Aaron Felkai

Professor Beadle
English 115
8 December 2015
Reflective Essay
Over this last semester in English 115 with a focus on gender studies, I have grown and
developed as a writer. My experience in this class had many positive aspects that will help me in
my future. I expected this class to be an English class like any other that I have taken in high
school, but to my surprise, I found that this class made me think on a deeper level and think
about subjects that I had never thought about before. I expected to do countless, dull essays, and
a final test that would ineffectively test our ability to memorize vocabulary and information that I
will never recall upon again.
Writing gives me a form of escape from day to day life. I like that writing is a simple
form of expression that flows so naturally, just like speaking. I do not like that writing is
somewhat limited in its ability to convey natural speech. When writing, I cannot convey the same
tone of voice that I can so easily do through speech. Even when it comes to communicating with
people, I would much prefer to talk to a person either face to face, or on the phone, instead of
through textual mediums, such as email and text messages.
In this course, I learned many interesting concepts that contributed to my writing
development. I found the concept of gender and sex being two different phenomena the most
interesting. I always assumed that gender and sex were the same term, and could be used

interchangeably, but I came to learn through this class, that the words cannot be used in place of
the other, but in fact describe two very different parts of a persons life experiences. I think in a
very structured, logical way, so when I learned about the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and
logos, I was intrigued. It gave me an analytical look on writing, and gave me the ability to
manipulate my words in a way that was previously foreign to me. By appealing to all or some of
these rhetorical methods, my writing turns into an argumentative work that uses emotional,
logical, and credibility appeals.
Many of my writing challenges stem from a lack of motivation. I find it difficult to focus
while working on projects and papers when I am not too passionate about the topic that I am
writing about. When I do write about topics that I take interest in, I find that the writing comes
very naturally and it is a peaceful experience. My strengths as a writer are mainly centered in
format, grammar, and fluidity.
I feel that I have improved in the content that I include in my writing, because this course
required me to think critically and do research using peer reviewed sources. The skills in this
class will help me in the rest of college and beyond because I have learned to read and
understand scholarly articles, which I find very monotonous and banal. This will help me in
history, where I will have to read and understand primary sources, and in other classes where I
am required to read and understand the required texts and respond to them.
If I could tell the next class that comes and takes this course after me anything, it would
be to just not worry or stress out over being assigned a paper. Just take it one day at a time and
enjoy what you are learning and engage with the discussions in class, and the book or whatever
piece of material that you are reading for the paper. This may seem hypocritical, but I would tell

the class to not procrastinate, because it really degrades your whole experience, in and out of the
English class.
I have had a surprisingly wonderful experience in this class of English 115, and I may
continue to pursue writing and other English endeavors in my future college career. I have
definitely learned quite a bit in this class, and I now see how invaluable it was.