Miranda 1

Pauline Anne Miranda

Professor Holly Batty

English 101

12 December 2019

Reflective Essay

Taking this class was the best decision I’ve made. Back in the summer, I tried to take

English 101 and I failed it. It was mentally exhausting and I was helpless. I did not know where

to seek help. Thankfully, this fall semester I had the chance to retake the class but with a better

professor and study with more supporting group. At first I felt scared again because I thought

this class was not going to help me improve my writing. English 101 course taught me how to

properly write an argumentative essay, read a book patiently, edit my essays carefully, and gave

me confidence in my English skills.

At the beginning of the fall semester, I literally had no idea how to have a structure in an

essay. I thought that throwing random ideas without introducing them will be enough. But then

again, I was wrong. In this class, I learned that having a plan on how I would write my essays

will help me prove my point. I also learned how to acknowledge the opposing views. I thought

that writing the opposing point of view will weaken my argument, but instead, this only proves

that I can counter the other side’s point. This actually made my points stronger. This affected my

writing skills in a way that it taught me how to be open minded with learning new techniques. It

taught me how to go with the flow of my thoughts and not be rigid on what I learned when I was

just starting to write.

 Miranda 2

Another skill that I learned during this course is how to be a patient reader. I learned this

during our ​The Best That We Could Do b​ y Thi Bui phase. Bui’s novel is a graphic novel, which

means it is harder to read as it takes a lot of creativity to appreciate her work. I learned how to

take things slowly and be patient on reading it as slow as I needed. It was really hard for me

because I did not know which panel is next. Sometimes I would skip a panel and be totally

confused with the next. However, when I read with the group, I learned that I should not rush it.

And that it would totally help if I go back and read it again. This will affect my reading skills in a

way that I now have more experience on other variety of literary works. I used to think that a

novel should not contain any picture, and to read one that is made of full illustrations is a great

experience.

In this class, I also learned how to edit my essay carefully. When I edit my essay before, I

only pay attention to minor details like grammar issues or spelling errors, but through this

course, I learned how to look at my essay on the bigger picture. I learned how to edit on big

chunks and take out some paragraph if I needed too. I was afraid to this before because I thought

it was going to mess up my whole essay, but instead, this helped me build my ideas better. This

process helped me see that it is better to take out paragraph than not getting your points proved.

Overall, English 101 made me a better writer, reader and editor. It made me more

confident in my essays, and help me get through a hard book. Next semester, I know that I will

do better because I will be using my new skills to make sure that I am doing my best to create

cohesive and strong opinions on issues. I will also use these skills at work as I also deal with

letters at the office. I will be a better student and office assistance because of what I have learned

in this class. I am looking forward to learning more next semester.