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Jon Mattern
English 250 Section SE
Assignment #5
Samantha Futhey
December 11, 2015
Semester Reflection
How does one define growth in terms of a skill? Is it by how fast or easily they complete
a task? Does it have a quantitative measurement, or is it qualitative? I look back on my semester
and English 250 and the work Ive done and wonder whats changed. The assignments weve
completed have been geared towards growth in a wide variety of areas generally pertaining to
writing, oral, and visual aspects of literacy. In evaluating what weve done, I can identify
instances in which Ive become more comfortable with tasks these assignment have entailed, and
more comfortable performing different aspects of writing, oral, and visual literary projects. When
paying attention to my comfort with writing, I can see a direct correlation between the quality of
the work Ive done and the skills Im more comfortable with. That being said, there is a bit out of
each category that I can improve on. This semester in English 250 has allowed me to grow the
skills I already possess in writing, but more importantly, has opened my eyes to the aspects of
writing that I wasnt necessarily aware of.
Reflecting on the semester, I remember starting with Assignment 1 rather vividly.
Coming from a long summer break and a year before with no English courses, Assignment 1 was
a bit of a challenge in that my writing muscles were very relaxed. However, it was also a good
exercise to warm myself up a bit and to prepare me for the semester. I enjoyed getting to write a
bit more narratively, instead of strictly academically like the lab reports I was used to. After
completion, I had found I was strong in the organizational aspect of my writing, as well as
maintaining good substance and transitions throughout the paper. The paper I submitted for

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Assignment 1 felt very well structured in terms of the order and presence of the content. The
stories each had a similar amount of content and length of discussion associated it. Often times
when a paper is weighted to one topic in comparison to the others in the paper, it is very easy to
tell when reading. This wasnt the case with my literary autobiography. Much like Assignment 1,
this is consistently so, and even improves with later assignments. This leads me to Assignment 4,
which was our mediated research paper and presentation. The structure of my presentation and
paper were very distinct, but also flows very well, as all of the topics and arguments discussed in
the assignment relate to each other.
However, Assignment 4 brought out the fact that some of my skills arent as polished,
source integration in this case. I wrote my paper on two forms of renewable energy, wind and
solar power, and what I thought was the best form of implementation for each. This paper felt
like an uphill battle a good majority of the time, because I had a hard time finding sources with
information broad enough to include in my paper. Granted my paper has a broad topic to begin
with, it was particularly hard to find statistics involving solar or wind power in general, rather
than statistics involving each in specific instances. So for this reason, my research and source
integration in my paper was a challenge, which I eventually overcame. However, this was a
beneficial experience for me, as it taught me more effective ways to do research, including more
specific searches in databases, and changed my writing, as I had to make accommodations for
the more specific information I had compiled.
Much like the paper, the presentation part of Assignment 4 taught me a lot about what I
do well and what needs improvement, as far as my oral and visual communication goes. Ive
presented in the past, in both this class and academic settings, as well as in organizations and
even giving speeches, so I have experience to fall back on. It took me a while to get my

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confidence up when discussing a topic in front of a group, but as long as I know the topic well, I
can dig in and present my arguments effectively. This rang true with Assignment 4, as I presented
in a way in which I could show my knowledge, but in a way in which an uninformed audience
could keep up. It is important to know your audience so that you explain things that need
explaining, or dont explain what the majority might already understand. Overall my presenting
skills as far as structure and content are up to par. My mannerisms with my voice and presence
have room for improvement. Although I stood in one place and made good eye contact, I
received feedback from my professor and peers that I could stand to use more hand gestures and
voice inflection. I also noticed myself saying the infamous um in several instances. This has
been more of an issue with me in the past, as I unfortunately used to say it very often when
giving a talk. Ive improved a massive amount since my early presentations and speeches, but I
can improve more until one day I eliminate it completely.
With my presentations Ive given both by myself and with a group this semester, like my
speaking abilities, Ive had chances to improve my visual creation skills. PowerPoints have been
the primary medium with which Ive presented. With PowerPoint it is important to keep in mind
that less is more, meaning it is better to have one to two word points, rather than full sentences.
Also pictures can act better than words can in some cases, but can be overpowering. With
multiple possible outcomes regarding the way you use words and content in slides, it is important
to have a good understanding of what does and doesnt work. Both Assignments 3 and 4, I had
the opportunity to work on my skills with compiling information into a slide presentation. With
Assignment 3, I followed the format my group had decided on, with the picture of my ad I wrote
about as well as a few points to accompany it. In Assignment 4, I had total freedom, but followed
a similar format, having a few bullet points and a picture on each slide. Looking back, I feel I

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could have put even less in my renewable energy slides to make things more visually appealing,
and kept my effectiveness as a presenter. Keeping my slideshow concise with no excess content
is an area I can improve on as a presenter.
Progressing through each assignment and project through the semester, it has grown
easier to produce quality papers and presentations that follow principles of writing used
academically. I can confidently say that Ive grown from the experience, and can also say I have
a lot of room for improvement. My organization and paper substance, as well as my presentation
skills have noticeably improved. Through my regular assignments, as well as my reading
journals and group work, I feel Ive gained a better understanding of the writing process, and
become more comfortable with expressing my thoughts and arguments using literature.