Final Reflection

Odeica Duke

Professor Lisa Cole

English 1101 Composition 1

16^th March 2022

Final Reflection

What was your experience with and early assumption about your writing skills?

I and writing have always had a love-hate relationship. I have always felt as though I was not a good writer or even a writer at all since I believed that being a writer meant one’s writing has been published and most importantly well known. So having to write my entire school life only made me hate my writing even more. While I was a freshman and sophomore in high school, writing was something I really enjoyed. Back then writing was easier and more fun since I only had to write about the little things. In my opinion, assignments were easier because I never challenge my perspective so I could write without any bias, I just wrote about things I knew well and that was it. Writing outside of my perspective was never a thought that entered my head ever for my first two years in high school. Allowing myself to do the bare minimum when it came to writing in high school seemed like a good idea back in high school but now looking back with a broader perspective it limited opportunities, I had to not only better my writing skills but myself when it came to having a broad perspective.

Doing the bare minimum and not allowing myself to challenge my perspective was something I was okay with until assignments, teachers wanted more. During my last two years in high school, I had a lot of writing to do with college preparations and all. That was a point in my life where writing required more than my perspective had to offer, that is when I realized that my perspective had to change in order for my writing to be better. I will admit challenging my perspective was difficult, it was hard to stray away from my norm to an uncertain writing future and possibilities. Given that I had little to no experience writing outside my perspective, I was not optimistic about what the outcome of my writing would be, I initially thought I would fail. In the beginning, there were a lot of bumps in the road, but I finally get the hang of it after college application time. After I complete my college essay, I was pleased with the amount of work I put in and the outcome. My writing was a direct example of how I did not allow my perspective and predetermined ideas to shape my writing.

Have there been any noticeable changes in the work you did early in the semester to now?

Yes! My writing has improved from what it was early in the semester. I have learned so many things throughout this class that has aided in the improvement of my writing when comparing my work from early in the semester to now. When comparing the work, I did early in the semester to now, I noticed that overall, my writing made sense and all the ideas were coherent and well explained which I something I felt like I did not do enough of before. I also learned how to make my writing fit into different genres by using different languages, tones, and word choices.

Here is an example of an introduction I wrote for my Unit 1 “Education Narrative”, “Dating back to my earliest memory of education, I have always felt that school was never for me. I have always felt a disconnect between me and school. Do not get me wrong, I liked learning, it was the teachers, rules, and hierarchy I disliked. Much like Olivarez, most of my teachers taught via the banking method. We, the students, were just expected to take in as much information as we could and never question authority. Most days, a debate or misunderstanding would erupt between me and my teachers. Which started because I would calmly voice my opinions, as I would put it, that were viewed as disrespect. Shutting up and being a human educational sponge was something I could never do. Learning was exceedingly difficult, but it was something I had to do, especially since education was an exaggeratedly important part of my household.”  Then here is another example of an introduction I wrote for my Unit 2 “RAB” “Representation does not only affect how we see ourselves and others, but it also influences how we look at our future and the possibilities that await us. As early as I could remember I have always had this burning desire to find out everything and anything there is to know about outer space. Hearing this one would think that my dream job was to become an astronaut but that was not the case for me. Even though I did not want to go to space I still wanted something to do with it, so when I found out about Aerospace Engineering I was really intrigued. I remember I would watch every movie and video, read every book, and article and even look at pictures anything just to learn more about outer space. As I got older, I slowly started to lose interest in outer space, and I always thought that it was because I was exploring new things and it was just another interest that did not age well with time. However, now looking back with a more worldly and mature perspective, I realize that my sudden disinterest in the thing that made my heart skip several beats even when I was simply thinking about it, was caused by not seeing people who looked like me portrayed in the media. Lupita once said “Until I saw people who looked like me, I was not so sure [being an actress] was a possibility. My exact feeling as a kid but her actress is my Aerospace Engineer. When I started to notice that nearly all Aerospace engineers that I saw growing up did not look like me, this negatively impacted my self-esteem and self-worth making me feel inferior because of how I looked. For years, I look at life and my future with implicit bias, I would always limit my self-expectations and to fit what I thought was expected of me in the eyes of society.”

The two examples provided above are from different points in my writing career form this semester. My first major writing assignment was Unit 1 “Education Narrative” where I got to explore a significant event that impact my view on education and/ or school. The second example from my second major writing assignment was Unit 2 “RAB” where I got to do research on a topic that piques my interest. Changing my writing from a narrative to a reflective annotated bibliography was not easy but the outcome was worthwhile.  For my Unit 1 assignment, I used languages and tones that were friendly since I was not trying to provide a point or persuade my audience. I was simply just trying to express myself and my experiences. While for my RAB, I used more authoritative languages and tones since I was trying to persuade my audience into believing that the topic of my research was important.

What challenges did you find particularly challenging in this semester’s English class?

Something I found particularly challenging this semester making sure my writing made sequential sense which meant making sure the flow of my writing was not all over the place. To make sure my writing made sense and the information in it was flowing properly I would gather all the information I needed then list them out on a piece of paper then put them in sequential order. Then and only then I would start writing. I also found Unit 3 “Writing in a New Genre” extremely difficult. I had a hard time choosing a different genre that was not only best for my research but also for me.

What have you learned for your English 1101 class? And how are you going to incorporate what you have learned in your college future?

Some notable lessons that stuck with me after completing certain assignments are how to write a proper research paper (how to properly quote and cite sources), how to find sufficient sources that do not only support your predetermined ideas about your topic, and how one genre could form many different ones. Lastly, how to gather sufficient information that will make your writing beneficial to others. I will definitely be using the knowledge and experience that I gained throughout this course in other writing situations in my college life. This semester I have learned how to properly analyze a text to find the deep meaning and the writing style the author of said text used to make the purpose of their writing effective. I have also learned how to not only write in different genres but also how to change my writing into a completely new genre which would be very beneficial in my next English class.