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Connie Diep
Professor Beadle
English 115
2 December 2015
Reflective Essay
Writing has not always been my strongest subject but through this semester I feel that I
have developed my skills as a writer. My expectations for college English prior to starting the
semester were very high. Although, I was not expecting to write about a particular subject for the
whole semester I found that I enjoyed learning about gender and how society perceives it in
different ways. This topic was so interesting that I was involved in many class discussions and
writing became more natural to me. I have taken advice from the professor, visits to the Learning
Resource Center, and from my colleagues. I have complete confidence that I can effectively
write a thesis, an argumentative essay, analyze visuals and incorporate them into my essay and
properly write a works cited page. After learning about the gender topic I have a better
understanding for individuals who struggle with criticism and I will continue to view the world
with an open mind. I will apply the lessons I have learned to future by being mature and properly
informed about different types of discussions with other individuals and being respectful to
his/her opinions.
The first week of the semester the professor started to introduce the binary pairs and the
difference between the two. I never knew the difference between sex/gender and I was one of the
individuals who misconstrued the terms in past writing assignments. This made me realize that
my lack of knowledge made my writing less credible. As the semester went on we read articles in
Composing Gender, written by Rachael Groner and John F. Hara about gender theory. We had in

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class discussions about how we felt about certain statements that the author was writing about.
My colleagues and I were able to freely communicate our thoughts and share ideas to help form
our own arguments and essays. I learned how to brainstorm and write outlines and this helped me
organize my paragraphs efficiently.
Ive had challenges in the beginning of the semester with writing my works cited page
and my thesis because my idea was too broad and the rest of my essay would not fully support
my thesis. One of the other books we read was called, Critical Reading and Writing by Jeff
Ousborne and this made my essays stronger. I learned that the thesis does not have to be written
until after my whole essay is completed. My first essay was about how an individuals gender
identity is formed and how society has expectations of males/females. I remember after writing
my first prospectus my professor had written all over my paper with comments and suggestions.
I tried to cover too many topics in my first essay which caused my essay to be slightly confusing
but Professor Beadle suggested that I focus my arguments towards the prompt to improve my
future essays. I was able to positively take this advice and make improvements for my final
portfolio. I want to specifically central my idea around how societys expectations negatively
affect both men/women. This semester we have also learned how to use visual images to discuss
gender boundaries.
In Ms. Marvel, written by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona, Kamala Khan plays a
teenager who struggles for acceptance. We analyzed the color scheme and visuals and
incorporated Composing Gender articles to help support whether Kamalas superpowers broke
the gender boundaries or not. It was difficult for me in the beginning to counteract my argument
and then refuting it. I went to the LRC to meet with my tutor and she gave me a few examples
that would make argument stronger and she also had given me advice to compare and contrast

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society versus the comic and how they both view gender boundaries. I was able to take these
suggestions and improve my essay to make my argument stronger while also taking into
consideration the counterargument. And what I liked about this essay was that we were able to
read something interesting and enjoyable while still applying what we have learned about gender
this semester.
Gender theory is a topic that society does not discuss much about but instead it is
subconsciously performed every day. I can now say that I am ready to have open conversations
with other people about gender. This class has given me a new perspective on writing and a view
of gender from a different lens. I will take the lessons I have learned and apply them to the future
by knowing how to properly structure my essays and by doing this it will make me a stronger
credible writer. I will continue to improve my writing skills by making more visits to the
Learning Resource Center as well as asking professors for advice. If I could give advice to a new
student in a writing class, I would suggest that they keep up with the reading assignments as well
as participate in the class discussions. Being involved in class discussions makes the topic more
interesting and enjoyable to learn rather than making it seem like a boring assignment. I have
faced challenges this semester but I am confident that I can move on knowing that I have
mastered them.

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Works Cited
Groner, Rachel, and John F. O'Hara. Composing Gender. 1st Ed. Eds. Rachael Groner and John F.
Hara. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. Print.
Ousborne, Jeffrey. Critical Reading and Writing. 1st Ed. Eds. John E. Sullivan III. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. Print.
Willow G., Wilson and Alphona, Adrian. Ms. Marvel. 1st C. Ed. Sana Amanat. NY: Marvel
Entertainment, 2015. Print.