Mora 1

Samantha Mora

ENGL 1301-210

Dr. Sharity Nelson

02 May 2023

Final Reflection: Portfolio

Throughout my writing journey, I have always felt there is something new to learn and

discover how to overcome that specific written obstacle. There where instances that I felt I was

already tackling most of the writing I needed in order to be successful. I was incorrect in this belief.

I am glad that in class ENGL 1301 I was able to discover what Genre is and the importance of

writing solely about that specific topic. I learned in class ENGL 1301 how to write reflection essays

which I hadn’t been exposed to this type of writing before. In ENGL 1301 I learned to use

rhetorical appeals according to their specific essay, I will give examples and evidence on how I

was able to learn these concepts, and I will evaluate myself as an author describing my

strengths/weaknesses.

In Essay 1, I had to write on how the portrayal of a website, or pamphlet/poster helped the

community be successful with their mission goals. The rhetorical choices I made for the correction

of Essay 1 where based on what I learned within the 3 essay corrections made throughout the

semester received both from my instructor and peers. First, I decided to look into my instructor’s

comments because I felt that my instructor was aiming to help me with the bigger aspects that went

wrong for the Essay goals. I felt that by fixing the instructors feedback, applying these changes

first would make adding my peer’s feedback less time consuming. With adding my peer’s

information last, I didn’t need to worry about forgetting to add some feedback from either

perspective, if I did both feedbacks simultaneously, I would have struggled. For Essay 1, I decided
 Mora 2

to first read each comment my instructor had placed, then I decided to take some time to ponder

on how I be adding this critique to the essay. For example, my instructor didn’t add a lot of

feedback for Essay 1 the major feedback was “paragraph 2 needs more quoted textual evidence”.

I used this major reference to make the most changes possible in order to aim for the 25% change

requirements. I was very cautious on how to adjust my sentences, and punctuations for each

sentence created. I didn’t want to be sloppy with how I added the sentences, and their structure

because I didn’t want to have a different problem such as grammar errors. In Essay 1, I did a

balance of changes and adding information for the final revision.

In Essay 2, I saw my instructor’s comments and realized that my essay had a unbalance

structure to it because I wouldn’t tie the thesis statement to the end of the paragraph sentences. I

decided to solve this issue by coming up with sentences that were each different but would go

referring back to the original thesis statement. I feel the most changes I started to make began with

Essay 2. The reason was not because of the feedback but due to the confusion I encountered during

reading the Essay 2 out loud. There was a section that I didn’t find helpful in my thesis statement

even though my instructor’s comment was “clear thesis”. My rhetorical choice was to change one

of the topics I would speak about in Essay 2. I changed the word “techniques” and added instead

the words “amount of thread applied”. I feel this choice was best because my instructor and

audience would not become confused on what I meant. The words “amount of thread applied” was

more connected and made it simple for me to keep the conversation focused on the image.

In Essay 3, was the last written assignment with the most required adjustments. I had some

confusing words applied that was signaling that I was talking about ethos instead of logos. My

rhetorical approach to this issue with this sentence was to completely remove it from Essay 3. My
 Mora 3

instructor gave me a throughout feedback with Essay 3 the main points needed in order to have a

more concise essay. My rhetorical approach to Essay 3 was to fix the minor details first get those

corrections out at the start. I didn’t want to forget that those corrections where needed especially

since they were based on words not fixing complete sentences. I did need to make a specific

decision which I questioned myself because it’s a good chunk of information that I would be

leaving the same. My instructor commented “the second and third body paragraphs slip into mere

reporting of the article's content as opposed to analysis of how the authors use rhetorical strategies

to effectively support their argument”. I didn’t want to be perceived as unwilling to apply feedback

to the work based on lack of motivation. I told my tutor that if there was a simple way to help the

2nd and 3rd paragraph go more connected to the rhetorical appeal rather than the content. I wanted

to avoid making big changes if this was not necessary. My tutor gave me advice on her own

rhetorical approach on Essay 3. I also added my own criteria and managed to focus the rhetorical

appeals to best structure the sentences. For example, to the sentences I mentioned the rhetorical

appeals and added how logos fit the peer review article so that I wouldn’t be tempted to write on

the content rather than the author rhetorical approach.

My rhetorical choices when designing my website where based on 3 expectations I set for

the overall aspects of the site. The first golden rule I wanted was for the site to look professional

to showcase that throughout class I learned professional academic writing skills. I feel that by

having a professional website aspect, I am able to show how closer I am to being professional in

the digital world as much as in the writing area. For example, if my website didn’t have the required

basic structure such as organization it would be difficult for the audience to navigate the website.

The audience once they become frustrated, they may not want to keep looking at the website

causing their perception of the writer’s approach to be affected due to lack of neatness. The second
 Mora 4

expectation I set for my website was to make sure the images set as background are professional

such as avoiding cartoons, or images that can be perceived as inappropriate for the subject matter.

