Final Reflection Essay

Olivia Farden
UWRT 1101- Robert Arnold
December 2, 2014
Walking into my first college English class I was very intimidated. English has also been
my weakest subject and I felt my high school didnt prepare me enough for the twenty page plus
papers I would have to write this semester. Every teacher and professor is different and you
never know what they will expect from you. Every year it is a new surprise and this semester
was no different. In the past when I sit down to write a paper I would just write whatever came to
me. I wouldnt do any pre-writing assignments to get me set up to write my paper I would just go
with it. This semester I was forced to start to do pre-writing assignments and I realized how
beneficial it was. It prepared me for my final paper. I was able to see what I needed to include in
my paper. This semester has taught me how important the writing process is.
Jane Asher once said I think all good writing is a struggle. To write as well as you feel
you can has to be a struggle, almost by definition, because you could always improve. We all
set standards for ourselves and when you begin writing a draft nobody is happy with the
outcome. Theres so much that needs to be improved. I am one who always gets frustrated with
my draft. I expect more from myself and know that my draft needs a lot of work before it is
ready to be graded. I agree with Jane Asher, good writing is a struggle and takes a lot of time
because no matter how many times you write a draft you could always improve it.
In English you are always learning new techniques to incorporate into your paper to make it
sound more interesting. As humans we are always students. Every day we learn new things and

with that we can always improve our work. That is why a draft is never done. There is always
something that could be made better. It is a little daunting because you could be working on the
same paper forever. This semester I found this out.
This semester I really focused on my first drafts. I would write down whatever came to my
mind, I would just write it all down and work from there. After I would clean it up and get some
more opinions on it. I would have a peer look at it and tell me what they feel works in my paper
and what it could go without, then I would go about editing my first draft again and add more
emphasized to some parts. My final step would be to write a final draft. Even after I write a final
draft, I know there is still a lot of work that could be done to make it better. And I believe that is
what Jane Asher is saying.
When I think back to my first major paper this semester which was the Literacy Narrative
I was very nervous about writing it. I didnt know where to even start. I had no idea what a
college professor would expect from me and I didnt know what all the other Freshman English
students had been told to do. I knew going into this course that being a pre-nursing student, a B
was unacceptable. This added even more stress to me. This first paper I had to write I first had to
decide on something that I felt I was literate in. I decided to write it on my favorite thing, Irish
Dance. I found it is easier to write something you are passion about because your passion shines
through. Like most of my papers I struggled with the flow. I tend to just write down what comes
to mind and that doesnt make for an organized paper. I hope after several revisions my final
draft sounds better.
The next project was the altered book. This one took me for a ride. I had never done
anything like this before. I was used to the traditional paper. I didnt know where to begin and
the hardest part for me was expressing myself. I had to be creative and give the readers the same

message they got from my literacy narrative. For this assignment, I found myself bringing out
my creative side that I didnt know I had. I was very happy with how my altered book turned out
and I hope my readers were able to get the same message out of it that I hoped they would. Even
Jane Ashers statement applies to this book. I could spend days changing and improving this
book but I feel happy with how it has turned out this far. I just wish I had more creative ability.
The found genre paper was the next paper I wrote. I decided to write a movie review for
the film My Sisters Keeper. To prepare myself to write my first movie review I did research to
find the criteria for a movie review and used a movie review from The Fault in our Stars which
had a similar storyline. I actually found this interesting to write. It forced me to look at the movie
in a different way. The hardest part was persuading people to watch the movie without giving
away too much. In this paper I had trouble writing an ending but with the help of my peer editors
I was able to wrap the paper up in a better way.
The final paper I wrote this semester was an Ethnography. I found this paper to be the
final test for me. This was my chance to show everything that I had learned this semester. I
actually found this paper to be a bit confusing, because at first I wasnt really sure what an
Ethnography was. I did some research to clear up any confusions I had. I attended an Irish Dance
competition and made Irish Dancers my subculture. My goal was to show the world what Irish
Dancers really do and show all the hard work they put into Irish Dance. I had Professor Arnold
look over it and give feedback which was very beneficial. He helped me with transition
sentences which has always been my biggest problem throughout writing. This was the first time
I actually understood what a transition sentences purpose is. I feel my ethnography paper turned
out to be my best paper of the semester.

This semester I have improved my writing skills. Like Jane Asher would say though, I can
always improve and I look forward to it next semester. The biggest thing I want to work on next
semester is transition sentences. It wasnt until the end of the semester that I got advice on them.
I have had many teachers tell me to improve on them and I will look into getting more help next
semester so I can end my English career knowing how to write a well written paper from start to
finish because it is something that I will have to do my whole college career. I came into English
class nervous and intimidated but I am leaving knowing that my high school teachers did prepare
me for college papers and know that my professors in college will be willing to help as I move
forward.