Reflective Essay

Briana Lanza Kyle

Composition 102

Thomas – Final Essay

May 1, 2013

         

          College is supposed to be a place in which you grow and turn into the person you will be in the real world. A place where you reflect on what has happened to you in the past and how you can use other people’s lives as an example of how you should and shouldn’t be living as a student. I think it is important to understand the aspects of life and what might be the lessons that are interpreted in the way that you live your life. Many of the times we look past the little tiny steps to make sure that we get the big steps. In this English class I realized that all the little things I had to do before effect what was needed to be done later on.  All the work inside and outside of class helped me realize what I should do as a writer.

          In this class we did much different kind of papers all of them helping me grow differently. The first paper we did was the rhetorical analysis, on this paper I wrote about the speech that Nelson Mandela gave on the day of his inauguration. This helped me figure out what it was like to have to analysis someone’s writing and what emotion they are trying to convey. This paper taught me how to analyze someone’s writing or speech in a way that helps you understand what they are trying to say.

The second essay we did was article analysis; this paper was done on two different articles about the guilt of George Zimmerman. This helped me see both the side of analyzing the writing of another person and making sure I still build my own opinion from their opinion. This helped my writing because it both opened my eyes to outside opinion and making sure that I understand what someone else’s opinion may hold value when coming to an argument. When someone gives their opinion about a subject their opinion may hold some type of evidence but always to remember that their opinion is influence in the paper.

The third paper we did was an argument analysis; the subject of this paper was the influence of occupational therapy in schools. This paper helped me the most with the most aspects of writing. This paper required me to do research and analysis the research for each side of the subject. This is important because this is where you are getting valid facts and writing supported by facts with the integration of opinions. When reading these papers you have the experience to see people’s point of view with their influences of opinion and use of support for the facts. People’s opinions had a huge influence on my opinion but the facts affect it more.

 The final essay we had was our proposal essay. This was the hardest essay because we had to do what the researchers in the argument analysis paper did, using my own opinion to make the correct decision for the people. All of these papers helped become the writer that I am today which makes me confident in later writing that could happen in future classes that I could take.

          In this class we not only wrote papers but there was also very good interaction between the people in the class because of activities done in class. The first thing that I noticed was done in class is every day had an agenda, this helped me feel like the class was on a track but sometimes made me feel overwhelmed about everything that had to be done. Starting the class off with a quote or question helped me sometimes open my mind to other people’s opinions or what we’re discussing in class that day. Many of the people in the class I did not know but I am a friendly person so I am glad that I had the opportunity to meet them or get to know them better.

One of the many things we did in class was group discussions. This was one of my favorite things to do because it helped me see many of the peoples in the classes personalities and personal opinions that could be the same or different from mine. This was very similar to many of the p­­­apers we wrote because we always had to find the common ground and see the other person point at the same time. Another element of class was writing on the blackboard, this gave us the chance to say things or notice things we would not have before. Many of the times it was feedback from the book or readings that were assigned but this helped us see what captured other people’s minds. This is helpful once again tying into the papers that had to be written this semester.

 A significant part of my growth in the class was the peer response for all of the essays in the class. The first two reviews were done using the syllabus for the papers which helped you learn what is required for the paper in your own paper. This helps you see where some people may have strength that you could use as an example then on the other hand help people who have weaknesses where you have strength. Doing activities like this helps you use correct judgment as well, coming to the conclusion that you should pay attention to what and how you tell people the strengths and weaknesses of their paper without being offensive and remembering that you make mistakes also in your paper.

          Though I enjoyed the class the entire semester I had many favorite elements of the class. One of my favorite and most thought provoking activities that was done in this semester was doing the white boards, this really helped me see what people would say without having to put their name to the writing at all times. This helped us express ourselves more easily but also see what everyone else had in common with us. One of  my favorite actitives had to do with us using the iPad’s in groups. It helped us learn different programs and work as a team to get a good grade and learn from each other. the only thing I didn’t like about the class was having to go to the preface events, I was starting to forget the book it was supposed to be relevant to so it made it hard to write papers on them.

          In this English class I have grown, grown not only as a writer but as a person. This helped me not only see other people’s opinions but to take their opinion and my opinion and possibly create a whole new opinion and I think that’s an important part of life. People’s opinions are important to what is going on in your life. You may not always agree with what is around you but you might be able to change the opinions of some if you have the right back ground and information to support it.