James Donckels

Reflection - Document Interpretation #5

I will be reflecting on Document Interpretation #5, Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration

of Sentiments from the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention in New York.

This is the fifth Document Interpretation I’ve completed so far, and I think I’m finally

getting it down. I think one thing that I’ve definitely improved on throughout the various

Document Interpretations we’ve done so far is my organization and structure. I remember

towards the beginning in the earlier Document Interpretations, I would lump everything into one

large paragraph and just try to hit all the main points at virtually the same time. Looking at this

one, I’m happy with how I was able to break it into different parts using paragraph breaks, and

I’m also happy that it has more structure with a brief introduction and conclusion. I think those

opening and closing pieces do a lot more than I realize, helping the flow and cohesion of my

response and smoothly transitioning into and out of the thrust of my response. I’m also happy

with how I organized the content of my response as well. I focused on two main things in

answer to two of the questions that went with this document, with a paragraph for each. This

helped keep things clean and organized, something that took a few iterations of responses to

develop and bring up to snuff. In each of these two main paragraphs, I’m quite happy with the

way I answered the questions while also providing historical context and an interpretation of the

document and the situation and the bigger picture surrounding this historical event. Along with

that, I also feel that I’ve done well with integrating sources to cite into my responses. In the

earlier document interpretations, I feel like they were thrown in a bit haphazardly, but now on

this one, I feel like the flow has improved a lot and the citations make more sense and add more

value than they used to in previous assignments. I think this is perhaps the thing I’ve improved

on the most.

While I believe I’ve come a long way from my very first document interpretation, I still

think there’s room for improvement and things for me to learn. I think while I’ve figured out the
structure and methods to compose a good response, now the main thing that’s left is practice

and repetitions to go even further. With every new response I write, for whatever situation, I

draw upon my previous experiences with what worked and didn’t work and use that to guide my

writing, and I think the more I do that, the more I will be able to bring my writing to the next level.

In particular, I think I can still continue to improve with cohesion and making sure everything I

write is there for a reason and contributes to the overall prompt, question, or goal for that given

assignment. Along with that, I think that I can improve in the more abstract skills as well, namely

time management and organizing my schedule and daily tasks to ensure I meet the deadlines

for all my assignments. I’ve generally finished most of my assignments towards the last minute,

and while I got a bit better over time with getting things done earlier than before, in reality, it was

only an improvement by a few hours and I usually almost always ended up submitting my work

after the sun went down on the night it was due. I think this is likely the area where I have the

most potential for improvement, and by having better discipline, forethought, and organization,

I’ll be able to start things earlier, take more time with them, feel less rushed, and ultimately

produce a better response. Starting assignments earlier will also give me more time to take

breaks and come back to it later, giving my brain a rest from what it’s currently thinking about so

I can come back with new ideas to incorporate into my response. By continuing to work on my

time management along with simply doing more practice and getting more repetitions under my

belt, I believe that I can get even better at writing responses and doing assignments like these.

Overall, when I look back on my first document interpretation and compare it with this

one, it’s easy to see the progress I’ve made, and I’m proud of myself for coming how far I have. I

achieved this through consistent hard work, and I think that’s perhaps the biggest takeaway of

all. By showing up every day (or every week) and giving my best effort, I’ve pushed myself

further and further and as a result gotten better and better. I think this fifth document

interpretation is truly a testament to what can be accomplished by getting my hands dirty,

digging deep, and simply putting in an honest effort.