The third expectation was to make sure that I had all the essays in order such as 1,2,3 not 3,1,2 this

will help the audience feel a sense of direction as to how my website is set up and where exactly

each information is placed.

For my revisions mostly I had homework be the most influential in my rhetorical choices

rather than the class activities. One of my homework that helped me create the portfolio was the

Essay 1 assignment I placed for the website. The reason this assignment helped me is because the

homework asked us how we would read, and comprehend things after we would finish reading. I

learned that there are 5 important factors to take into consideration so that there is proper reading

taken in place. Without this information I wouldn’t acknowledge how important comprehension

is as well as keeping your full attention to what you are reading. With keeping your full attention

to the article being read there is less of a struggle for the mind to analyze/retain information which

helps to have better comprehension. The second assignment that helped with the portfolio was

Essay 2 homework this assignation helped me analyze the proper comma placements. This

assignment helped me practice where to place the commas. I used this knowledge for my portfolio

to avoid grammatical errors. Also, there was a few questions on pronouns and possessive pronouns

which was helpful in the final revisions for the essays to avoid these issues to continue being

recreated.

I learned in ENGL 1301 how to properly structure essays and format the information so

that the essay can have a strong foundation. These components are important because a good essay

needs to have basic attributes such as needed information the proper introduction and conclusion,

so that there is accurate comprehension for the reader. These aspects I learned I can apply it to
 Mora 5

other courses such as my course I had this semester for American National Government. For my

class American National Government, I applied the skills of ENGL 1301 in terms of knowing

which information to add and remove. The most used tool from ENGL 1301 was the proofreading

skills this was helpful in providing my government instructor with a more clean, precise and

structured essay.

I learned from ENGL 1301 how to fix grammatical errors and proofread the assignments

before submission. The only classes I feel wouldn’t need these learned skills would be my math

courses since they don’t go based on writing more into problem solving numbers, equations and

geometrical calculations. The only way I could apply the writing skills is if I do get an essay to

write math related yet, the possibilities would be based on the instructor discretion, and choice of

assignments. This is why I think that math wouldn’t require the essay skills from ENGL 1301.

My writing strengths became stronger due to improving in proofreading and avoiding the

grammatical errors with each essay. I feel that throughout the semester I was able to gain a better

concept and comprehension on how to better improve as a whole in the writing world. For example,

at the start of the semester, I knew I had the basics in knowledge as to surviving being able to write

enough information to start off the drafts. I have always kept myself open minded when it came to

writing, because this is an important factor to be willing to continue learning, and improve the

skills in your own professional writing as well as personal. I feel this is my biggest writing strength

that I have kept throughout the semester is the humbleness to know that I’m not an expert, and that

there is always room for more writing skills. My writing weaknesses would be that I still have a

lot of room for improving with proofreading and recognizing my own grammatical errors without

assistance. For example, I do tend to struggle to see my own grammatical errors even when I have
 Mora 6

not seen my essay for a while. I feel I need to find and apply more techniques in order to make this

correction process more simplified for myself to do.

The most challenging aspect of the website was trying to find the best feature for the

documents to be easily viewed by the audience. I wanted to make sure that the website was easy

and self-explanatory to navigate especially if the audience member is new to the computer world.

I used the script mode feature for the essays because I found it more effective for the audience to

view and read the essays. One difficult aspect of the website was trying to give credit for an image

without the credit to be located in the center of the image. Mostly the issues where to be able to

accurately place information in my chosen area, without the website correcting itself putting the

information in the opposite place of my wishes.

My identity as a writer has changed with this essay because I have been able to see that I

have learned a lot throughout the semester that I made a 2,000-word count information about these

learned concepts. Before I didn’t ponder or acknowledge how much about the rhetorical

approaches, I have learned throughout the semester with this essay I have been able to gather all

the information learned into one place. For example, with this essay I realized it is less difficult

for me to write longer essays It takes me time yet, not as much as the beginning of the semester.

Throughout the semester I have learned valuable skills that will have an impact in my

school courses and professional job. I was able to obtain new knowledge and use my previous

knowledge to better comprehend the ENGL 1301 content and objectives needed to pass the class.

I gave the examples and evidence on how I was able to learn these objectives, and I evaluated

myself as an author describing my strengths/weaknesses.

 Mora 7

Work Cited

Lunsford, Andrea. “Reflect.” 24 January 2023. ENGL 1301, Texas A&M International

University, homework assignment.

Lunsford, Andrea. “Lunsford Book Questions.” 09 March 2023. ENGL 1301, Texas A&M

International University, homework assignment.

Lunsford, Andrea. “Writer’s workshop Editing and Proofreading.” 11 April 2023. ENGL 1301,

Texas A&M International University, homework assignment.