Fall Semester
2014
ENGL 1301
Section 122
Thomas
R
Santiago-Gonzalez
A00127159
Reflective Essay
In my semester in English 1301, there have been a multiple things I have learned such as
writing techniques, citations, and formats. There have been a variety of activities in class that
interacted with my peers and professor to learn these skills. Although there are imperfections in
my writing such as grammar and organization, this class has helped me not only improve, but
appreciate writing though the several papers I had to write (memoir, review, rhetorical analysis,
commentary).
My first essay of the semester was to compose a memoir of a something that happened in
our life that made us who we are as a person in MLA format. In the beginning I had thought this
essay was going to be a walk on the park, but I was completely wrong. I started writing in the
format and technique I would write for a standardized state test, only to have my professor
rearrange it. That is when I realized that my format and organization was completely wrong. I
did not fully understand the meaning of MLA format until I glanced at my book again noticing
my paper’s heading was off by a lot. Not only that, but my organization and details in my essay
were irrelevant to the topic I had chose. After a week of revising my essay, I had finally gotten
the hang of writing. This was the beginning in realizing that collegiate writing is not the same as
the past writing I have done.
Our next essay was a review essay and I learned how to properly look for sources that
were reliable with information. We did many activities for this such as worksheets and in class
activities to practice looking for reliable sources. The review was also in MLA format, but it
was more formal than the memoir, like a research paper. The review was nothing compared to
the rhetorical analysis that I had to do weeks later. The rhetorical analysis taught me how to
analyze the reason behind what companies do to attract an audience through the rhetorical
devices(ethos, pathos, logos). This essay made me to think outside the box of what is shown in
front of me and question the logic, emotion, and credits for a particular advertisement or
commercial. This essay also gave me more practice into searching for sources and using
citations in my writing in almost every single sentence I wrote, hence making my paper credible.
This essay was in APA format and it came very easy for me because everything I wrote needed
to be backed up with a source which I found very easy to find. This essay also gave me a
realization that the formatting style is more strict than MLA format and that I needed to really
look into fixing the way I format and cite my paper and its sources.
The final essay I did in my English 1301 class was a monstrous commentary essay. The
commentary was, what I felt like, a mix of all three essays I have written into one APA format
paper. The commentary consisted of a social justice issue, and express you opinion about it
(against, or for it). The essay was very opinionated and also very difficult to write at the time
because not only did you have to write your opinion of the issue, but did deeper into why it is
what it is and the current debate about the issue. This essay has taught me how to work in a
group on a paper and to agree with each other, and it has taught me how to heavily cite a paper
using multiple sources. Of all the essays I have written this semester, this has been the most
cited, and most correct format I have done in all my essays. This was the final test in
“mastering” APA format with citation in the most part, having created almost three pages of
references. This eight page essay really tested the limits of my writing skills that I have learned
throughout the past semester.
This semester has taught me many rhetorical and critical strategies in my essay, but there
are still things I have yet to learn or improve in, such as grammar and organizing my thought.
However, I have learned to love writing and researching topics that I once knew very little of.
Citations and formats were the number one thing I have learned this semester and have made the
appearance of my essays more professional. I will take the things I have learned onto my
journey into English 1302.