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Essay Writing Reflection and Improvement

1) The document reflects on two essay assignments the author completed over the course of a semester. For the first assignment, the author wrote about having both American and Thai cultural influences but did not fully explain how these shaped their identity. For the second assignment, the author chose to write about the nature vs nurture debate in a novel and improved by better supporting their thesis. 2) Through feedback and revisions, the author learned to better explain quotes, support arguments, and address the specific prompts. Visits to the writing center also helped strengthen their understanding and skills. 3) By the end of the semester, the author felt more confident in their writing abilities and recognized the value of putting effort into improving through preparation and

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41 views3 pages

Essay Writing Reflection and Improvement

1) The document reflects on two essay assignments the author completed over the course of a semester. For the first assignment, the author wrote about having both American and Thai cultural influences but did not fully explain how these shaped their identity. For the second assignment, the author chose to write about the nature vs nurture debate in a novel and improved by better supporting their thesis. 2) Through feedback and revisions, the author learned to better explain quotes, support arguments, and address the specific prompts. Visits to the writing center also helped strengthen their understanding and skills. 3) By the end of the semester, the author felt more confident in their writing abilities and recognized the value of putting effort into improving through preparation and

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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Peenitbut

Sheri Peenitbut
Prof. Jon Beadle
English 113B
11 May 2016
Reflection
Throughout this semester, the work that was assigned are consists of writing an essay.
There were two projects that required an essay after doing the research for the topic of the
project. Both of my essays are complete and have been graded with the rubric attached to it.
When I got back my essays, the professor has wrote some comments next to my mistakes letting
me know what went wrong. From the comments and the score that were given, I did better on my
second essay than the first essay. An improvement was made throughout the essays because of
the help from the LRC and the comments that were written on my previous essays to better my
understandings and writing for my next essays.
Project space was the first assignment that required our class to write a four to five page
essay about our cultural space. In this essay I wrote about having two cultures, which was the
American culture and the Thai culture. I thought this essay would be a quick and easy one
because I like to write about my interests and to share my cultural side to others who are not
familiar with it. When I got back my essay, the results didnt turn out to be how I pictured it. The
essay wasnt that bad but I needed to provide a deeper explanation of how these things have
influenced your identity as you yourself see it. This was a comment from the professor saying
that I need to explain myself better from my own perspective. In the second paragraph of this
essay, I described how I act differently between the two cultures. When I was talking about the
American culture, I said, When I am in the American culture I wouldnt say anything and

Peenitbut 2

would only nod my head. Right after, I talked about how I act in the Thai culture saying that,
As for the Thai culture, when I meet someone who is also Thai I would feel more comfortable
while talking to them. It feels like I dont have to make an effort to make a conversation.
Whenever Im in the Thai culture, I feel more like myself and dont need to force myself into a
different lifestyle. The Thai culture is what mainly shapes my identity. I come to realize now
that in this statement I only talked about my personality between the two cultures. The comment
that the professor wrote aside from this paragraph was, What is the connection between these
behaviors and how you see yourself? Meaning that, aside from how I act in the cultures, what
do I think of myself when I approach them. Some other errors was creating a quote sandwich and
citing the quotes. In the third paragraph of my essay I just started out with the quote. I was
supposed to introduce the quote and then explain it further in the next sentence. For this essay,
the big mistakes were explain the quotes properly and explaining how these cultures influence
me as myself see it.
Project text was the second project that also required an essay. The class was assigned to
read a book called Every Day by David Levithan. For this essay, everyone in the class had to
select an issue that was given by the professor. The issues can involve a social, political,
psychological, or financial issue, a cultural attitude, or a conflict in the book. The issue that I
chose was nature versus nurture. Nature meaning biology and nurture meaning something that is
socially learned. While writing this essay I thought that I wouldnt do so well because I dont
really like writing these types of essays. This topic isnt something that I am familiar with which
means that I would have to do further research. It is different from the first essay because I get to
write about myself, which is more comfortable for me. When I got my graded essay, I was
surprised because I got a better grade than the first essay. With the project text essay I have

