Gabriel Duarte

Reflection

My first semester in college has given me immeasurable amounts of academic

knowledge. Much of this noticeable growth is attributed to my writing composition and the

persuasiveness of my arguments. Throughout my College Writing R1A course, I have indulged

into the world of science-fiction, and simultaneously, I have acquired the writing skills and

techniques used by many famous writers like Judith Barrington and Natalie Goldberg. Not only

has this semester-long course guided me in the development of my writing, but it has equipped

me with the various necessary writing expertise for my upcoming semesters, here, at the

University of Berkeley.

After completing the weekly projects like the Writing Process Assignments (WPA’s) and

the Critical Reading Assignments (CRA’s), my writing composition has transformed from being

made up of only precise grammar, punctuation, and spelling into the adequate use of analytical

commentary and logical organizations. I have been extensively educated on the significance of

having supported reasoning in a paper and the importance of creating varied and effective

syntactic structures. Due to this, my insight on literary focus, unit, and simplicity in my writing

has resulted in the production of coherent work.

First, the composition technique of ​simplicity​ in my writing has enabled me to deliver my

claims in a simple and comprehensive manner. My ideas and arguments are organized in an

uncomplicated style which makes the readers follow with ease. For example, in my personal

narrative titled ​Lets Step Outside​, I reveal a significant and rather interesting event in my life in a

direct and comprehensible fashion. My main goal in this memoir was to illustrate my coming of
age in the real work, and thus I avoided excessive and unnecessary detail that detracts from the

plot and conflict presented by the narrative.

The second literary technique that has remodeled my writing is unarguably the

introduction of a ​focus​. This tool has allowed my writing to have a steady and comprehensive

flow. No longer are my claims and arguments chaotically splattered in a page, instead, my ideas

are structured and unambiguous. For instance, my second work of literature titled ​Telling your

Story: The Guide to a Flawless Memoir, ​displays a complete focus on the question of what

constitutes an excellent narrative. My essay does not merely describe other memoirs. It makes a

central argument regarding qualities of the​ very bes​t narratives.

Lastly, my writing has matured remarkably while in this course and it partially due to the

addition of ​unity ​in my writing. My third literary piece, ​Living in a Virtual Game: Behind the

Avatar,​ demonstrates unity in my claims, as each assertion immediately follows the other after

commentary. This eliminates unnecessary information and makes the essay more consistent and

unified. The unification of the paper also makes the argument easier for the reader to interpret.

My growth as a writer is owed to my willingness to always listen to what others have to

say and integrate their writing suggestions into my work. To show you what I mean, Natalie

Goldberg, author of ​Writing Down the Bones​, suggests that when attempting to write a new piece

to “ play around, dive into absurdity and write. Take chances. You will succeed if you are

fearless of failure” (86). This new and unfamiliar approach worked for me when creating my

personal narrative paper, it was a distinct and useful tool to get my initial thoughts flowing on

what specific part of my life I would be focusing on. Furthermore, I began applying a

comparable ideology when writing other essays, and doing this made me realize that most of the
time I was attempting to write my final-draft from the get-go. After writing my flow of ideas

down, I carefully selected the one I felt I had the most meaningful content to write about and

then I constructed an outline consisting of 2-3 rough drafts.

Moreover, when it came to revise, I applied Nancy Sommer’s advice from her academic

guide tittle​ Revision Strategies,​ where she advised that “the first draft is usually the attempt to

find territory and the objective in the second draft is to begin observing general patterns of

development and deciding what should be included or excluded” (384). This trajectory narrows

down my arguments making them concise and understanding. I learned from this that revision is

not merely adding or eliminating words from an essay but rather considering big chunks of

information that should be moved or even replaced.

Ultimately, I have seen my writing proficiency advance due to the amount learning I have

had in this course. I have come to learn that my writing, like the writing of anyone else, is always

evolving, and I am glad to have seen it evolved alongside my professor and peers. This semester,

I have written a good deal, and I have revised the three listed pieces of writing and made them

my polished final drafts for my e-portfolio.

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