Jorge Velasquez

ENGL 1302-231

Dr. Sharity Nelson

1 May 2024

Final Reflection Essay

Reflecting on my journey through English 1302, I am struck by the transformation that

has taken place in my understanding of research and my own writing. This course has been an

exploration of critical thinking and expressive clarity that goes far beyond a simple academic

requirement. From exploring intricate research to engaging in peer reviews and discussions,

English 1302 has helped sharpen my analytical abilities and increased my respect for the subtle

art of communicating in writing. This essay attempts to explore the several things I learnt during

the research genres, the difficulties I overcame, and the pleasant surprises I encountered while

navigating the intricacies of the enlightening course.

It was really difficult for me to start off with academic research and citation. When we

first started our first project, "Intermittent Fasting: An Annotated Bibliography," I thought it

would be impossible to find ten peer-reviewed articles that were closely related to my topic. It

was also difficult to distill in-depth study into brief 200-word summaries. Nonetheless, Dr.

Nelson skillfully led us through the challenges of academic writing and offered priceless

guidance on creating strong summaries. Dr. Nelson's citation training was especially important

because I need to learn this skill in order to continue with my academic pursuits. By the time I

finished my "position paper," I had become proficient in correctly citing sources, which was a

major personal accomplishment in terms of my academic abilities. Dr. Nelson's "Article Analysis

Worksheets" were very helpful for all three writing projects. With the aid of these tools, the
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process of analyzing research articles became less intimidating, allowing us to comprehend and

assess the studies as well as the consensus and differences among the authors. This experience

helped me become more analytical, but it also equipped me to do academic research throughout

and after college.

I learned so much about the academic writing process in this course, particularly about

how to organize research papers and successfully include sources. The series of organized

writings, which concentrated on the planning, drafting, and revision phases of the writing

process, was an essential exercise that improved my comprehension. These courses taught me

how to arrange my ideas logically and guarantee coherence in my arguments by emphasizing the

need of a well-organized outline as a road map for writing articles. Dr. Nelsons “Peer-review in

Class Activity” is always insightful. During these sessions, students exchanged drafts and offered

helpful criticism. This gave me the opportunity to see my writing from the viewpoint of an

audience and introduced me to a variety of writing techniques and styles a bit different from

mine. I was able to recognize the advantages and disadvantages of my own writing, especially in

the way I provide evidence to back up my assertions, by critically analyzing the work of others.

My past expertise from a former history lesson, where I learnt the fundamentals of sourcing

material, was expanded upon in this course. On the other hand, this course improved my research

skills by exposing me to a greater variety of scholarly publications and databases, in contrast to

the history class, which mostly concentrated on using primary sources. For instance, I mostly

relied on original documents, such as speeches and letters, for my history class assignment on the

Cold War. This English course required research for which I read peer-reviewed research

literature to gain insight into various theoretical frameworks and provide evidence for my papers

on intermittent fasting. My research skills have expanded as a result, and I've also become better
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at evaluating and combining data from different sources. All in all, these exercises improved my

writing abilities and expanded my capacity for critical thought, setting me up for increasingly

difficult academic tasks.

After considering the difficulties I ran across when editing a research genre assignment, I

understood how crucial accuracy and clarity are in academic writing. The task at hand was

creating an “Annotated bibliography,” which called for a careful method of summarizing peer-

reviewed literature. My summaries were shallow and inaccurate at first, which was one of the

main things that Dr. Nelson pointed out as wrong. She also identified possible problems with

insufficient paraphrasing that verged on plagiarism. After considering Dr. Nelson's input, I

changed my strategy to concentrate on reducing each study's main points and goals to a

manageable level. This meant figuring out what a reader who hadn't read the original articles

would need to know. This approach made my summaries easier to understand. In addition, I

worked very hard to improve my paraphrasing abilities. I tried to respect the original idea and

context of the research while also avoiding plagiarism by carefully rewording the authors' points

and making sure that proper citation was made. Even though it took a while, this revision

procedure helped to improve the caliber of my annotated bibliography. The encounter brought to

light the importance of closely examining primary sources and the exacting standards of

scholarly research.

Paraphrasing the intricate concepts offered in the peer-reviewed publications in an

efficient manner was the most difficult part of revising my research genre project, which

involved creating an annotated bibliography. The writers' arguments in each piece relied heavily

on complex reasoning and technical language. For instance, the authors of one piece covered the

effects of intermittent fasting on Ramadan students’ athletic performances. In order to precisely

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reword the information without changing its original meaning or oversimplifying the scientific

data, one must possess a profound comprehension of the concepts due to their intricacy. In order

to preserve academic integrity, this approach required not only a deep comprehension of the

subject matter but also a careful balance in writing. Identifying the primary ideas and purposes of

the articles for my summaries in the annotated bibliography, however, was the least difficult part.

Dr. Nelson's remarks helped me come up with a more coherent plan for completing this

assignment. "What would someone need to know about this research if they had never read the

article?" was the first question I asked myself when I read each piece. This method made it easier

to decide which important details to include in my summaries. For example, after I started using

this targeted reading strategy, it was easy for me to extract the study question, methodology,

main findings, and implications from the articles on intermittent fasting.

