Revised reflective letter

This quarter in Writ 101 has been great in every way possible, helping me develop as a more confident writer. This year I learned:

• That I can consistently think on a college level basis, and translate these thoughts onto paper
• How to organize a essay so its more effective, and use transitions better for clarity
• How to make an emphatic thesis
• How to create an outline that’s organized and effective
• That I need to improve my research skills to have clearer and stronger content
• How to apply strong topic sentences at the beginning of every paragraph for clarity
• That I can write a essay with a specific deadline, even if the directions aren’t as clearly laid out as they were in high school
• That I have personal voice when I write

My second essay was where I struggled the most this year. Every part of the essay was repulsive to me, I hated the time frame we had, and the creative writing mixed with the analytical writing. I also found the research to be extremely difficult, especially compared to essay number one. That affected my content as seen in this line, “Our ancestors were forced to flee from Britain to escape religious persecution; now however, we are strong enough to fight back that same cause.” They weren’t fighting religious persecution in the revolutionary war. But I can’t deny I did learn from the experience. I learned I don’t work well when writes genres are mixed, but I can still manage to get it done in time. My grade on it pleasantly surprised me, and next time I will make sure I have only one genre to work with.

However, my first essay was something that I am very proud of. In the beginning, I was extremely worried because this was my first real assignment as a college student. This seemed like the first big obstacle, not to mention the stories I had heard about Craig’s grading that did nothing to soothe my nerves. But, for the first time, I let my fear motivate me and worked consistently on it for the entire three weeks. When I got my score back I was thrilled. As much as I wanted an A, I think a B was both fair and exciting. I liked the following lines from my essay because they show my voice, and an example of they say I say templates. “I believe his actions were equal to little more than a colonial-age stress ball. I concede that he brought change, and did indeed act as the liberator of the settler’s anger, but I maintain that his actions were little more than cowardice.”

Another thing I am proud of was when Craig said I was one of the best people for peer review. I had spent a considerable of time helping other people with their essay as much as I could, and it was great to be recognized for the time I put in.

Form my shaky start, I think PSEC and especially this writing class has helped me immeasurably. The thing I learned in this quarter I will be using for the rest of my academic career. Along with academic skills like being able to introduce “They say” into my writing, I received something I thought I wouldn’t from any scholarly setting: self confidence and pride in what I write. Everything I work on feels like a challenge, and everything I completed is testimony to how hard I worked.