Peenitbut 3

improved on the thesis, support, organization, and the mechanics of the essay. But I still need to
remember cite the quotes. A big problem that I have trouble with while writing an essay is to
elaborate more on my argument. An example from this essay would be when I gave a quote and
saying, This quote shows that without the influences we experience at birth, while we grow up,
we will be able to develop our own ideas. I realize now that this sentence doesnt really explain
the quote that I type down. The question that was given for this was, How does this idea relate
to your argument about Every Day? This means that I would have to explain deeper into the
quote and relate it back to my argument. Another example would be when I said, In Rhiannons
and As situation, it relates to the quote from the article by not engaging in the ideas of how
society pictures life. After this sentence I shouldve gave specific examples from the book as
evidence to support my argument, but I didnt. In order to make this essay sound more effective
was to clarify and support my argument in a better way.
This semester was a tough one. But throughout the course I have improved so much on
my writing. Before, I always had trouble with repetition and understanding the prompt and
assignments. After revising and going to the LRC, this course has motivated me to actually
understand what I am supposed to do. Knowing how much the essays and going to the LRC is
worth towards my grades, I would do my best to fix the mistakes that Ive done to make every
work an improvement. This course has made me opened minded to how much an assignment is
worth improving on. After this course I feel that I can now write an essay without worrying
about whether or not it is good or bad. Because of the preparation and revising for the essay, it
can make me confident that this essay will become a great work no matter how hard it was to
accomplish it. Like what my professor said, If you can write about a rock, you can write about
anything.

Common questions

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The author improved their writing between the first and second essays by addressing feedback on clarity and connection to personal perspective. After the first essay, they realized the need for a deeper explanation of their identity influenced by different cultures, as the professor commented on the lack of self-perspective in their explanation . In the second essay, despite unfamiliarity with the topic, they focused on enhancing their thesis, support, organization, and mechanics, showing adaptation to feedback on quote integration and elaboration, which resulted in a better grade .

Writing about personal cultural experiences differed significantly from external topics for the author. Personal narratives on cultural identity allowed the author to write comfortably and with familiarity, making the process seem easier. In contrast, writing about external topics, like 'nature versus nurture,' required more rigorous research and exploration outside their comfort zone, thereby challenging their analytical and argumentation skills .

The author faced challenges with quote integration, such as failing to introduce and properly explain quotes in their essays. In the first essay, mistakes were made like creating a quote sandwich where quotes were inserted without adequate introduction or explanation . To address these challenges, the author acknowledged the need to provide context and deeper analysis after presenting quotes, and this realization helped improve their writing in the subsequent essay .

Professor feedback had a substantial impact on the author's ability to connect quotes to their arguments in essays. Initially, they struggled with this skill, as seen in their inadequate integration and explanation of quotes. Feedback highlighted these shortcomings, prompting the author to focus on connecting quotes meaningfully to their arguments, enhancing the coherence and depth of analysis in their essays .

The Learning Resource Center (LRC) played a crucial role in the author's writing improvement by providing assistance that helped the author understand and revise their work more effectively. With feedback from the LRC, the author was able to address issues such as repetition, understanding prompts, and refining arguments, which contributed significantly to their progress and confidence in writing essays .

Reflecting on the course, the author perceived understanding essay prompts and assignments as crucial for successful writing. Initially, they struggled with interpreting prompts, leading to challenges in developing cohesive essays. However, with revisions and the motivation to improve, the author learned to tackle assignments clearly, significantly impacting the quality of their essays and their confidence in writing .

By the end of the course, the author's perspective on the value of assignments evolved to recognize them as opportunities for significant improvement rather than mere tasks. The importance of assignments in enhancing their writing skills became clear, especially with the help of feedback and the LRC, motivating the author to invest more effort in their work .

Exploring the theme of 'nature versus nurture' in their essay allowed the author to develop a better understanding of constructing a well-supported argument. It required them to delve into research beyond personal comfort zones and connect their arguments with specific examples and evidence from the book "Every Day" by David Levithan, which improved their analytical skills and argument clarity .

From the feedback received, the author learned that self-perception in writing involves more than describing cultural experiences; it also demands insight into how these experiences shape their identity. The professor's comments highlighted the need for the author to connect their cultural behaviors with their self-perception, encouraging a reflection on how these behaviors influence their identity beyond surface-level actions .

Revisions and the Learning Resource Center fundamentally changed the author's approach to writing essays by instilling a discipline of continuous improvement. The author learned to appreciate the revision process, which allowed them to address issues like clarity and argument support. The LRC's role, on the other hand, offered guidance that helped refine their understanding and address gaps in knowledge, leading to a more confident and methodical approach to writing .

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