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Holly Miller

Eng 101

Roxanna Dewey

December 13, 2023

Reflection Final Exam

1. Consider your accomplishments this term; describe the strengths and weaknesses of

your work in this course in terms of both your process work and your final written texts.

In this course I learned how to write a variety of different essay styles. I initially was

extremely intimidated of writing a memoir, as I’ve never been required to write an essay about

myself. By the end of the assignment I was incredibly proud of my work, and I believe it is the

best essay I wrote this semester. My main weakness this semester was making many changes to

my paper after the rough draft. The required peer reviews were helpful, as they helped me see

areas I could improve and solidify the sections that did not need more work. Another weakness

of mine over this course was not spacing out my time on assignments. I struggled with

dedicating more time to my essays, and want to make improvements on this in the future. An

example of another strength was properly mapping and outlining my essays. This helped me

narrow down the sections I was focusing on to maximize my time when it came to writing the

rough and final drafts.

2. What strategies will you take away from this semester to use in other classes? Why?

This class compiled various strategies and methods to complete different stages of work.

One point I will continue to use in future classes is the various stages of prewriting. It was
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incredibly helpful to pre-arrange my key points so that I could focus on collecting evidence with

a plan in mind. This prevented me from wasting time mindlessly searching for information for a

broader subject. Another strategy I will continue to use is having others peer review my work.

This allows me to find issues that I overlooked due to constantly looking at my own work. The

value of others' input has strengthened my work and improved my teamwork skills. Finally, I

will continue to organize my work when downloaded the same way as recommended by this

class. It makes it easy to find what assignments I’m looking for and makes it easier when

submitting work.

3. Which essays do you feel especially proud of? Explain why.

The essay I was most proud of this semester was the memoir. This was my first time

writing a memoir, or a personal story for that matter. I struggled with communicating my own

feelings as well as putting them on paper. Once I began writing that paper the words flowed

through me and created something that I was happy to put my name on. It explained the struggles

I faced in life while giving respect to those that changed and grew with me. Another essay I was

proud of was my analysis essay. This one was on the simpler side, but I appreciated the ability to

choose any topic I wanted. I picked a short story that I was capable of analyzing and clearly

explained the underlying meaning behind the style of writing. This paper showed that I was

capable of breaking down texts while explaining it to someone else.

4. Which essay (or writing experience) did you learn the most from? Describe what you

learned.

All four essays were valuable learning experiences as they each covered different styles.

The evaluation essay was a different style than I was used to as I was not required to argue

against other sides. I focused on finding evidence that supported why the institution I chose was
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qualified and elaborating on what the data means. The analysis was also an educational

opportunity for me as I focused on breaking down media in order to explain it to the readers. I

developed my skills in analyzing the specifics of a text and understanding the symbolism. I then

had to focus on managing to explain these points to a reader while providing enough textual

evidence for the reader to understand the connections I have made.

5. The course competencies for ENG101 are listed here. In 2-3 complete paragraphs, please

discuss how you met or strived to meet each competency (1-7) listed below. What steps did

you take? Why? How? Explain each one.

The course competencies for English 101 include analyzing, organizing, conventions,

summarizing, utilizing peer reviews, and assessing oneself. I enhanced my analytical skills for

gathering information to support the points for the various essays. I focused on breaking down

the initial topic to understand what points I need to highlight. This allowed me to pinpoint

specific areas to collect evidence for in order to best complete the writing. When it came to

organization I focused on developing my pre writing then maximizing the impact of my

messages through the order of which I provided evidence. First I completed various methods of

prewriting to organize my ideas and narrow it down to one subject to write about. Then I focused

on organizing my thesis in a way that would provide the most impact on readers. The order of

evidence improved my essays by bulking the arguments after each piece of evidence.

Utilizing writing skills is an important skill to have when completing an English course. I

struggled with proper grammar and punctuation, but focused on developing these skills

throughout the semester. I was capable of utilizing proper diction and tone of voice to maximize

my impact in writing. With most essays requiring evidence, I had to focus on properly quoting,
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paraphrasing, and summarizing to provide cited information. I utilized outside sources to ensure

I could properly cite evidence and compile work cited pages. Then I balanced quoting sources

and summarizing key points depending on what had the stronger impact for readers.

Accepting criticism and growing from past experiences was a key part of this class. Peer

reviews were a major component of how my writing developed as it demonstrated what sections

needed to be improved as well as what was done well. I appreciated all comments and tested the

different suggestions to improve my writing skills. In connection with this I was able to focus on

what my strengths and weaknesses were when it came to writing. The mentioned weaknesses

allowed me to take in suggestions to learn how to improve in those areas. For example, my

punctuation skills struggled and the utilization of peer reviews helped me see what sections could

have improved punctuation. This then allowed me to focus on formatting and editing the rest of

the work to have a fluid piece of writing that demonstrated my knowledge and showed off my

skills.