Journey Towards Literacy: Reflection Paper

Dear Reader,
Initially, I wasnt sure how to approach the essay topic of literacy. Because I had first
learned to speak Korean as my first language and then learned to speak English as my second
language, I was confused about which language to write about. Then, I began to think deeply
about my experiences with both languages. I realized that I could hardly remember when I first
started learning Korean because I was too young, while I could vividly remember the process of
learning English as my second language. Therefore, I chose to write about my journey towards
literacy in English. Working on this essay gave me an opportunity to think deeply about what
literacy means. I realized that literacy includes the ability to fully grasp the subtle meanings of
the texts using the knowledge of social and cultural values of the society.
After writing the first draft, I received comments from the professor and peers to improve
my draft. The professors comments helped to enhance the flow of the paper by ensuring that the
storyline is organized in a logical manner. She also helped to fix grammar mistakes and to
italicize the title of the book, The Sound and the Fury. The peer review provided me with
perspectives of my classmate, who confirmed that my messages were clearly delivered through
the essay. Upon receiving the comments, I edited my essay accordingly, fixing my grammar and
tweaking my storyline to flow better. I left the overall organization of the essay intact because
my peer confirmed that the delivery of my messages. In addition, I had the opportunity to read
my other classmates drafts, which helped me to understand literacy from the perspective of my
classmate, who had a very different experience from my own.
Overall, I feel that my final draft well represents my experience of becoming literate in
English. In particular, I feel good about the organization of the essay, as the introductory
paragraph grabs the readers attention with an interesting hook, the body paragraphs elaborates
my main idea, and concluding paragraph sums my experience. In addition, I feel that my overall
storyline well captures the emotions I felt at that time. With more time, I would like to improve
on improving the transitioning sentences between paragraphs.
All in all, writing this essay gave me a valuable opportunity to reflect on my past
experience. I realized that learning English as a second language gave me unique perspectives
that will help me as I move on with life. Moreover, I feel that I grew as a writer, as I gained a
greater understanding of what it means to be literate.

Sincerely,

Ui Jeong Lee