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Edwin Rimular

Professor Ludwig

English 101H

3 December 2017

Semester Reflection

The concepts that I have learned in English 101H have allowed me to improve as a

writer. In this online portfolio, I have submitted three assignments from this semester that I

believe display my growth as a writer: a research essay, a reading assignment, and a book review.

I have decided to incorporate this research essay and particular reading assignment because both

projects discuss the negative impact of desertification on the environment. I find the problem of

desertification to be concerning and I hope to inform others about how it has the ability to affect

the future health of the planet. I also chose to use my review of Dan Barbers book, The Third

Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food because I hope to share the idea of ecological farming,

a topic that the book discusses. My book review does not directly relate with my other writings

in this portfolio; however, all my projects belong to categories which relate to a bigger picture

the health of the environment. The strengths in these assignments display the improvement in my

writing, but I still have areas that require refinement.

My goal in my essay A Dry Future, is to address the rising problem of desertification.

To introduce my argument, I reference Don Marquis poem what the ants are saying since the

poems main argument is that mankind is causing desertification. Because this is not intended to

be a persuasive essay, I simply presented and defined the problem, not try to refute
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counterarguments or propose a solution. The purpose of this essay was to inform my audience

on the causes of desertification and how it impacts the world environmentally and socially. The

poor farming techniques and global climate change are the main causes I address in my

explanation of desertification. In the revised edition of the essay, I used real life examples of how

desertification is taking a toll on people today. I added this because I felt that I used too many

statistics and facts, but disregarded actual examples of who is affected by the problem. Using

quotes from people who were negatively impacted allow my audience to realize that the problem

I am introducing is affecting individuals in modern times. This component is used to strengthen

my argument as well as raise concern for desertification. I feel that using real examples validates

my claim.

The strengths that I found in this essay were using introducing real life examples as

previously mentioned, and providing sufficient statistical evidence. I go in depth about how farm

animals hurt soil and the effect of greenhouse gases on climate. However, a weakness I found

was repetition. During the writing process of the essay I had trouble implementing meta-

commentary after stating a quote. I provided good evidence, but my ability to explain things in

my own words was subpar.

My second assignment, titled Reading Assignment #7, is similar to my essay in that

they both discuss the topic of desertification. However, I focus on discussing the rhetorical

strategies Don Marquis uses in his poem what the ants are saying. Talking in the perspective of

an ant, Marquis using a logical appeal and repetition in his poem to explain how the world will

eventually become one giant desert if mankind continues to treat the environment poorly. My
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goal in this assignment was to identify the persuasive methods that Marquis uses to speak on the

problem.

The assignment was short, but nevertheless, I believe I did a sufficient job on expanding

on Marquis ideology. Not only do I touch on the environmental side of the argument, but I

discuss the social issues that are the root of the problem. Mankinds greedy nature plays a large

role in the degradation of the environment. It is my concern that wealthy corporations are

economically successful at the expense of the Earths health. Also, the organization of my body

paragraphs match the way my thesis introduces the topic. Some weaknesses can be found as

well. My introductory paragraph does not have an engaging hook, something I tend to struggle

on. My thesis seems to be a bit overwhelming as well; it sounds a bit awkward when read aloud.

Other than the introductory paragraph, I believe this assignment represents my improved

strengths as a writer.

My personal input is shared on my review of chef Dan Barbers book The Third Plate.

My objective in this assignment was to briefly explain Barbers experiences in each part of the

book and give critique. I found that Barbers main strength in writing this book were his

anecdotes because they were both entertaining and informative, as well as comedic at times. I

also enjoyed how he implements ecological farming concepts that he learns from other farmers

into his own cooking. An area where Barber lacked was explaining the price of environmentally

friendly food. He preaches throughout the book that ecological farming methods are better and

are reachable in the future, but the accessibility and high price of these foods weakens his

argument.
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Even though this assignment was my first book review, I thought I did a nice job in

constructing it. I provided an interesting hook, which shows my improvement in writing since I

usually do an average job at making hooks. I also explained the main points of the book without

over-summarizing, something I did a lot before coming into this class. My weaknesses lie in the

thesis, as I could have provided more clarity, and grammar errors, a careless mistake that I tend

to neglect.

These three projects display my development as writer in English 101H. Although there

are still things that need to be refined, such as eliminating grammar errors and creating a more

concise thesis, I have greatly improved in my abilities to provide convincing research evidence

and create engaging hooks for my audience.