Jacob Goddard

ENGL 3140
Reflection Essay

ENGL 3140 Reflection

I feel that I have been able to improve my technical writing skills in many ways through
taking this course. In high school I developed a bad habit of being incredibly wordy, using more
words than necessary for me to explain an idea or topic. I found it difficult to differentiate
between the process of writing a fictional story, and the process of writing professional, technical
information. I always prided myself on being a good writer in high school, but it was not until
taking this course that I realized how much more there is to learn. Lectures on prose and
sentence structure helped to increase my understanding of how to effectively capture a reader’s
attention. These lectures also taught me the importance of varying sentence structure throughout
a text, keeping audiences engaged and informed. While I had some prior experience formatting
resumes and cover letters, the other packets in this course deepened my understanding of proper
technical formatting. I had been instructed in high school to use double spacing for all my
papers. It is clear now that the proper formatting depends on the type of document being written.
I appreciate the emphasis placed on sentence structure and prose in this course, as previously,
good grades would be rewarded simply based on the relevance and clarity of the information
presented. Before this course, I had little idea of how to write a clear set of instructions that were
easily understandable and user friendly. Lectures and great feedback have given me a much
greater understanding of how prose and structure influences the audience’s ability to use the
instructions.
I had multiple goals for this course, overall, I wished to improve my writing ability and
hopefully receive an A for the class. Generally, I feel like I have accomplished my goal of
becoming a better writer. While I am not sure whether I will receive the grade I hope for, I feel
confident that the skills I have acquired in this course will translate to my communication skills
in my future workplace. Specifically, the knowledge that I gained while completing the
Workplace Correspondence packet will help me moving forward in making sure that I am
writing appropriately to members within my organization. I believe that most of my success in
this class originated from paying close attention to the given lectures and taking constructive
feedback from my peers and instructor.
I am proud of all the work that I have submitted in this class, but if I had to choose one
that I am most proud of it would be my Workplace Correspondence Packet. I am happy with the
final documents that were submitted, but I am also proud of the amount of learning it took for me
to produce those works. I don’t think I would edit or remove any of the projects that we worked
on in this class. The only assignment that was not covered that I believe could be beneficial
would be an outline-type packet, where students are required to produce formal information
given in an outline format. Overall, I would recommend this course to any peer hoping to further
their writing ability.