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1 Kyra Owen ENGL 1102 Mr.

Borrero 29 April, 2013 Final Reflection Thomas Jefferson summed up the greatest lesson Ive learned from ENGL 1102 when he said, I'm a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Jeffersons bit of a sarcastic line implies that luck isnt what gets you where you want to go; hard work does. I always considered myself to be gifted in English. I worked as hard as I had to and still managed to do very well in my classes, even though my papers were a little lack-luster. This semester I learned that although I may be naturally good at writing, the effort I put forth is what really makes or breaks the work. Thats not the only thing I learned, however. In this course I learned to think deeply and ask questions. More importantly, I better learned how to find information in pursuit of the answer, even though I may never quite know the answer. In the rest of this paper, Id like to discuss my new strengths and weaknesses, the challenges and risks I faced, and Id also like to compare some of the work I have done this semester. Coming into this course, I had already made some significant gains from taking English 1101. This semester, however, I made some new goals and made strides to reach them. Mainly, I wanted to work on my paragraph transitions and content. I would now consider paragraph transitions to be a lot stronger for me, enough to qualify for a new strength. As I compare papers later in this reflection, I will show some examples of my growth. However, my transitions within paragraphs are still weak, but have been set as a new goal for me as I continue my college journey. As for content, Ive certainly improved from where I started; Im more concise and

2 picky with what I say and include. However, this is still a weakness for me. It will take some more practice for me to continue my growth in this area. Some other areas that I have improved in include my research methods and my conclusions. I am not very efficient at researching and creating annotations. I would mark that as a new strength of mine. Like content, I wouldnt say that my conclusions justify this skill as strength for me, but the improvements are notable and Im pleased with those improvements. To make this gains, I had to face a few challenges and take some risks, all well worth the time. While every course presents a number of challenging assignments, some tend to stick out the most. For English 1102, the most challenging assignments for me were the Inquiry Narrative Essay and the CAP project. I found the Inquiry Narrative a hard paper to tackle because of my difficulty trying to determine what should be included and what shouldnt. This assignment called for me to look through the research and information that I had gathered on my topic and then use it to explain to my reader what Ive learned. As you may imagine, this was a hard task for me. Everything bit of information I gather seems important to me; too important not to include. However, what Ive learned is that it all seems interesting; not important. I managed to complete the essay without including everything I learned. To someone who hasnt read my work before, it may seem as though I have made no improvements, but to me, I can clearly see the effort and improvement. The CAP Project also brought forth proof of my effort and improvement, however, getting there was a challenge as well. Because of the risk I chose to take with this project (writing about a topic that didnt leave a huge trail of previous research), I found it hard at some times to argue my point. I eventually found that my purpose statement and introduction in general had a lot to do with how well I could argue that animal therapy is a good alternative to

3 drugs and other treatments for anxiety disorders. It took several editing attempts, but eventually I managed to create a strong introduction. This introduction helped me to overcome the challenge of writing argumentatively and staying true to my purpose, which was a major component of the project. Now Id like to begin showing examples of my improvements by comparing my work as it developed through the semester. Please keep in mind that I will be jumping around from assignment to assignment because Im comparing work, rather than listing it. The first assignment Ill be looking at is the Health, Wellness, and Me Exploratory Reflection.In this assignment, I demonstrated several weak areas. The introduction was weak, the transitions were there for paragraphs, but not in paragraphs, and the structure inside the paragraphs was poor. In the introduction, you may notice that my first few sentences hardly match up with what I go on to talk about, making it irrelevant. I could have used a hook that better aligned with my topic interests. For example, in Health and Wellness: Correlations of Dogs and Human Health, my Inquiry Narrative Essay, I made use of my introduction by using a hook that was both good and on topic. I made this improvement on my Inquiry Narrative Essay after looking back on my Exploratory Reflection and seeing that a hook is only useful if it makes sense. The main problem I had with my Exploratory Reflection was not the introduction, though; it was the transitioning and structure of paragraphs. I would have had much better paragraphs had I been using transition statements between sentences, however, at the time I didnt really know just how important they are to the overall clarity. You will see in paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of Health, Wellness, and Me Exploratory Reflection, that it almost seems like Im babbling or wrote the paper while incoherent. I didnt really do much better with this as the

4 semester went on because I honestly didnt notice it until much later, but at least my paragraph transition did improve. While I seem to only have found weakness in my Exploratory Reflection, I did go on to find several improvements as the semesters work went on. In my Inquiry Narrative, Health and Wellness: Correlations of Dogs and Human Health, my strongest section is my introduction. In it, I implement my tone very clearly and keep true to it throughout the paper. I also make good use of my purpose statement. I stated what my intentions were and what I would be discussing in the paper, providing framework for the rest of the essay. Although this introduction is well done, I used it to assist my introduction writing for the CAP Project as well, in in Draft 1, Draft 2, and Draft 3. I began with a relevant hook and developed a clear purpose statement. Another important element of my Inquiry Narrative that is worth noting is my conclusion. It doesnt necessarily deserve a standing ovation; it at the very least does its job. Ive done a poor job or closing essays before, and am really proud that this conclusion actually brings closure to the essay. I feel as though I really tied the ends together for this. However, it seems as though I backtracked or put conclusions on the back burner when writing the CAP Paper, as you can see in the conclusion of my Final Draft. It seems to lack something, although I cant quite put my finger on it. When I read it, I feel uninterested and it seems that this conclusion is more of a summary than anything else. However, other elements of the paper seemed to shine well. In the Final Draft of my CAP Essay, I do a fine job of bringing structure and flow to the final product. I have struggled in the past to implement sensible order. With this project, I was able to create a good roadmap that put all the elements of my paper in an appropriate place. My paragraphs, for the most part, made sense to come after or before one another which is something I enjoyed seeing in my own work. Another thing that I demonstrated in my Final Draft was

5 exclusion of unnecessary content. Although it isnt perfectly done, I did my best to ask myself, Does this belong? Why or why not? With this being the criteria for every source and bit of information I included, I was able to narrow down my paper length, which is usually extraordinarily long, and also make more sense. I am becoming a more concise writer which is obvious from work Ive done in the past and in English 1101 in comparison to work Ive done this semester. Please take a moment just to admire that I went from 8 pages full of unnecessary (although interesting) information in my ENGL 1101 Ethnography to 8 pages of worth-while and important information in my ENGL 1102 CAP Essay. Although this is the only example Im giving between my work from ENGL 1101 to present, I would encourage you to look and compare for yourself some of the minor victories Ive made. Ive really managed to grow as a writer throughout this semester, which I find evident from comparing the two semesters myself. English 1102 has been a journey that has taught me the value of hard work and what a difference it can make in my writing. I feel confident in my new skills and although I may not yet have reached all of my writing goals, it doesnt mean that I wont. At the very least, this course has given me to the tools the walk away with that will continue to foster growth and inquiry in my future work. Although I faced a few hardships and challenges, the strengths I gained and weaknesses Ive pinpointed were worth finding. Getting the chance to sit down and reflect on the work Ive done this semester make me, in one word, proud. Im proud of my downfalls and my achievements because they encourage me to keep working at my writing skills. Ive enjoyed this course and especially am thankful that I was able to take English 1102 with the same instructor as my English 1101 course because you already knew me as a writer. Its advantage to have someone who knows how you operate and not have to start all over again with another instructor. I appreciate the effort on your part to agree to meet with me to

6 conference as well as responding to my emails to assist me in this journey anyway that you could. It was certainly beneficial to my progress and to the great work I know that I will do someday.

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