Isabella Santini

Dr. Sharity Nelson English 13014

30 November 2023

“The Last Essay”

I have been a student at STAGGS for one semester and one of the first courses I

enrolled in was ENG 1301. I strongly believe what I learned throughout this course will

come to assist me in all my future courses. I learned about the writing process and how

writing is a craft which follows steps that I need to learn and refine and continue to do

over and over again. The writing process is a step by step plan with the end goal of

producing a finished writing piece. My future plans include working on a law degree so

its imperative that I continue learning how to be an efficient and effective writer. This

course covered the writing process at length and in detail showcasing the importance of

each of its steps.

The writing process was introduced to me in this course and not only introduced to me,

it was covered on a daily basis which allowed me to better understand the craft of

writing and the purpose and importance of each step. This course helped me learn the

writing process and the benefits of learning it as it transcends to the other courses of

study I am and will enroll in. The writing process helped me learn how to focus and how

to organize my writing, know what types of data and to ask how formal or informal my

style should be. I learned that writing gets friendlier when you follow the writing process.

I will continue to write following the writing process so that it becomes like second

nature when I am faced with the task of writing an essay and also when I am faced with

a task in other courses. Upon almost completing this course, I feel I have really obtained
some acquired knowledge of the writing process and how to navigate it following the

writing process steps and do so in an organized fashion. This is truly learning that I will

take and apply in my future courses because the writing process steps can be applied to

all courses of study.

The activities which were included during this course that assisted me with my writing

were the writing of essays and receiving feedback from the professor and doing so on

a scheduled time. The actual step of writing out the essays and applying the

components of the essay all while analyzing each of the steps also proved helpful in

me becoming more and more comfortable with the writing process and each of its

steps. Following the writing process and receiving feedback from the professor also

proved to be beneficial, being that the professor took time to read my essays which

were truly a work in progress and in providing suggestions on how to improve my

overall writing, content and style. I also found that watching and reviewing the videos

shared throughout the course provided me with some helpful insight to use when

working on the writing requirements of this course. Also, the professor's feedback

during my scheduled conference with her was greatly beneficial in that I was actually

able to receive feedback from my professor along with suggestions on how to improve

my essay.

This course definitely built on the introduction to writing I had been exposed to in other

courses. The previous courses I worked on were but an introduction to writing, this

course was the second and third part that followed. For example, the first essay I was

required to work on required a foundation in writing that should have been covered and

reviewed in my previous courses. My professor however, took the opportunity to offer a

refresher in foundational writing so that I would be able to review and move forward.
The learning I acquired throughout this course in regards to the writing process which

consists of prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing assisted me in

improving my writing. I was able to follow the steps of the writing process and in doing

so learned how to organize my thoughts into writing. Once again, the learning acquired

in this course will be instrumental for me when I work on my future courses. I strongly

believe that the writing process steps I reviewed and learned can also transcend into

the learning process which would include schema, planning, review, evaluation and

execution. This course also challenged me to read and write more being that

strengthening reading and writing skills will benefit all areas of my learning.

I learned that learning occurs in a step by step process such as the writing process

therefore the skill of analysis, detailing how something works is a must for all learning.

When first considering writing an essay, the writing process calls for you to pre-write that

is jot down your idea and purpose for writing that essay. This is also the step in which I

am to consider my purpose and who my audience will be. The following step is drafting,

this is when you begin to write the skeleton of the essay, your main points and main

bodies of the essay. You then fill in those parts and include the information you

considered in the prewriting step. After this comes the revising which includes evaluating

and changing parts of the essay you feel need to be changed. The activities that helped

me out is the essay which detailed a topic in detail and specifics and its purpose as well.

I had selected a topic having to do with the TAMIU dining announcements. This activity

gave me practice in learning to state the details, steps and purpose which will assist me

in my future writing requirements.

The activity that most assisted me to understand the process of analysis were the

questions I was to answer as I was working on my essays. Those questions served

both as a guide and a template for my essay. I would write each portion of the essay
answering the questions that served as a guide and as a reminder of what to consider

as I wrote the essay.

