Herrington 1

Kelsey Herrington

Professor Ditch

English 115

09 December 2019

Reflecting

I revised my essays in the exact way I wrote them. First, I began with Project Space. I

looked at the articles related to Project Space and reread them to refresh my memory, because

throughout the semester I have learned that reading assigned readings more than once will result

in a better understanding of the author’s argument. From week one, where we began discussing

the assignments, to now, I have strengthened my analysis. After quotes, I needed to explain

exactly why I chose those specific quotes and how they relate back to my argument. In my first

essay I put a quote in the second body paragraph, where I discuss David Brooks’s article. I used

one of his quotes relating to Abraham Lincoln and it was not appropriate because it did not circle

back to my thesis, which was that he is arguing about transforming internal space to achieve

happiness. I needed to find quotes that not only appropriately fit my topic but also strengthen my

thesis. The new quotes I chose defined suffering and the thing which is yielded from suffering.

Then, I explained how suffering was the transformation and perspective is discussing the

mindset, therefore the internal space. With this analysis I was able to back up not only my thesis

but also clearly introduces the author’s argument, rather than taking small portions which only

directly fit my objective. Many of the quote I chose for Project Space sounded like they could fit

my argument, but if one were to look at the original article, they would find they in fact

contradict my thesis. This happened throughout the first essay, where I chose quotes that

sounded correct but were actually saying the opposite. In my third body paragraph, where
 Herrington 2

Graham Hill’s article is being discussed, I introduced the paragraph explaining how he was not

discussing one’s external space, but rather their outside space. This was incorrect and throughout

the semester as we were assigned more with the textbook and needed to reread to refresh during

class, I was able to find Hill’s true argument and the fact that he was discussing external space

and not internal. For example, Brooks I had only read around four to five times before I

completed writing my essay, but at the end of Project Media, I had read and reread it at least

thirty times. Also throughout writing Project Space, it was very difficult for me to fully

understand Lyubormirsky’s article, but after multiple classes where we had discussions with

each other and the Professor, I was able to better understand it. Additionally to

misunderstanding some articles at the beginning, I misunderstood some of the prompts as well. It

took me a couple of brainstorming days to find out what I wanted to talk about in my Project

Text essay. Once I created a thesis I just made paragraphs which fit with my three points (that he

became determined, resilient, and an activist). But, I did not organize my paragraphs in order so I

rearranged them in the new final draft. Professor Ditch stressed the roadmap when writing our

essays so we could remind readers where we were headed. I needed to restate the thesis at the

end of every paragraph and give a better introduction topic sentence. I changed my introduction

topic sentences in Project Space and reminded the readers of my thesis at the end of each

paragraph. In Project Text, my biggest issue was remembering to continue to write in present

tense. This was confusing because I was unsure which parts I spoke about in the past and which

ones in the present since the events that are discussed in They Called Us Enemy did happen in the

past. But, I figured out which areas I needed to change wording on a did so. Looking back at my

work from the beginning of the semester makes me feel proud and accomplished because I feel

my writing has improved.