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End of Semester Reflection

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256 views3 pages

End of Semester Reflection

Uploaded by

api-242745290
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Bare Burchette 1 Marissa Bare Burchette English 1102 Mrs.

Groves 11 December 2013 End of Semester Reflection When I first walked into English 1102 this semester, I thought I would be composing the same kind of papers I had been forced to write in high school. The ones that have an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. They were straightforward, easy to organize, and usually directed towards a topic of the teachers choosing, but they were also boring. Create a thesis, have three topic sentences, restate the thesis; this is how all my papers used to progress. But in Mrs. Groves class, after our first few assignments, I realized I had this great creative freedom no one had ever given me before- and with that creative freedom came a new obstacle of relearning how to organize my essays and stay focused on the topic I chose. I began to notice a certain pattern in my writing. I would compose a paper with all sorts of thoughts and ideas, but it was not clear which one I was trying to support. Through the inquiry project, I learned to analyze the structure of my work. When revising rough drafts, I had to decide whether to focus on the topic of race, gender, or social status, and to classify all of these aspects in an order that flowed smoothly from one topic to the next. Working on my inquiry project, helped me later when I revised my argument essay for this portfolio. I took out sections that felt more like side stories than supporting paragraphs, and made sure my proposal for a solution was placed at the end of my paper, rather than somewhere amidst the middle where it was originally. I admit I am still

Bare Burchette 2 struggling with organizing my papers, as that aspect of the revision process does not come naturally to me. But overall, I believe I have come a long way from the beginning of the semester, when I was not really sure how to turn a fast write into a paper, much less organize one into a complete essay. Through my work in this class, I discovered that I had a certain theme tied into many of my papers. I am very passionate about equality and giving back to the community, but I never would have guessed these elements would surface in an English class. It seems the majority of my papers have to do with social justice, and by recognizing this I was able to develop my own voice as a writer. So as one reads through my portfolio, I would like them to take special notice of each feedback note I received at the top of my final drafts, and how I attempted to improve in the areas they specify. I would also like the reader to notice my Beauty and A Time When Learning Clicked in class reflection pieces. While I was not able to expand upon the first one due to time restriction, I think it shows how I have grown in being able to formulate my own ideas through the fast write process and compose passages upon which possible essays could be built. For my A Time When Learning Clicked essay, I think my in class reflection to final product shows a lot of growth in the subject matter of my paper. At first, it was simply an entry about how I learned how to play piano, and then it morphed into a sentimental story about my grandma and how she taught me to be brave when facing lifes challenges. My pieces demonstrate an overall evolution of my writing. I went from A Time Where Learning Clicked, in which I had to cultivate my own subject matter, to the end of the semester when I began learning how to enforce these topics, specifically in my Critical Review and Inquiry Project essays. As one reads through these entries, I hope they recognize this growth as

Bare Burchette 3 well, and realize that this is not a finished product, but rather a stepping-stone to enhance my writing abilities.

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