The process of revising taught me the importance of reviewing my writing and

evaluating if my ideas or thoughts on a topic were clearly expressed. However, this step

can cause you to doubt yourself if you begin to see areas of your essay you would like

to change which may then cause

you to change yet another part of the essay and if not careful, the main purpose of the

essay may get shadowed by the changes in the essay content. This personally

happened to me in the second essay. I quickly became frustrated, I took a brain break

and returned to the essay once I had reflected on how I would revise some parts of the

essay so that it would reflect a polished look with a clear purpose. This is the process of

me going back to examine the completed essay considering if it meant its goal or

purpose. This is the step that also requires me to check all grammatical errors popping

up and lends me the opportunity to correct any errors I may have missed in the previous

steps. This is also the step in which I can have someone proofread my essay.

Sometimes a pair of fresh eyes can spot an error I may have overlooked. I can also ask

for someone to determine if they are able to pick up my purpose for writing the essay.

The most challenging aspect of revising this essay one last time is realizing that there

are additional revisions that need to be made and rethinking your purpose for writing the

essay and if it is being met with what has been produced. For example, I remember

writing the second essay and second guessing once I had to revise, I became

concerned with how it was turning out to be that I felt like starting over at some point.

This can cause much frustration in that you may begin to feel unsure of what you have
already produced. In other words the most challenging aspect of revising is second

guessing yourself or in this case second guessing myself and feeling stuck needing

additional feedback. Having to revise an essay multiple times can prove daunting

knowing that at the end there will be areas to improve; however, continuing to revise the

essay will cause those areas of concern to grow smaller. Although the revision step can

prove daunting it can also bring about some comfort knowing you are approaching the

finish line. Just like running, once you realize you are in the final lap or mile you give it

your all and feel a sense of relief knowing the end of the race or in this case, the essay

is coming near. That gives you the motivation you need to finish and to finish well.

I chose to introduce course concepts first by introducing the writing process steps and

visuals to illustrate each, I would also use essay samples depicting the writing process

steps. I used videos also depicting the writing process and tips on how to incorporate

the writing process in all your writing assignments. In my unit writing assignment

explanation, I again used definitions and models to introduce and then provide samples

of each for students to better understand the concepts.

The most challenging aspect of this course was the actual writing of the essays. I found

the information shared extremely helpful however, when the first essay was to be turned

in, I felt my stomach a bit uneasy remembering the frustration that I experienced when

having to write an essay. I feel writing is not my strength and I am comfortable with the

reality that I will need to continue to practice my writing because in doing so I will

become better at crafting an essay as I follow the writing process steps. I also found the

analysis portion of this course to be both challenging and helpful in that although it

provided a guide in writing an essay, its reflection questions were at times difficult to
answer. I remember during the second essay I felt stuck. I was having a difficult time

understanding the questions and how they were to apply to the essay I was working on.

I simply took a break and returned after a while to continue working on writing the

essay. I will need to continue to work on improving my writing knowing that effective

writing skills are beneficial in all educational and work areas.

The least challenging and most rewarding aspect of this course was meeting with the

professor and receiving immediate feedback on my writing. For example, I met with the

professor on multiple occasions regarding the required writing for this course. During

my conference with the professor, she would provide immediate feedback then offer

suggestions to improve my writing. To me this was extremely beneficial and beneficial

to me as a student. This was the least challenging aspect of this course.

The strength I discovered throughout this course is the ability to carry out in following

the writing process steps. At first, I must admit I was hesitant to begin writing the essay

however, after going through this course I feel a bit more comfortable with the writing

process knowing that if I get better at following it by practicing and applying it I began to

feel a bit more confident in applying the writing process in my writings and for that I am

thankful.

I definitely feel the information covered throughout this course has prepared me in

becoming a better writer. I was not completely aware of the steps in the writing

process so this course was beneficial in preparing me in learning how to write an

essay following the writing process. I can most definitely say that without a doubt in my

mind, I have become a writer because of the course material covered in this class. I

know that the learning I acquired as I worked through this course will lend itself to the
other courses of study I will involve myself in.