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Morgan Erwin

Mrs. Day

English 2010

18 May 2020

Reflection of My Writing

I have come a long way as a writer. I have been writing ever since about first grade when

I learned to read.​ ​I started with the basics and eventually turned the words to sentences, the

sentences to paragraphs and so on. Around when I went into middle school, I started writing

papers. These papers weren’t very long or complex, they were more​ ​like simple introductions to

what would come later on in my education. Although things did eventually change which brings

me here. My writing has not always been very good​. ​Just as with anything, you have to work and

practice to make it better. I also don’t like to write so that makes it hard to practice​.​ When I first

started writing papers and essays, they were nothing compared to what I am able to do now. I

have improved in so many things with my writing throughout the years​.​ Some of the things I

have improved the most on throughout my writing include my vocabulary, organization, as well

as learning more about all the different styles of writing there are​.

My vocabulary has improved a lot over the years as I have learned more words and how

to write in different styles​.​ Such as if I were writing a casual essay, I would be able to use more

casual words and “teen talk”. For my more professional, more academic essays that I usually

turn in class, I use different and more professional wording​.​ In my english and other college

classes this year, whenever I had to write an essay they would usually be more academic based
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so I would have to use more professional writing and vocabulary words​. ​An example of this

could be my Biology 1015 research paper or most of my assignments I had to write in my

English classes this year. I would make sure to do things such as not use contractions or say “I”

or “me”. Whereas in my less formal paper I had to write​,​ such as my open letter in English 2010

earlier this year, it was not as academic and professional​.​ This allowed me to use less casual

wording such as contractions and slang. In addition, I have also learned a lot about words that I

tend to overuse and adding more variety into the vocabulary words that I use​.​ I try not to repeat

the same words a lot and instead replace that word with a synonym that I haven’t used before.

This has allowed me to also expand my vocabulary more​.

As I have had more practice writing, my organization skills have also improved. I have

written so many essays and papers that I have created my own sense of style when it comes to

them​.​ I have a pattern that I find best works out for me when organizing my thoughts into an

essay. I like to start off with a good hook. I’m going to use my essay “Homeless Populations

Relating to Crime Rates in Major Cities” as an example​.​ In this essay, my hook is a lot of statics

and stories that have emotional appeal to them to relate to pathos as well as ethos right away. I

then end the introduction paragraph with a thesis statement that contains the things I am going to

talk about in the upcoming paragraphs​.​ For the next few paragraphs I then talk about the topics

in that thesis statement. In my the Homlessness and Crime Rates essay, my topics in my thesis

statement that I talk about in each paragraph are America needing to come together to come up

with a solution to the problem and how to make cities seen as safer by decreasing the homeless

population​.​ Once I write the two paragraphs explaining those points, I then go to my conclusion
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paragraph. In conclusion, I wrap everything together and summarize, making sure to hit all of the

important points I want people to remember​.​ Finally ending with a reworded thesis statement.

That is the way I have found easiest to organize most of my essays. That is the layout that works

best for me that I have found helps a lot with writing​.

Lastly, I have learned and practiced with a lot of different styles of writing. These types

include persuasive, narrative, analysis, and so many more​.​ I have many examples of these, one I

did last year as a junior was an analysis essay written about the “American Dream​.​” This was an

analysis essay that I had to analyze what I thought the American Dream was and explain it in my

essay​.​ I am very grateful to have learned these different styles of writing because it has allowed

me to expand my writing style and help to find something more I love. Writing has never been

my favorite thing. It has always felt more like a chore to me than fun​.​ But by having these

different styles that I can choose from, there are some I like more than others so it allows me to

enjoy writing more depending on what style I am writing in​.

In conclusion, I have learned so many things and developed so many strengths from

writing in the past to now​.​ I have not always enjoyed writing, but I have gotten better at it with

practice. Some things I have improved on include my vocabulary, being able to explore different

styles of writing, and the organization I use when I am writing​.​ I am still not perfect and have a

lot of room for improvement. I have gained a lot of practice with all of the essays and papers I

have been assigned to do this year​.​ Hence, I have improved quite a bit with my writing, but still

have a long way to go before I think I’ll be able to write the “perfect” essay.