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Perla Ramos

Dr. C. Summers

ENGL-1301-115

5 December 2022

My Progress in English 1301

In my English 1301 course, I learned that I don’t always need to start off as a great writer

and that it’s okay to make mistakes. Now that the course is over, I can see my progress as a

writer and the improvement I made throughout the semester. The process of writing a first draft,

a second draft, and a final draft for each essay in this course helped me advance as a writer. My

favorite part of this course was writing the rough drafts for each essay since I was able to see my

mistakes and correct them to create a cohesive essay. Doing drafts was something I actually like

doing since it helped me identify what needed to be changed and what was solid. Even though I

made mistakes while writing, it helped me realize how each draft needed to be improved. For

example, I chose painting as the theme for my website since I paint, and I explain it similarly to

how I write essays because I first draft by drawing, then I go back and correct my mistakes.

Finally, I know I can begin painting my drawing once I have corrected all my drawing errors. I

also made the background of my website white to show that whether I draw or write, I always

start from scratch. Although some people might consider the white background to be boring, I

want my viewers to understand how similar painting and writing are to me. My identity as a

writer did change as a result of seeing how awful my very first draft in this course was, I have to

admit, but seeing how I would write at the start of this course helped me to realize how

conscious I had become.

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To begin with, I looked at the three essays I had completed, and once I knew that I

needed to change, it was easier to recognize what I did wrong. My very first essay from this

class, which was the first draft, was quite unclear because I did not completely follow to the

prompt’s instructions. Instead of analyzing the company, I was analyzing a website that

demonstrated racial stereotypes, but I was mainly discussing the company rather than the website

I had selected, so I had to analyze and begin my second draft using the official website of the

Pearl Milling Company at that point. For the genre analysis essay, for example, I had to reword

some of my topic sentences to make them more understandable and ensure that they were all

connected to my controlling idea. I had to make sure my explanations are straightforward and

clear. In order to effectively illustrate the point, I want to make, I also gave detailed explanations

for my examples. Since my introduction was just a short paragraph, my professor had suggested

me to add more information. I followed her advice in my revision essay and provided an

explanation. Since it was my very first essay and I wasn’t sure what I was doing, I enjoyed how

others gave me comments, therefore I provided my peer-reviewed feedback on the Essay 1

portion. On the other hand, I provided my peer review worksheet because I wanted to add that I

disagreed with them on a few points, and I wanted to make sure this essay followed to the essay

prompt. Although I did provide my invention worksheet, I didn’t select any of the inventions I

included since it was difficult for me to understand what the essay prompt required. After doing

some research, I began to visit other websites, and that’s when I came across the “Racial

Stereotype” cite. I also provided two of my homework’s one homework explained how the very

first draft is not always great, but it doesn't have to be great either. However, I will always make

an effort to write my first essay draft with detail and with all my examples present. This

homework made it clear to me that I would learn from the mistakes I made in my first draft and
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that it would basically include my ideas for the essay. The second homework helped me

understand the rhetorical solutions because it is what we really learned during the semester. In

fact, I also provided evidence of the genre analysis essay’s credibility by showing how a

company changed its logo to improve its brand. My understanding of how to defend the

credibility of other examples was improved through Essay 3.

Moreover, in my second essay on visual analysis I was required to provide specific

details in my topic sentences based on the advertisement that was shown. I had to do this since it

will clarify which aspect of the illustration the text will focus on. In my revision, I demonstrated

key concepts by displaying the emotion of both adults and children addressing how the

advertisement encouraged people to speak up. I added the details and explanations where

information was needed. I used the third essay as a guide when I was revising my second essay.

By that, I mean that I explained how the advertisement pushes people to take action and speak

up. I also provided rhetorical choices, using pathos to describe the emotions. I discovered in this

essay that I never really concentrated on one image, which was challenging since I felt like I kept

staring at it for too long and had to explain to my readers what it was actually attempting to

persuade people to do in a way that was not entirely obvious. The worksheet for peer review

helped me in choosing whether or not I truly needed to change what my classmates thought of

my essay. There were some comments that I agreed with; for example, I needed to correct

several run-on sentences, so I broke them into two. Because I want my readers to understand that

the author wants people to speak up for those who cannot, I also wrote something that relates to

the texts in the advertisement. Additionally, one of my classmates suggested that I rephrase some

of my sentences because they were a little unclear. And I made that change in order to make the

phrases more understandable and better fit to the paragraph. My website has assignments that
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I’ve posted as homework since they’ve been helpful in making me comprehend how this visual

analysis essay will be written. For instance, “Writers on Writing” described how I feel while

writing and aiming to accomplish great essays. My third assignment focused on writers’ block

since, I have to admit, I will experience it often during this semester.

