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Gloria Arias

Professor Beadle

English 115

07 December 2017

Reflection Essay

At the beginning of the semester, I told myself I was bound to fail. I felt my diagnostics

paper highlighted everything that was wrong with my writing. Over the course of this semester, I

was mandated to visit the Learning Resource Center, which along with the course helped

improve my writing for the better. Throughout the writing process on all three of the assigned

essays, I was able to see where I still needed improvement and where I had improved from the

last. As the semester progressed, I was able to see that my analysis of quotes, along with making

clear connections throughout my essay back to the thesis, and overall focus significantly

improved.

For the first essay, Project Space, I was lost from the beginning. I wasnt sure if what I

was writing was really reflecting the ideas I wanted to convey and whether I was making a

strong and valid argument about California having a monster of its own, earthquakes. I made the

appointment to go to the Learning Resource Center and I brought in my draft. The tutor told me I

lacked focus overall and that I needed to be more precise in the language that I was using, even if

at times I felt it sounded redundant. She also pointed out that I needed the buns for my quote

sandwich; meaning the introduction to the quote and the analysis. I knew we had discussed the

quote sandwich during class and so I went on Canvas and I printed out the worksheets on how to

effectively introduce a quote. After looking over the examples, I applied what I saw. I used the

quote sandwich to introduce my first piece of evidence, As Ted Genoways, former editor of the
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prestigious Virginia Quarterly Review states,Imagining what we cannot truly imagine, we brace

ourselves for the worst (Genoways 130).When an earthquake occurs, we do not know what to

expect and so our minds wonder about the situations that we can find ourselves in. There are

limitless ways in which we can be affected and we know none for sure. We can only imagine

what lies ahead of us. It took me awhile get the hang of doing this for each of my pieces of

evidence but as I kept doing it, it become more of a habit.

For Project Text, I really struggled in my proposal with creating an effective thesis and

making those clear connections in my body paragraphs back to the thesis. After getting feedback

from Professor Beadle and using the worksheet from Canvas on how to create an effective thesis,

I was able to make a more effective and specific thesis. Both elements helped me develop my

thesis for Project Text, Throughout the two films, it is clear that Godzillas origin has changed,

alongside his physical appearance, and how much he is valued. This is significant because Shin

Godzilla (2016) was produced by the same company as the original Godzilla (1954) and rather

than simply modernizing the film with better quality with the usage of new technology, they

chose to change the story line and change Godzilla himself; creating a new narrative. In the new

narrative Japan is no longer the victim of the two atomic bombings that created Godzilla, but

rather a stronger and more independent Japan that is both responsible for the creation of Godzilla

and takes responsibility in stopping Godzillas path of destruction. The fact that the narrative has

changed is important because it means that what Godzilla has come to represent has also

changed The feedback and the resources on Canvas guided me into creating a thesis that would

guide the reader without vagueness in what I was trying to convey with my paper.

For Project Media, now looking at the feedback that I got for Project Text I can see that I

made the similar mistake of leaving the significance for the conclusion. I havent received my
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grade for Project Media but I know it wasnt perfect and maybe it wasnt even close to perfect.

What I do know is that I had a thesis that answered the prompt and all of my evidence had proper

introduction and analysis. I might not get the perfect score for that essay either but I am slowly

creating habits that will keep improving my writing as a whole. Its all about progress.

One may state that my writing hasnt improved because some errors are present

throughout all my essays such as still not being specific enough in some areas and leaving the

significance out until the conclusion when it should be present throughout the entire essay. To

that I say, they are right in that some of my errors are present throughout all three of my essays.

Improving as a writer does not necessarily mean that I have perfected all the areas that I had

issues with. Improving as a writer means that I now understand why there were issues in the first

place and understanding why some things are necessary in creating strong and engaging papers.

Its now the end of the semester and as I look back at the essays that Ive written, I can

truly see how much I have improved as a writer. Of course, Im nowhere near being the perfect

writer but I dont believe that was the purpose of this course anyways. You cant teach someone

something and expect them to automatically understand. It takes practice and guidance. The

point is to always keep improving even in the areas you believe you dont need to anymore and

improve in the areas where you struggle with the most. I came into this course dreading the

feedback that I would get because thats how poorly I viewed my writing. As this course is

coming to a close, I am a more confident writer who understands that its not about where you

are at, its about how you grow.