Tansey 1

Jocelyn Tansey
English 102
Mariya Tseptsura
06 May, 2014
Reflective Narrative
The air has gotten warmer, my skin is getting tanner, and my focus is becoming less and less
frequent. Summer is coming. My first year of college wasnt at all what I expected. Of course I
know the drill you start with all of the required core classes before you can get into studying
for your degree. Out of these first classes, English is obviously one of them. Taking 101 last
semester wasnt so bad. It reminded me of my high school AP English class. I thought to myself,
why does everyone say that college is so hard? This is a piece of cake. Then I took English 102.
English 102 was a challenge in and of itself. From short writing assignments, discussion board
posts, and analyzing critical articles to major writing assignments, everything I have done in this
class has taken me beyond what I previously believed I was capable of.
Discussion Board Posts
Out of all of the times that we were required to post on the discussion board, I will admit that
it seemed meaningless at first. I had no idea why we had to talk about something prior to class
with one another. Although, as we posted more often I began to notice how much the posts
actually did help my writing and overall understanding in the long run. For example, when we
had to post a summary on Eileen Chia-Ching Fungs article Deconstructing the Butterfly:
Teaching David Henry Hwangs M. Butterfly in Cultural and Socio-political Contexts it never
occurred to me that I would use it in papers and writing assignments later on. Looking at a 20+
page article looks intimidating, but I gained so much more of an understanding on Madame
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Butterfly after reading that article. Also, seeing other classmates views and summaries on
certain topics helped me stay on track, so to speak. If I felt as if I was interpreting any text
wrong, I could see in my classmates examples that I was either on track, or it showed me that I
needed to read it over once more to understand it a little better.
Short Writing Assignments
I absolutely love short writing assignments. These papers were short, sweet, and to the point!
I also feel as if these are hands down the most vital part of the writing process when it comes to
major writing assignments. Without short writing assignments, I would never know where to
begin in analyzing one major article with two supporting articles in any sequence. The one short
writing assignment that I enjoyed and felt was most beneficial to my strength as a writer was in
sequence three. The assignment was to write about the deception in the play Madame Butterfly.
The play itself was one of the weirdest pieces of literature I have ever been required to analyze
and write about, but I felt as if it was an out-of-the-box experience that only strengthened my
writing.
Major Writing Assignments
Major writing assignments were the biggest challenge of all other writing assignments. The
length, amount of reading, and citations were three of the main struggles for me. I dont
necessarily love to read, so finding the right parts of each article to incorporate in my papers was
a true challenge. When it comes to writing, its all about fluency. Citing each quote, typing up
six pages, and reading a lengthy article isnt hard, its a test on focus and ability to bring out
the highest potential in myself. Major writing assignment 3 was the ultimate challenge in citing.
With three different articles to consider in defending my main points, I had to outline and
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organize it in a way that made sense to my reader. If I have learned anything from these large
assignments, it is how to think effectively and organize my thoughts. The writing process can be
a pain in the rear, but I can honestly say that all future and current classes would not be as easy.
Research
In each of the writing assignments, research was a huge element throughout. Student learning
outcomes G. states that research is to utilize and look at ones own personal beliefs and integrate
these into each work through the various mediums and technologies. I found this student learning
outcome most prevalent in the third major writing assignment. This is because we had to
thoroughly analyze and articulate the works of David Henry Hwang in not only his play Madame
Butterfly, but his article called Evolving a Multicultural Tradition. In the beginning, the play
alone was extremely difficult to comprehend. It contains some very controversial topics based on
a story that happened over twenty years ago. The online articles that we were required to read
and reflect upon for the major writing assignment played a tremendous role in the overall
understanding of the play. For the third major writing assignment, I was naturally compelled to
take a stance on certain aspects of the play, and reading these articles ended up proving and
disproving certain beliefs that I had beforehand. For example, in Hwangs Evolving a
Multicultural Tradition, he describes his goals in producing the play Madame Butterfly. These
goals included things out of the norm, such as addressing all isms and diminishing segregation
within American theater. This was especially enthralling for me because I had not thought of the
work and intentions behind the play itself until I read about Hwangs journey with it.
Writing as a Process
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Another student learning outcome I want to further express and stress is writing as a process.
This outcome is described as an attempt to utilize several different ways of creating a finished
paper in an attempt to strengthen ones writing using various mediums and technologies. As a
class in English 102 rough and polished drafts were a regular occurrence. Collaboration before
any major assignments prompted the class with plenty of ideas to put into the major writing
assignments, especially when it came to the length requirements. Without talking about it in class
beforehand, the overall understanding and intake of idea would be low, and therefore the paper
would suffer. Feedback also helped from peers, because it is always good to get a fresh set of
eyes to analyze each paper and correct any common mistakes, or at large, misconceptions of
ideas. This leads to proofreading and editing before the finals draft. After all of the writing
process comes to a close, excellent research and what the student learns from that research is
what will finish the paper, and finish it well.
Overall Goals
I have goals in every class that I attend at UNM. Primarily, I want to get good grades and
actually take the information that I learn in each class and apply it to something that will benefit
my career. This seems quite apparent to most students, but unlike other students my age I strive
to do the very best I can. Out of the student learning objectives, I have learned so much over the
course of this semester in English 102.
In the future, I plan on attaining a Bachelors degree in the Science of Nursing. Although
English and major writing assignments do not necessarily come to mind when thinking of this
field, this class still played a vital role in how I go about writing reports and analyses on works
that actually matter. From APA formatting and meta-analysis articles, I managed to incorporate
elements of my future career into my writing and that will help me tremendously in the long run.