being able to comprehend directions, being unable to write without using first person words, and learning the importance of using peer reviewer’s comments are also barriers I have broken.

As a writer, I have improved tremendously. Over the course of the 2015 fall semester, English 015 has helped me grow as a writer in all ways possible. From hearing Dr. Duffy’s wise words regarding writing throughout class, to participating in peer review sessions, writing has become a skill that I have flourished in. As a child, I would constantly write stories and poems to express my feelings and emotions. Sadly enough, I can admit that as a lonely child, writing was my only companion and confidant. As an eight year old child, I found myself writing stories about the individuals in or around my life. After creating a satire about my mother’s workplace and the employee’s who worked there, I knew I had a gift regarding writing. I watched my

college, I didn 't know what to expect when it came to beginning WRD 103. The various assignments that were asked to be produced exceptionally strengthened my overall writing abilities. The idea of writing creatively within narratives and analyzing different stories or commercials expanded the way can express my multi-modal writing. My skills within all of these areas are still under progress, but with the constant practice, I am confident that these skills will continue to grow.

     This course has shown me that I am capable of writing in a variety of

Since taking this course I have been very honest about my writing abilities. Through this course I have had to come to terms with my strengths and make a real effort to overcome the weaknesses that I have found within my writing styles.

Preceding spring semester, I had never been in a formal college-level writing class. As I am finishing up my sixth week of this semester, I am discovering what all is involved in writing. To write is not simply to put words on a paper; writing requires a developing story laid out in smooth, well transitioned paragraphs, with a strong conclusion.

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.

When I signed up for this class (at the last minute, I should add, after dropping out of an economics class), I had no idea what to expect from a college-level creative writing course. I was excited to write creatively as a part of a group of like-minded people, but I wondered about the academic aspect of the class: what exactly would I learn about writing itself, and how would I learn it? Looking back now, I realize that through my interactions with the readings we did, my critique of others work, and the feedback I received on my own pieces, I have expanded my depth of knowledge on what is required to create great writing, and, perhaps most importantly, I have learned that great writing can take a variety of forms.

Writing is a part of our everyday lives and will be part of your future career. How will you be using writing and the skills learned in this course within your chosen field and profession? People don’t believe that writing is part of their everyday life, as the same thought has been applied to mathematics. When taking a writing course, it's more evident that writing is an essential part of life. I was one that never really thought of writing as a skill I need for my career. I’ve been learning the importance of writing in my English class. I’ve found it not to be so easy for me as I struggled with it growing up. But I feel that I’m applying myself right now to learn as much as I can to be able to utilize this skill in my profession.

There are over seven billion people currently living on earth. The majority of which we will never see or speak to within our lifetime. Questioning why I write and who exactly I am writing for makes me wonder how many people will actually come in contact with my writing. Consequently, why bother? The reality is a person writes primarily because they are taught to do so and thus believe they are important enough to be heard, but there are also many other reasons which manifest themselves with time. Personally, I have found myself writing for historical and political purposes. Both of which wouldn’t have occurred if I wasn’t forced to write in school from a very young age. Writing has existed since the beginning of humankind for the same reasons we dance, sing, and speak. Writing is its own form of expression unlike any other which allows us to communicate and relate to others on a universal level.

When I was began signing up for my classes this summer, College Comp was the class I was most worried about. Although many find writing papers to be relatively easy, I have never been that good at it. Writing has just never come easy to me, and because of this I always tend to overthink, and procrastinate every single detail that I put into any of my papers, rather it be a personal paper or paper I have to do a ton of research on, I always tend to get extremely distracted and lose my focus no matter how far along into the paper I have gotten. In high school I spent a lot of my time trying to become a better writer, and with lots of practice and paper writing, I soon began to see a change in my writing style, and a noticeable difference in the grades I was getting. Even though my writing had gotten better, I was still not a big fan of it. The closer the first day of my college semester got, the more stressed I became. This class was definitely not the hardest class I was taking, but it was the one I was the most worried about.

As a young girl, I loved to write and read books, middle of junior high school was when I lost my touch with writing. Before Writing 1100 I hated writing, it was one of the things I used to hate the most. That was mainly because I had a tough time putting my thoughts into a paper. Although I felt that writing wasn't my best subject, I still use to get okay grades on essays I was assigned back in junior high and high school. Things changed for me when I had two writing classes in college, I realized I was not a good writer. I knew I was not good at writing when I had to take a remedial writing class my first semester of college. Writing in the Public Sphere 1100 changed how I feel about writing, Although, in this course, it was a lot of stress and excessive assignments I can say that having all of the writing assignments helped me with improving myself as a writer. My skills with MLA formatting, citing and analyzing readings have improved. I also learned how to summarize well. In this course I have written six journals, two essays, a research paper, and some free-writes. Now that I am creating this portfolio, Reflecting on my writing now, I would say that the there was a lot of work assigned, and these assignments were somewhat repetitive and that’s why my skills have gotten better because I didn't lose touch of the skill I was taught for this course.