Reflection Paper

Gloria Ho

Professor Breech

English 120 L13

18 December 2014

Reflection Paper

From learning the use of rhetorical devices to creating the perfect thesis for a research paper, all that was taught and assigned throughout the English 120 course has contributed to how I write today. In the beginning of the semester I had difficulties in the very process of writing (creating an argument, editing, revising, etc.). I didn’t have much trouble in thinking of ideas on what to write about, picking out evidence, or creating a thesis, it was writing all of it out that I dreaded and would cause me to push away the assignment until the day it was due. This would, of course, lead me to not look over and edit any of my writing. However, this has changed over the course of the semester as I have learned the beauty of “shitty first drafts”. The point of this was to simply write as the first step of any writing assignment. Don’t think about grammar mistakes, run on sentences, or even proving a point, just write any idea you have on the topic and go with the stream of your consciousness. While this is something I need to continue practicing, it has allowed me to simply start writing which has always been the largest obstacle for me and it has also deepened my understanding of my topic (such as what I know and what is missing in my writing) because there is no such thing as a perfect first draft. Through the use of this method my writing has improved in terms of clarity compared to the beginning of the semester.

Another difficulty I had in the beginning of the semester was rereading and revising my work. On the rare occasion that I did edit my work it would be to fix obvious grammatical errors. However, it was through the research paper assignment that helped me start breaking the habit of submitting my work after the first draft. As the assignment consisted of many parts beginning with picking a topic, creating a thesis, then gathering research material for evidence, and proving the thesis, my research paper grew and developed over the constant revision in all the components of the paper. Initially, my research paper was going to focus on how the social connotations of GMOs led to the strong opposition towards its existence in American society. However, after going over my research and rereading my body paragraphs I found myself focusing on an entirely different topic which was the effects of GMOs on health and the environment rather than its social effects. In the end I rewrote my thesis and ended up with a more solid topic that I felt more comfortable writing about. Even with this new topic I would find aspects in my writing that I could improve on such as expanding and focusing more on certain points or eliminating sentences that are redundant and unnecessary. Overall, through the research assignment I learned how much there is to gain from simply looking over my work.

Improvements in my writing is also clear through my pre and post assessment based on the Diana George article “Changing the Face of Poverty”. My pre assessment contained many confusing and broad sentences that made a neither effective nor strong argument to prove my position, not to mention very obvious grammatical errors. In my post assessment I made many changes in my analysis, thesis, and topic sentences so that my argument is more concise and understandable which strengthens my position on the issue and thus my overall response. Although there are still many areas in my writing that I need to improve upon, the various writing assignments and lessons in the semester have enabled me to overcome many difficulties that I entered the course with.