english essay

Professor Joanne Martin

English 115

23 November 2013

Reflective Essay

When I enrolled myself in an English 115 class, I did not know what to expect. Although it was admittedly the class that I was worrying about the least (the other classes I enrolled in were Psychology, a class I had never taken before, Computers and Calculus (two classes that were both important and instrumental to my major), a couple of worries were still attacking me in the back of my mind. After all, English is a broad subject, and with only one semester and two days a week to learn something, I did not know what I was expected to learn from this particular class. When I finally went to my first English class (which was coincidentally my first college class ever) I found out that this particular class was about academic writing. Throughout the course, not only were we supposed to improve as academic writers, but we were also supposed to improve in terms of critical thinking, reading and writing, and while my reading and writing skills have not really improved that much, I can honestly say that my critical thinking skills have improved, at the very least, somewhat. Now, when I read something like an article, and essay or a book, I think about whether I agree or like what I am reading. For example, when reading The Great Gatsby, although there was a part of me that liked the main character, there was also a part of me that despised him. Despite his higher morals and clearer conscience, the fact that he did nothing to prevent the more negative events in the story from happening made me think of him in a different light than probably most other readers. Also, while I am reading an essay, I think about what the writer is saying and question whether I agree with them, if I have any critiques about their essay such as in tone, or if I see any holes in their paper. While it is possible that my reading skills and writing skills have indeed improved somewhat, I have not seen any real significant change as I have seen significant improvement in my critical thinking abilities.

The main point of a class is to help people learn things, and looking back at the semester, if I had to say what three specific things I had learned from this course, it would have to be learning how to block quote, learning how to conduct appropriate research for an essay, and learning how to better use my quotes. When it comes to block quoting, I can honestly say that I was completely unaware of such a thing before this class, so when I say that I learned how to block quote, I seriously mean I learned how to block quote. I learned everything from when I have to use it to what it is supposed to look like. When necessary, I will make sure to use it in the future. When it comes to learning how to conduct appropriate research, I learned better how to search for articles. The search systems on resource websites are truly complicated, such as what to type in the search bar and how you can narrow your search to your benefit. After this class, with an in-depth explanation on how to do it (or at the very least, better do it), my future resource searches will hopefully be less of an ordeal. When it comes to learning how to better use my quotes, I learned the correct way to use quotes in a paper. I learned things such as: never having back-to-back quotes, always having either a page number, the author or the first part of the title after the quote, and never putting quotes in the beginning or end of a paragraph. With this knowledge, my essay writing is expected to be more polished than before.

This class has given me its fair share of challenges, but at the same time, its fair share of obstacles that I could easily overcome. On the top of my head, the most difficult assignment for me was probably the annotated bibliography, not because for me it was particularly difficult, but mostly because I had never done one before, and because of that, did not know what the finished product was supposed to look like. What could be considered the least difficult assignment for me are probably the Moodle Responses to other students’ Moodles. It is particularly easy for me to write in a non-biased way, and when I find something I can respond to based on the responding requirements, it is no big deal to me. If those do not count as an assignment however, then I will have to say that the essays have been particularly easy for me, namely essays two and three. If I have to be honest, I usually write an essay the day before it is due (or to be more specific, the day before the rough draft is due). Although it is usually an all-nighter, I do not find too much of a problem with them. This is probably because I have been assigned essays in the past (some in-class and some just like these, only with more time to turn them in). I was always good with in-class essays, and class assigned essays are basically just that but with good references and more complex ideas and points that are explained in more depth than in in-class essays. Add that with the fact that essays two and three were about anything we wanted (to an extent) and an essay is no big deal to me.

When one walks away from a class, they always leave with something more than before they came into that class. Even if it is something as small as improving in an area of expertise that you were already good at, it is still something that one can take away from the whole thing. For me, the skill that I have improved upon is my essay writing. What I learned from the quoting lessons and the looking for appropriate research lessons has polished up my essay writing, making my essays better than before. The skill that I hope to continue developing in the future is the skill of making a bibliography. That is one of my weaknesses, so I hope that by the time I end college, I will be able to do one easily.

The very least someone can take from a class is memories, and in terms of memories, I can definitely say that I will have a quite a few. Sadly, none of them are English-related. For one thing, there will always be the cupcakes (or muffins, I do not really know the difference). It was an interesting blend of banana and chocolate and it worked extremely well. It was the only banana flavored food that I really liked other than an actual banana. Then there was the showing of the 2013 movie version of The Great Gatsby. I usually do not have time for movies (not unless I make it a point to actually go see one), so seeing that movie during this class is definitely something I will remember (especially since, once it was announced, I kind of wanted to see it, but could not). Last but not least I will remember the group activity we had where we were put into groups and were told to read certain essays and articles about a certain subject and make posters about the subjects that we were assigned. I really liked my group and we all got along extremely well. Ultimately, this class was a recreational experience for me, as it helped me see things in a whole new light to write and argue constructively about.