Amanda S Ramos

Michelle Harris

ENGL 1302 282

4 May 2023

Final Reflection

This semester was a whirlwind for me as I had courses that most freshman students take in their

first year. With the eleven-year hiatus I took from school, I felt that I was severely lagging in terms of

essay formation, structure, grammar, and source citation etc. In 2012, Turnitin was probably the most

technological aspect of class instruction. While writing in general has always been fun for me, writing

essays like we did in this course pushed the fun even further. The tools and instruction provided in this

course helped outline an essay’s transition from disorganized beginnings to polished finishes. I believe

the work I’ve submitted this semester thoroughly represents that process. This course was a joyful

reminder of how writing truly connects the author to readers and communities. Throughout this course

were readings, assignments, essay worksheets, and peer-review that helped me build my confidence for

all of our essays.

In essay 1 I just wrote. I didn’t try to write an exceptional paper, but I didn’t not try either. For all

intents and purposes, essay 1 was what set the tone for me individually. Aside from the fact that I had

never written an experiment and research essay, I knew I would receive feedback to help me grow. When

I read the prompt for Essay 2, I initially thought there was no way I could get all the information I needed

in such a short amount of time. I decided that for each source I found as a contender I would skip every

other paragraph to see if it was indeed relevant to my topic. Doing this led to seeing similar information

in each article I read which gave me an idea of how I wanted my essay to flow. So, for essay 2, I made the

choice to let my sources guide the organization of paper. I already had most of the information I need for

essay 3 so it made it easier to organize my essay even further. I decided, regardless if I failed the attempt,
I would aim for organizational headings to help the reader understand my essay better. I feel like I wrote

better this way because I could actually see the division of subtopics. (Question 1)

I can use a phone to call or text, I can use my laptop to do homework, I can use my phone to

browse through social media, but building a website seems to be my technological max. I chose to make

my website as straight forward as possible. Personally, when I go to a website, having too many photos,

links, and colors makes me lose interest. Whenever I sat down to do homework or write my essays, it

was in the dark, at night after my daughters went to bed. I wanted my website to reflect that, so I chose

darkish tones that complimented that. The links to my draft, final and reflective essays are in plain sight

and easily accessible. Essay worksheets and peer-reviews were the highlights of my own-perceived

writing success. The very first library packet for Essay 1 shed some light on my constant usage of the

connecting word ‘and’. It was eye-opening to see just how often I used ‘and’ to connect a sentence,

rather than reword it so it read better. In Essay 3, I had two peer-reviewers who mentioned paraphrasing

was a better option than directly quoting. That was such a challenge because I felt like although I was

using my words to paraphrase my source, it still felt like they were not my words. However, when I re-

read my essay, I saw just how much more “like me” my essay sounded. (Questions 2 and 3)

Writing is an everyday task no matter what the reasoning behind it. I can write a grocery list, I

can write a recipe with exact measurements, I can write an opinion piece of a topic close to me, or I can

simply write a rom-com story. All those writings require research, credible sources, revision, peer-review,

and careful writing organization. In essay 2 there was a limited time to find ten credible sources that

were relevant to my topic, but I found a way to combat the time. As mentioned earlier, when I was

reading to see if I found a possible source, I read through the article by skipping every other paragraph. If

I could understand the article when I finished the article and it fit my topic, I knew I had a good source.

This source collection technique can be used in any future course, regardless of the topic. It will also give

me more time to sift through selected sources rather than sifting through sources that do not fit.
Creating an annotated bibliography for essays was such a vital tool. After sifting through sources that I

deemed relevant, I wrote small summaries that highlighted the important parts of the article. When I

began putting the information together for the essay, reading the annotated bibliography helped

organize the information in a more coherent way. The textbook readings along with assignment readings

of articles, showed me that essays written do not need to sound robotic and completely objective.

