Final Reflection

 Amberlyn Easterly 

Deana Nall 

Composition II

01 August 2022

Final Reflection

The first writing assignment I was assigned was the academic success proposal paper. The purpose was to describe my academic struggles and list solutions that I had to provide evidence to support. First, I started this paper by creating an outline that consisted of each academic struggle and the solutions I found to solve them. I then was able to use each section of my outline to form my paper. This made it very easy for me to transfer my information over to my final draft. My introduction introduced my struggles and in detail, I described how each one affected me academically. After my introduction, I wrote information about each of my solutions. My solutions consisted of credible evidence I thoroughly examined before determining which ones I could abide by. After explaining my academic struggles and potential solutions I cited my sources on the works cited page. Once I completed this paper I revised and edited any mistakes I noticed; This is an example of the collaborative writing process. I made sure my context was clear and correct so it would not affect the structure and tone of my paper. I then posted it into the peer review folder.  This happened to be an easy topic for me because I struggle with a few things when it comes to my education. I am the world's worst at procrastinating. This paper specifically helped me form solutions that will help me become more successful and reach my goals. I was able to learn multiple ways to improve my writing skills. First, I learned how to appropriately respond to various rhetorical situations, purposes, and audiences. I was surprised when I received a decent grade on this assignment. It proved to me I learned more about writing than I thought. I also received feedback from my peers which was positive and encouraging which proves that I appropriately responded to a rhetorical situation and my audience. I accurately responded to the purpose of this paper by describing solutions to improve my academic goals. I also participated in the peer reviews so I was able to use reading and writing for inquiry. I learned to integrate original ideas with those of others, for example, I listed credible sources that show possible solutions for procrastination.  

The second major writing assignment I was assigned was the Annotated Bibliography. This assignment required me to read a list of poems in my textbook and choose the one I wanted to create an abstract for. I chose the poem “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” by Emily Dickinson. The perspective of death in Dickinson’s writing intrigued me. I chose this poem because immediately after reading it I wanted to discover the context behind her story. I started this assignment by creating an outline which then lead to bullet points that gave me a visualization of the information I needed to include in my major writing assignment. I used the outline and bullet points as a guide for this assignment. I started off with a brief description of what I had planned for this paper. I ended my abstract with my thesis. My working thesis statement was “Emily Dickinson uses personification, metaphors, symbolism, and imagery to elevate the story and convey a deeper meaning.” I followed the abstract with 5 credible sources I found in an academic journal which I annotated.  The process of finding the information was really difficult for me at first. I did not know how to search an academic journal correctly which lead me to pure panic because this assignment was basically our outline for our third assignment. I knew I did my assignment incorrectly but turned it in anyways. We had the option to do a revision so I figured I would turn it in and use the feedback I was given by my instructor to then do this assignment correctly. After I received feedback on the correct way to do this assignment I completed my revision and received positive feedback from my instructor. Because I was able to cite sources and write about the literary devices correctly it shows I was able to respond to a rhetorical solution, purpose, and audience. I also learned how to integrate original ideas with those of others by annotating and citing my sources correctly. Being able to locate and read the correct scholarly journals shows I learned how to read and write for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating. After completing the revision I made sure to proofread, revise, and edit when needed. I tend to edit as I go so I don't spend too much time rereading the same paragraph many times in a row. This is an example of developed flexible strategies and the use of a collaborative writing process. Once I felt like the assignment was complete to the correct standard I made sure to check the structure and tone. I wanted this paper to be persuasive and not boring but also to follow the rubric. 

The third major writing assignment we were assigned was the Poetry Explication paper. The annotated bibliography helped me plan every piece of information I needed to include in this assignment. I started my introduction with some historical information about the author Emily Dickinson. I then ended my introduction with my thesis statement and some interesting facts about the author and the poem itself. My next paragraph consisted of the first literary device I found; Personification. I used credible sources to develop this body and made sure to use in-text citations. Each body paragraph consisted of a new literary device and both source and citation I found it with. I finally ended this paper by describing my personal opinion on why and how Emily wrote this poem. Throughout this assignment, I became more intrigued and fascinated with Dickinson. She is very descriptive and her choices of words are immaculate. The way she described her perception of death was like no other. I ended my conclusion with my thesis statement which then was followed by my works cited page. I found this paper fairly easy because I already had all of the information I needed to complete it. I believe I did a decent job describing the use of literary devices, I also received good feedback which shows I now am comfortable with responding to rhetorical situations, purposes, and audiences. Because I was able to read the scholarly journals and my paper contained credible evidence which I believe was persuasive and interesting I now know how to read and write for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating. I learned to integrate original ideas by incorporating the evidence into my paper. When I revised, and proofread this paper to make sure the grammar, context, and tone were correct I now know how to use collaborative writing and develop flexible strategies. 

Overall I am now comfortable writing papers that I never was before. I never understood the right or wrong way to write them. This class showed me my strengths and weaknesses but I will forever be grateful for that. There is always room for improvement but I know I have developed as a writer just in the past few weeks. I still need to work on the correct way to cite my paper and even something as simple as MLA format. I am glad that writing in general has become one of my strengths. Before this class, I could never think of something to write about. I would stare at a blank page for hours. Honestly, this class was really intimidating to me at first but I am glad it has opened my mind to creativity and broadened my vocabulary.