AIB

Ashlee Brophy

December 11, 2007

My Reflection Essay

                This semester, I have learned a lot about writing and what it takes to write and create a great essay. I came from Jerry Niebaur’s Writing Two class from fall 2007, and I didn’t really know what to expect for Composition One. When Jerry discussed this class over the fall semester, he actually had me a little worried. I didn’t know if I was going to be ready, or if my writing ability was advanced enough to succeed in the course. All I know is that it turned out for the best and was a great writing experience.

                One of the things I learned in this class was how to correctly review a classmate’s paper. I felt this really helped me in knowing what is right and wrong in writing an essay; it also guided and helped me with potential improvements my essay(s) needed. I liked being able to recognize mistakes and having the knowledge to fix them. I feel I learned a lot about punctuation, sentence fragments, and grammar when doing the peer reviews for each of the essays.

                I feel writing essay 3, the Keystone Bluff essay, was the most difficult for me. I had trouble writing this essay because I wasn’t familiar with writing a paper from an interview. Another reason I felt I had trouble with this essay was because I was unable to visit my partner for a second time. He and his wife felt we had enough information from our first interview, so it was a little difficult to come up with a topic for my essay because I had a lot of miscellaneous information. I think my paper went well with the information I had to work with.

                Out of all my essays this semester, I would have to choose the argumentative movie one as my favorite. I really enjoyed writing this paper because I got to share one of my favorite films and tell why I think it is important for other students in college to watch. I liked being able to analyze the movie, dig deep into its meaning, and write about what I feel it is trying to teach us. This was also one of the first argument/persuasive essays I had done for the class, so it was very fun and fresh tool for me to use.

                I think I grew as a writer in different ways. I learned more efficiently how to find the thesis, primary, and secondary support in other essays; whether it was one from our textbook, or one of our classmates. I also grew in how well I write my essays; for example, writing a better thesis and learning how to make my essay flow. I have learned a lot this year on what makes a good essay, and I feel I am improving with each essay I write.  

                One process that I was on the fence on was the Blog. The blogging was acceptable to me because I had already had experience with it in my FYE: Intro to College class last semester, so I was quite familiar. The only down side to blogging was when the cutting/pasting of an assignment wouldn’t cooperate, so it would change my essay’s format dramatically. In the end, I would have to spend a bit of time fixing it to look presentable. Other than that, I wasn’t too unhappy with the Blog.

                Overall, I think this class helped me out for future classes and has guided me to become a better writer. I will keep what I have learned this semester with me and use my new knowledge for my future courses at Lake Superior College. I am confident enough in my writing skills to move on to the next level, so I will be very excited to take Composition two for one of my courses in a upcoming semester.