Reflection Essay
Starting Composition II, I was honestly pretty nervous. I have always been more of a math person. Math just makes sense to me, while English and writing have always been harder. I have never really enjoyed writing, and most of my past essays felt average at best. Because of that, I went into this class kind of dreading it, especially since I did not enjoy Composition I very much. However, this class ended up being a lot different. The things we learned, like how to build arguments, analyze writing, and use evidence correctly, actually made sense to me and showed me why writing is important.
One of the biggest challenges for me during the semester was finding topics I actually cared about. It is always harder for me to write when I am not interested in what I am talking about. Another challenge was making sure my essays had real, meaningful information instead of just trying to fill space with “Fluff”. Since the essays were longer, I did not want to just add random details to hit the word count. I wanted everything in my essays to actually matter. I also struggled with grammar and citations. Even though I usually knew what was right, I was not always confident in it. The workshops and feedback helped me a lot with that. They also helped me stay on track with the prompt and make sure I was doing things the right way.
My argument essay about obesity was one of the first times I actually enjoyed writing a paper. I liked the topic, which made the whole process easier. Because I cared about it, it was easier to come up with ideas and support them with evidence. This essay helped me learn how to build a strong argument and back it up with research instead of just stating my opinion. It was also my first time writing in APA format, which was definitely challenging at first because I had never done it before and was not sure if I was doing everything correctly. Over time, though, I got more comfortable with it. This essay showed me that when I am interested in a topic, I can write a strong paper.
My rhetorical analysis essay on Kurt Vonnegut and addiction helped me improve even more. This was the first time I felt like I truly analyzed something instead of just summarizing it. In the past, I would usually explain what happened in a text, but in this essay, I had to explain what it meant and why it mattered. I used quotes from the book to support my ideas and connect them to Vonnegut’s experiences. This essay was harder than the obesity paper because it relied more on my own thinking instead of just research. I had to really think about what the author was trying to say. Even though it was more difficult, I feel like this is where I improved the most. It helped me get better at analyzing and explaining ideas in a deeper way.
Throughout the semester, I also got better at grammar, citations, and organizing my essays. These were things I struggled with before, but the practice and feedback helped me improve. The workshop process was especially helpful for me. I usually like to work fast and just get things done, but the workshops forced me to slow down and really look at my writing. Getting feedback helped me see what I needed to fix and how I could improve. Without that, my essays would not have been as strong.
Looking back, I can tell that my writing has improved a lot since the beginning of the semester. I feel more confident in my ability to analyze ideas, use evidence, and stay focused on what I am supposed to be writing about. Even though I will probably always like math more than English, I now know that I can be a good writer when I actually try and care about the topic. This class helped me improve my skills and gave me more confidence in my writing going forward.
