Vélez Rivera 1

Mirelys Z. Vélez Rivera

ENGL 1302-208

Dr. Sharity Nelson

March 12, 2023

Essay 2 Reflection

While comparing the composition prosses of this essay with one of the past essays this

one required a lot more research on sources than the past one. Though as a result, after

researching and reading about the topic helped me throughout the composition. Something I did

before starting to write anything in the papers was brainstorm the ideas and make them like a

skeleton of what the essays were going to look and be like. Doing so helped me to organize my

ideas better and be able to go up and down while writing as they came to my head. As I already

knew what was each paragraph going to be off, all I needed to do was write the sentences on the

respective paragraph and later on edit them to make the paragraph look organized, clean, and

comprehensible.

Something of essay on that I did not use while making essay two was the need for an

actual research experiment done by me. Of course, this essay was based on the information

gathered through different sources and how I mix them all together to explain the same topic but

include more points of view and evidence or facts to explain it. So, in other words, there was no

need for me to conduct the experimentation myself and report the findings thoroughly same as in

the past essay. For example, in the other essay, I included a table explaining the data obtained in

my experiment on atmospheric pressure, on this essay that was unnecessary and not needed as I

did not had to conduct any experimentation in the same way. There are many things I have
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learned about writing in other courses like History, Univ, Biology, Chemistry, etc. But

something I did not need in this essay was the inclusion of images or pictures to provide a visual

example to the reader. Another thing can be the usage of different formats like APA or Chicago.

During essay two I was able to have a better understanding of how the Texas A&M

International University Killam Library website works and how to find more reliable databases.

This is important as you need to be able to provide or gather trustable information in the

composition of your essay. Something else I was able to get more practice on, and learn how to

do a little better was the citations. In my past essay I did not put them alphabetically nor did I

include many of them. In essay one, I based more my article on what I did and how to explain it

rather than utilizing the other people’s information and research on the topic. Lastly, another

thing I learned and found very helpful was that while composing essay two I utilized colors to

break down the organization of my essay and help me guide myself with what I needed to do.

If I am completely honest, most of the things I did in this essay will be needed for most of

my future writings. For example, I will be required to do research on different databases utilizing

peer reviewed articles so I can gather the information I need for the composition. Same as I need

to be able to speak in the third person, so the essay does not turn out to be like a personal writing

journal. Though one thing I might not use is the MLA format which is only because other

professors might ask me to get the work done in other types of formatting like APA or Chicago.

Personally, at first, I was not very thrilled of the idea of having to read true many

different research papers, pick a couple of them, and write a brief abstract of it for the annotated

bibliography paper. But, doing so was a great help for the composition of the research analysis

essay. Because as I already had everything that my paper was going to be based on and I knew

where I could get the information or examples I needed, the composition was easier. I only
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needed to go back to the document that contained the sources, look for the article, access it, and

drag out the information I needed.

Similar to essay one, in this essay we were also critiqued by our classmates. Also, as for

essay one, my classmate confirmed with me that my introduction and conclusion needed more

work. For me, those two have always been quite a handful as the introduction plays a key part in

the essay and helps you explain the basic of your topic to the reader, but also call their attention.

I always end up providing too much information in my introduction and confuse my reader along

the way. Same as the conclusion is supposed to also be a brief summary of the topic you

explained, and how you wrap up everything. I tend to make it really short and not explain

anything much at all because the rest was already explained in the essay, and I do not like to

repeat everything with the fear it might turn out wrong. Though something good was mentioned

about my writing is that this time, the reader said that my essay was very informative and well

organized and that if I keep it up the same way till its completion it was going to turn out well.

Essay one was an ice breaker and along with essay two, I am still learning how to

properly do citations and utilize other writers’ work on my essay. So, if something was to be

critiqued on my essay that I still need to work on and learn how to do properly is the addition of

citations or paraphrasing in my essay. Other things that can be commented on about my writing

might be the organization or understanding of the others to it. I believe I still have a long way to

go before I am able to compose an actually good and complete research paper.

One of the most challenging things of this second essay for me it was reading the many

sources to get an idea of what to utilize in my essay, reading is not something I enjoy or look to

much forward to, but I know it is needed. Not to mention adding the citations on my writing, I

was worried I might to them wrong or that it would not go along with my writing and confuse
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the reader more instead. Even so, making the paper itself and talking about the topic once I

already had brainstormed and everything set up ready to go, writing the essay was very fun and I

really enjoyed doing so. It is always a good learning experience even if I do not fully enjoy the

every process of it.

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Works Cited

Nelson, Sharity. “Peer review Feedback.” March 9, 2023. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M

International University, student activity.

Vélez Rivera, Mirelys Zoe. “The Results of Illegal Fishing.” March 12, 2023. ENCL 1302,

Texas A&M International University, student paper.

---. “Essay 2.” Draft 2. March 7, 2023. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M International University,

student paper.

---. “Essay 2.” Draft 1. March 2, 2023. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M International University,

student paper.