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Melanie Bazan

Professor Beadle

English 115

03 December 2017

My Improvements in Writing (Reflection Essay)

Throughout time, improvement always occurs and whether it is in life itself or in school,

I believe that it is an ongoing process to better ourselves. However, in school it is highly valued

to develop certain techniques that enhance our education. Writing is an acquired necessity used

everyday, but it needs a lot of work and practice to achieve skills in an effective manner. With

the three essays I have written this semester, I have understood the basic necessities, which then

helped me improve overall. Project Space, Text, and Media were the three different papers where

as a writer, I attempted to use feedback that was given to me and reflect on the following essays

to better them. Especially adapting to the University writing level, I believe that I have bettered

in specific areas that before I struggled with in my essays and it has helped me become more of a

coherent writer.

Project Space, being the first paper I wrote this semester was a great introduction of how

my writing was supposed to be and it also gave a layout on what was expected. Coming straight

to a University from High School was a big step many do not take due to the challenging

courses. For me, it was a rough transition however, I did very well with my first paper. Starting

off with the prompt, I had a great understanding of what was being mentioned and this gave me a

boost. I wrote about a particular space, the Internet and how although there are many advantages,

the dangers reveal an obsession. Going to the LRC for the first time I noticed how patient and

helpful the tutors were. I knew I had a lot of mistakes being that my essay was only a draft, yet
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the tutor gave me so many tips to better what I was trying to say especially through my thesis. In

my original essay, I stated that while the Internet presents a convenience to society, the

monstrous space uncovers the obsession of the online world, cyberbullying, and the loss of

traditional values. The thesis I had written at first had the idea I was trying to convey however,

it had too much fluff, which hid the strength of it. As a result of my errors, I changed my thesis

in the final portfolio to make it concise as to how and why my topic is important. My new thesis

is now while the Internet presents a convenience to society daily, the monstrous space uncovers

the obsession of the online world, demonstrating the loss of traditional values. Although there

was not much of a change, the way I condensed and structured my thesis made it more clear. In

addition, I had to write about a personal experience from when I got bullied in High School,

which personally gave me a lot of freedom to write how I truly felt. As a result of my personal

experience, I was able to give emotion and have the ability to convince my audience. This gave

my paper a lot of emotion, yet awareness, which I believe is the most meaningful. Also, the

constant readings of my paper showed the effort I put, which then proved how effective my

writing was. This reflected on my grade, which I received an A and in the notes my professor

mentioned that my essay was a strong one with many good points, but to improve I needed to

further develop my analysis.

The following essay was Project Text, in which we focused on both the original and most

recent film of Godzilla, showing the differences that have occurred over a significant amount of

time. Throughout Project Space when stating my quotes I would describe what they were saying

instead of analyzing, which sounded very repetitive in my paper. Again, my issue was

developing my analysis however, I did a much better job of getting to my point across instead of

just adding a lot of fluff. For example in Project Space, I would summarize the quotes such as
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users of the Internet are being consumed just as the figurative language used to convey the idea

of how dangerous it truly is. This sentence it a great example of how I would summarize what

the quote said. However, I tried my best to fix they way I evaluated importance in my next paper.

For Project Text, an example of analysis I wrote was, the films represent the issues going on in

the world and due to civilization evolving daily, it is seen that negative world issues are more

popular than ever. For me personally, I believe my analysis got a bit better, which only helped

me progress for the other essay. I found the prompt a little tedious, but I bettered my skills a lot

with my timing. Due to the way I managed my time, I was able to go to the LRC so that I could

improve in areas I was a little stuck on. Both the counterargument and refutation were missing in

my original Project Text essay because I was not sure how to mention how both sides of the

argument and defend the side I took. These were issues I did not fix by the time it was due

however, in my final revisions for the portfolio there has been more of an effort made to go

against my thesis and refute it.

Although I started off well and went downhill from the second essay, I believe I have

really shown a great amount of progress from the feedback given. With all the comments I

received in my last papers, I have tried to use that feedback and develop my skills. Project

Media, an essay based on a current issue gave me the ability to connect my beliefs with writing

where I was able to express my views on an important issue. I wrote about the monster of an

alien and how it connects to racism through the interpretation of immigrants and the policies

toward them. My thesis I had created for Project Media was although Americans tend to oppose

the idea of welcoming immigrants because of race, they should not be feared or compared to an

alien invasion. I believe that it was brief, yet informative to introduce my topic and argument.

The way I was able to write my thesis showed how my skills were developing overtime. Project
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Media really showed the work I put in throughout this semester with both my writing abilities

and timing. The final essay was my last shot to show everything I have and I was aware on what

to improve. My final essay was straight to the point, but I mentioned how and why it was

awareness on the current issue is important due to the U.S. being a key destination for many

immigrants..

Overall as a writer, I have progressed with many skills that are valuable when attempting

to get your point across and I believe that I was able to polish my work. In addition, I learned

that in writing there is always space for improvement and it takes time, it may not always come

so quickly. Time management is another skill that I slowly got the hang of, which is a necessary

technique because of the specific due dates that were given. whether it was to go to the LRC or

just turn in a draft. Making the LRC a mandatory step when writing my essays helped me

discover a place to ask questions, which I would not have found if it was not for this class. As a

result of all of the help I have received, this semester has given me a variety of lessons to make

me grow as a writer.