Inserting yourself into your essay is what can elevate an essay even further. I implemented this even

further while I was paraphrasing, it was actually really fun. Inserting myself in future essays shows

readers, instructors, and peers who I am, my thought process, and my writing style. For this course,

especially because it was online, all of our work was computer based. This forced me to save everything

with a title in its coordinated folder. Having seen how much easier it is to go back to the file, it is most

definitely something I will be doing with my future courses. Although this tidbit of “hack” is not

something Ms. Harris taught, this flow of this course did. In my opinion, there is nothing I learned in this

course that can’t be utilized in the future. (Questions 4 and 5)

A major writing weakness is my lack of MLA/APA citations, and in-text citations. Even now, I feel

like there is quite a bit I can learn because I don’t know about it. In high school I can’t remember being

taught in-depth about how to create a citation, how to use an in-text citation, and punctuation after a

completed citation. I don’t even remember if that happened in ENGL 1301 either, so this semester I self-

taught and utilized the writing center. The writing center was a tremendous help in understanding a bit

better. Before my tutoring visit, I was very discouraged because I couldn’t seem to get the hang of in-text

citations. I often found myself referring to Owl Purdue for instruction numerous times. When I actually

met with my tutor, she had Owl Purdue up for herself as a guide. She knew the format of citations but

didn’t want to give any false or misconstrued instruction. The fact that both she and Ms. Harris

repeatedly mentioned using Owl Purdue, I felt my lack of citation skills were a weakness but more of a

skill that will always be practiced. I have always been fond of writing but never considered myself a pro
or ahead of my peers. The organization of my writing from essay 1 draft 1 to essay 3 final draft is

significantly different. While I could brainstorm my essay well, it was the actual organization that

sometimes felt off. The additional article readings we did during the semester helped expose me to

different ways an essay could be organized. It could be organized by subtopics, it could be organized by

literature, it could be organized by dates, or it could be organized by answers to the topic. One strength I

am fond of is that I can write about anything given that I have a bit of information behind the topic.

Growing up my parents did a lot of creative writing exercises with me, where I had to write about the

brown leaf outside, or the confetti left in the room from an easter basket. I feel this strength resonated

well in all my essays. I am not an avid firearm owner, nor do I have firearm education that would be

considered knowledgeable enough, but writing about it was easy. Starting research for essay 2, I was in

the mentality of against closed-book exams, and I felt I could write a pretty hefty argument. However,

during research, it proved that open-book exams didn’t have the results I initially thought they would.

That just gave me even more ammo to write. (Question 6)

This whole website was challenging, I’m not going to lie. This final reminded me of that time my

grandmother walked out of the house with a big, black remote because it resembled a phone to her. I

remember laughing, thinking “Wow! That’ll never happen to me!”, then we got assigned a website. The

tables have certainly turned. Much like the organization of my essays proved a bit difficult, finding a

layout to match the organization I wanted was a bit difficult also. Although my personal preference of

color choice is on the darker side, I found myself going back and forth between light and dark. In the

end, the dark scheme won because of the connection I made to doing a majority of my homework in the

dark. Weebly provided a straightforward method in assembling a website, even for someone like me. I

thought I would have to figure out some type of coding for this website. I was stressed. When I told my

husband I was going to have to make a website acting as a portfolio as a final, I pretty much yelled it out.

I didn’t think I had enough time, skill, or resource to create a website. Then Ms. Harris posted a super
easy to follow instructional video for Weebly. The least challenging part of the website was finding the

work I wanted to use. Thankfully I was meticulous about the drafts, assignments, etc., that I saved.

(Question 7)

I can’t say for certain how much my writing style has changed because I believe my style has

always changed. Each essay assigned, instructor, peer-reviewers, and audience will always be different.

The target ethos and logos will always change the way an essay is written. I can say my identity as a

writer has strengthened because I now understand how an experiment/research, analytical review, and

position essay should be written. I think it’s important that I never stick to one style of writing because

then I would be limiting myself to certain writing styles. If being able to use different writing style is a

certain type of writing style, I would consider it much like a chameleon. A chameleon changes color

when it experiences a change in mood or when they notice a change in their nervous system. If I want to

convey a certain mood or a certain message, I should be able to change colors. This does not mean that

a writer who has one specific writing style is any less than the next writer who has many writing styles. I

will have to remember that sometimes it is best to use a writing style that works best with the topic. For

example, in the academic community, most readers want to read experimental data, research data or

opinions from credited professionals of the field. If I were to write for an academic community, I would

need my style to reflect academia standards. If I were writing to attract teens to a creative writing class

at a local university, I may write in a more relaxed style. One that shows words not normally used in

conventional pieces. When I started this course, I believe I wrote with a style that screamed “I’m trying

to sound smart and important without sounding dumb”. The article readings assigned didn’t show words

that no one knows the definition to, nor did they have sentences that would confuse the average reader.

Towards the end of the course, the style I wish to identify with is “I am a chameleon. I change when

needed”. (Question 8)