Arianna Ballman
English 101
October 6th, 2023
Looking Back
Over the course of this class I learned many new writing skills while also using
techniques I already knew. Before English 101, I would start composing a draft by taking some
bullet point notes, crafting a rough draft, then proofreading and making final changes for
submission. For the profile project I chose to write about a small business called The New Moon
Cafe and I used the same writing process that I am familiar with. However, during each module
of this course I learned more skills that made my writing process much more effective. One
technique I learned was using multimodal evidence to help strengthen a piece of writing. This
was a skill that I wasn’t familiar with because throughout high school we almost never added
visuals or images to any of our pieces of writing unless it was a presentation. Another writing
technique that I became familiar with in this course was instructor and peer feedback. After
submitting my profile draft I received feedback from a peer suggesting that I need to make my
thesis slightly more intriguing to add more significance to my writing. With that feedback I was
able to develop a more meaningful thesis statement that helped the reader understand exactly
what my profile is about. I struggle the most with creativity and to no surprise that was
something I struggled tremendously with throughout my profile. Since multimodal evidence was
new to me, I was unsure how many visuals were needed so I decided to only add a couple to
avoid overwhelming the reader. However, after getting feedback from my instructor, I realized
that my writing could be even more intriguing and effective if I added a few more images to help
the reader visualize what I am trying to persuade about The New Moon Cafe. I also learned
different techniques when gathering research for any type of writing. Sometimes when I am
researching I tend to write down too much information which makes it hard to sort through when
Arianna Ballman
English 101
October 6th, 2023
trying to compose a draft. But, after learning about the importance of good research, I was able
to gather enough information that was significant when trying to support my thesis statement
throughout my profiling project. My relationship to writing and the vision of myself has
changed greatly since the beginning of this course. This course has shown me that I am a talented
writer and if I stay focused and persevere through all my procraciation
then I can create quality work. I have come to a realization after taking
this course that I actually enjoy writing and I can see myself living out
one of my many dreams of starting some type of relatable blog.
Looking Forward
Since the beginning of this course I have grown
tremendously as a writer. I am most proud of the
progress I’ve made when it comes to composing a well
organized piece of work. Personally, I find it hard to
Arianna Ballman
English 101
October 6th, 2023
organize all the information I gathered during research into an organized and structured piece
that is most effective for the reader’s understanding. However, I was able to practice and become
better at this skill as I was creating my profile project on The New Moon Cafe. I am also proud
of the growth I made within my creativity skills which is seen through my profile project and my
writer’s portfolio. Although I improved in some of my writing skills, I still need to continue
working on my researching skills and note taking. After I received feedback on my profile, I
realized I lacked information because I did not do enough researching. I also want to improve on
my time management because through this course I will admit I procrastinated some tasks which
affected my writing because I wasn’t able to give my best due to the time crunch I left for
myself. Almost every skill I’ve learned from this course will transfer somewhere and somehow
in the future because I will have to write academically and within my social life. Specifically, I
plan to utilize my new writing skills in English 102 which I will be taking in the spring. I expect
to be composing essays and writing projects in English 102 and other classes and being able to
transfer all the new information I learned to those classes will make me a better writer. As a
writer, this course has made me a more thorough writer and taught me to utilize all resources I
have available in order to craft quality writing. This will impact my future experiences greatly
because I’ve grown to appreciate instructor and peer feedback because the criticism helped me
revise my profile project into a more effective piece of writing One goal that I have for myself as
a writer is to try new approaches outside of my comfort zone when it comes to composing
writing pieces academically or within my personal life. Another goal I have for myself as a
writer is to work on becoming a better and more thorough researcher. Overall, this course has
shown me that in order to compose a good writing piece, I will need to start by gathering and
