Ashley Lewis
Instructor Thomas
English 102
3 May 2013
Reflection
of English 102
At the beginning of the semester, I was so excited to be
coming back to Mrs. Thomas’ class as an English 102 student. I had Mrs. Thomas
for English 101, so I already knew how the class worked, especially the
technology aspect of it. I have always felt that I was a good writer and that
my writing improved in English 101. But with English 102, I definitely had a
lot more to learn and honestly, I still do. Over the course of the semester, I
discovered my strengths in writing, my weaknesses in writing, and some helpful
tips and activities that helped me along the way. Not only did these things
help me in English 102, but they have prepared me for writing in my future
classes, as I continue my education.
In 101, we used technology quite a bit, but I think we
used it even more in 102. We finally got to use Twitter, which was pretty cool!
With Twitter, you can state an opinion about something that maybe you could not
or would not want to say in a class discussion. Using Twitter to talk about the
Presidential Inauguration was really fun because I was able to tweet about all
the different aspects of the President’s speech and point out all examples of
pathos, logos, and ethos. After doing that activity, it made writing my first
essay a little easier since I had a better idea of what rhetorical appeal was.
Also, making a Prezi about my fourth essay was pretty cool. I used Prezi for an
essay in 101, so I already had an idea on how to use it. I wanted to use Prezi
again because I really enjoy it and it is really easy to use. It is like a
PowerPoint on steroids! With Prezi and other tools like it, I can make a visual
of any paper I write, which is pretty neat.
I have come to learn that when it comes to writing
papers, I am very good about being concise. It has definitely improved over the
course of four essays. Being concise is a huge advantage for me because some
college students are not as good at it. Another thing I am very good at is MLA
format. In English 101, it took me awhile to get the hang of it, but once I
did, I became a pro at it. When it comes to MLA format, I am very anal and
quite the perfectionist. I make sure that every little detail is correct and in
the right order. Some people think I go a little overboard with it, but to me,
it is the difference between an A and a B.
Of course, my writing has its flaws too. Something I have
struggled with since English 101 is adding more content and analysis to my
essays. Every paper that I get back, Mrs. Thomas always tells me that I need more
content, which is very true. I have noticed that for every essay that I have
written in this course, I always have a good thought or idea. When I write
about it though, I always skim the surface of it. I never go deeper than it
should be. I always struggle getting to the minimum requirement of pages that
the essay has to be. Honestly, struggling with adding more content and analysis
to my essays stems from me not thinking critically. Thinking critically is a
huge component in college and if I do not learn how soon, I will be at a
disadvantage. Thinking critically is definitely something I still need to work
on in the future and I am confident that I will master it.
Over the course of the semester, we had several reading
activities. Some I really liked; others, not so much. They Say, I Say was such a helpful book and I really enjoyed
reading it. At first, I questioned how effective it was going to be. But once I
got to the second essay, I found myself picking it up every five minutes to
help me. They Say, I Say really
helped me with the second essay because it was taking two contrasting articles
(or at least mine was), discussing them, and then taking a side. The book had
excellent transition phrases that can be applied to just about any essay to
make it a lot better. I am definitely going to keep this book because I know it
will be useful to me for any papers I have to write in my other classes.
On the other hand, The
Norton Field Guide to Writing did not really catch my attention as much.
Some of the reading activities were helpful, but there were some that I
honestly did not get. Most of the articles in that book are from experienced
writers who know what they are talking about. For me, it was harder for me to
understand those texts because of the subject matter the writers talked about.
One piece in particular, I do not remember the title, but it was about teaching
and TRAs. That text was so hard for me to read and focus on because there were
so many facts and statistics being thrown at me. The piece probably would have
made a lot more sense to me if I had known what the author was talking about.
Now, I am not saying that I hated The
Norton Field Guide to Writing altogether. There were a few pieces in it
that helped me out. But for me, this book did not help me as much as They Say, I Say did.
There were a few other things that also helped me when it
came to writing papers this semester in English 102. I liked reading the
student examples from previous years. Reading them helped give me ideas for my own
papers. For my third and fourth essays, I found that a few student essays used
headings to separate each thing they talked about into sections. So, I also
used headings for my own papers and found that the headings made the
organization of my paper so much better. I also liked posting my rough draft to
my blog and letting my classmates read it and give me feedback. We all have
different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to writing, so I think giving
each other feedback to help one another is a good thing. If there is something
that I am lacking in my paper, my classmates can let me know and give me ideas
on how to fix it. Lastly, the best thing that helped me when it came to writing
papers was when I got to meet one-on-one with Mrs. Thomas. Any questions,
problems, or concerns that I had about my paper, she would give me great advice
and point me in the right direction. She would also make me feel really good about
my papers, since I always doubt my work. Meeting with her for fifteen minutes
or so was a really good way to have her undivided attention on my paper and
help me fix whatever flaws there were.
Overall, I strongly believe that I have learned a lot in
English 102, but it has also taught me that I still have a lot to learn. I will
take all of the skills and tips that I have learned this semester with me into
all of my future classes and my career. Honestly, I am kind of sad to be
leaving this class. I have been so lucky to have Mrs. Thomas for two semesters!
I am going to be so lost when I do not have her as a teacher next year! She has
taught me so much about writing and technology. Everything that I have learned
in this course, I will definitely take with me for the rest of my life.