In order to make difficult academic ideas, including the writing process and research

methodologies, understandable to a wider audience on my website, I made a number of

calculated decisions while describing unit writing assignments, such as the researched position

paper, literature review, and annotated bibliography. For example, I defined an annotated

bibliography as "a detailed list of books, articles, and other sources, each accompanied by a brief

summary and evaluation." Simplified language and definitions were given first priority in order

to demystify technical words. In order to further demonstrate the synthesis of research in a

relatable context, I also utilized real-world examples to make abstract notions approachable. For

example, I compared a literature review to assessing customer reviews prior to making a large

purchase. I included thorough, step-by-step instructions for every writing genre to help with

comprehension. I did this by dissecting intricate procedures into digestible chunks and used

bullet points and subheadings to make the content easier to read. These decisions were made on
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purpose to guarantee that the information was understandable, pertinent, and clear enough for

readers who had no prior experience with academic writing to pick up on it quickly.

Learning how to conduct research and write effectively was the most difficult component

of this course, especially when it came to applying and establishing a thorough understanding of

academic integrity and source evaluation. A notable obstacle I faced was making sure my

research was complete and properly referenced. For example, I first found it difficult to

distinguish between scholarly publications that were less trustworthy and credible sources when I

was working on the annotated bibliography. This necessitated developing the ability to assess the

reliability, veracity, and applicability of each source to my subject. Organizing the information

obtained into coherent arguments—particularly in the literature review and the researched

position paper—was another significant issue. It was especially challenging to integrate many

studies into a cohesive analysis for the literature review without simplifying or distorting the

original research findings. I had to get a sophisticated comprehension of the subjects covered,

some of which required me to learn new theoretical frameworks or intricate statistical

techniques. The actual writing process also presented a unique set of difficulties, such as

preserving an academic tone that was both obvious and consistent while making sure the

arguments were coherently developed and well-structured. For instance, in order to create a well-

balanced argument that persuasively answered counterarguments without bias in the researched

position paper, much planning and rewriting were necessary. Overall, I overcame these obstacles

by working hard, learning new things constantly, and putting classmates' and teachers' criticism

to use. As a result, my research and writing abilities improved dramatically throughout the

course of the semester.

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The least challenging aspect of this course was the intense amounts of writing. I've

always been good at writing long pieces, so it was easy for me to handle the amount of writing

needed for the three different research genres. In particular, writing the position paper was easier

for me to understand than writing the annotated bibliography. This predilection let me recognize

that I'm best at arguing points and having in-depth conversations about particular subjects. On

the other hand, my abilities were not as well-suited for the annotated bibliography, which mostly

called for summarizing rather than in-depth study. This experience demonstrated my capacity for

information analysis and consideration from several angles, a talent that came in handy for more

analytical projects such as the position paper. I realized one of my strengths was to analyze and

view specific information from various points of view. I discovered that I have a high aptitude

for analysis and critical thinking, which was helpful for the research process. I was able to

evaluate numerous studies critically throughout the literature review and summarize their results

in a way that demonstrated the connections between diverse studies, as well as trends and gaps in

the field. This skill improved my writings and enabled me to have intelligent conversations on

the subjects at hand. One of my strong points that emerged from this course was my ability to

follow thorough formatting instructions in MLA format, which made sure that all of my

assignments satisfied the necessary academic standards without requiring a lot of changes. For

example, I had no trouble formatting citations and references, and my careful attention to detail

made sure that my papers were consistently polished and well-presented. This is a strength that

grew as I progressed through the class. These talents in writing volume, following formatting

guidelines, and analytical thinking made learning in areas that would normally be difficult for

other students easier for me, reducing my fear of these course requirements.
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Yes, I think this course has helped me a lot to get ready to join the world of academic

research. I've developed critical abilities and a deeper comprehension of the academic writing

process because to the well-structured assignments and insightful feedback, especially in the

areas of ethical scholarship, argumentation, and source evaluation. First and foremost, the course

taught me how to critically evaluate sources and how to assess the reliability and applicability of

different academic sources. This ability is essential for carrying out ethical research that adds to

the body of knowledge in the topic without spreading false information. Second, I improved my

capacity for creating arguments with substance and critically analyzing previously published

works. For instance, when composing the researched position paper, I gained experience

integrating several points of view and supporting data to build a cogent thesis—a crucial skill for

participating in scholarly discourse. Last but not least, the course emphasized the significance of

ethical issues, which are critical for upholding integrity within the academic community and

include things like correct citation and avoiding plagiarism. The course not only improved my

writing and research abilities but also equipped me with the necessary values to interact with the

academic community in a responsible and productive manner. If one wishes to make a

significant contribution to academic research and conversation, these qualities are essential.
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Works cited

Nelson, Sharity. “Article Analysis Worksheet” 2 February 2024. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M

International University.

Nelson, Sharity. “Peer-Review in class activity” 5 March 2024. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M

International University.

Velasquez, Jorge. “Intermittent Fasting: An Annotated Bibliography.” 9 February 2024. ENGL

1302, Texas A&M International University.

Velasquez, Jorge “Position Paper” 12 April 2024. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M International

University.