Monday, December 8, 2008

Reflective Essay Draft

-----I would be lying if I wrote that I did not learn anything this quarter in Writing 101. I have improved considerably as a writer since my days in high school and this course has undoubtedly had some effect of influence on me and my developing skills. One of the categories in which I personally have seen the largest area of improvement in while taking this course is the measure of control and application in my writing. In this 2008 fall quarter of Writing 101 I have had the opportunity to produce two specific essays which I have included in my portfolio that served as a component in the curriculum of this course. These essays are not just simple samples of my writing style, but rather, they demonstrate my definite skills as a writer, what I learned from this course and how I used it, they show my strengths as a developing writer, and essentially what category of my writing needs improvement.

-----Although I feel that I have been consistently bettering my writing and my approach to it, there has always been room for improvement, I find this evident in my current situation also. Because the complete drafting, revising & editing process was not something that was stressed nearly enough in high school, I wasn’t very familiar with it, but this course associated me with it. Like many highschooler’s, I have always’ had a constant problem with procrastination, and given essays with deadlines lacking any checkpoints, I would usually end up writing something up similar to a stream of consciousness, or what our instructor refers to as “regurgitation” . I would never have any drafts or editing sessions, which resulted in numerous grammatical errors and very poor organization within my writing. Luckily the drafting, revising, and editing process were very much emphasized in this course and this warded off procrastination and the series of outlines, drafts and revisions led to more focused and structured products. Another aspect of writing in which I had difficulty in and had to overcome this quarter was including contrary or opposing arguments in persuasive based essays. Because I felt that they weakened my argument, in the past I was have been hesitant to include opposing views or arguments. Through this course, I have been educated on how to transform this weakness into a strength that actually reinforces my argument.

Still under construction...

3 comments:

Rylee Kettner said...

I like what you have so far. The only problems I see are that it sounds a little repetitive and the sentences seem to run on a bit. Other then that I don't really see any problems. Your voice and your vocabulary are both really strong.

Casey said...

Very good job on this reflection, Alex. I thought it was very truthful and had a certainty behind your writing. I saw only a few easy to catch grammar issues and you could combine a few sentences, .....and he just told us we need quotes, so now you need those. Wow. ok. have fun putting these in Alex

Leah Vickers said...

Hey Alex.
I think that what you have so far is very good. Just remember to put in your quotes from your essays/best work, etc.
Also, in your first paragraph you said 2007. Make sure you change it to 2008 :)

Good job though.