The third essay, a rhetorical analysis, was the most difficult of the three because I found it

most challenging to prove to my readers how bullying affected those teenagers who were the

victims of bullying, even though I knew the authors were being persuasive. It was still hard to

explain but I still made my statements clear and added more detail. For example, I had said that it

showed pathos, but I didn’t really add much emotion to my drafts; instead, in my revised essay, I

had concentrated more on how the readers and the victims felt. Yes, it was difficult to

accomplish that, but I continued in doing so in order to really persuade my readers that the article

was effective. Since it made it so much easier for me to do the article’s research, I included the

library packet in the third essay portion. It made it easier to choose which terms to use and which

to remove in order to find what I'm looking for. I included homework that helped me create the

arguments and supporting details for this essay. In order to complete this third essay, I needed to

learn a variety of terms, including the three types of fallacies that make up an argument: ethos,

logos, and pathos. My rhetorical essay did, in fact, use pathos, logos, and ethos, and I described

how it was doing so. Additionally, it helped me understand how each of them differ from one

another and showed me how to use evidence effectively so that I could support my claims in my

essay. When I was using examples from the article, one of my peers suggested that I delete the

author’s last name from the citation and instead just use the page number where I included the

evidence because I had already mentioned the author’s name at the beginning of the sentence,

which means I don't have to cite it with their name. In fact, I added the peer review comments
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and worksheet because they helped me with citing. Finally, I preferred getting feedback from my

professor since I felt that she would provide me with better advice than my peers would. It was

much easier for me to make the necessary changes when she provided me her feedback on my

essays.

Overall, I provided additional explanation for each of my three essays to ensure that my

readers understood what I was trying to say. And yes, I did think hard on writing these essays. I

must admit that over the course of this semester, my writing did change. My strength when

working on revisions was having a clear idea of what I wanted to accomplish. I didn’t hesitate to

add additional information; I just kept typing. But before I could express my thinking, I had to

give it some careful thought. Don't get me wrong; at the beginning of the semester, one of my

weaknesses was a hesitation to add more description, but as I worked on my revisions, I became

aware of the progress I had made by just typing what I wanted to demonstrate. When I talked to

my professor about my changes, it also made clear to me that I had a few small mistakes to fix,

and it was a nice feeling knowing on how I was doing good and making progress. Making

grammar mistakes in writing is still one of my weaknesses. For example, I frequently use run-on

sentences and try to split up my sentences into two when necessary. In addition, there are

occasions when I need to use a comma. Having writer's block is another problem, but this course

helped me realize that every writer has it. Still, not knowing what to write about is one of the

worst feelings because I just want to get it done. When I start writing my first draft, I typically

get writers block because I attempt to make it as good as possible. When working on my second

draft, I will always make an effort to avoid making things difficult. Writer's block is something

that I can apply in my other courses because English was not the only class, I was experiencing

writer's block. I did, however, learn things in this course that will benefit me in other classes as
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well. For example, when conducting research for a few of my classes, I had to include a work

citation, which taught me how to do it when using someone else's words. Because everything I

learned from English 1301 was useful as a guide, there is nothing I cannot apply in my other

classes. The hardest part of using this website was uploading all my essays, homework, and

assignments. I will eventually become frustrated with the way this website operates since it just

changes my files around. Additionally, I wanted to make sure that all of my citations could be

viewed. Once I was able to figure out how this website worked it was easier for me to create it. I

found that doing everything during the semester and just needing to upload the assignments that

helped me write the essays was the least challenging. Another least difficult part was deciding on

my website’s theme. I knew I wanted to include something I liked doing, and I think it was a

smart decision because, from my perspective, writing and painting are comparable to one

another.