Garcia Rojas 1

Antonio Garcia Rojas

ENGL 1302 - 261

Dr. Trisha Briones

18 March 2022

Reflection Essay 1

English composition class is a foundational course that equips students with the essential

skills to communicate effectively in writing. Now that I’ve gone through more of the class, I

have gained a deeper understanding of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting,

revising, editing, and more importantly I learned about how to cite and write bibliographies. I

have also learned about the importance of audience, purpose, and tone in shaping my writing and

making it more effective. Furthermore, I have discovered various strategies for generating ideas,

organizing my thoughts, and developing clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs. As my

first few weeks of class have progressed, there is always something new to learn, no matter how

small it may be.

In 1301 class I mostly learned about how to make a proper essay using different

strategies and formats, which I can use in other courses like Biology, History, and Math, for

example, I can use all the ways I learned on how to write an essay. From citations to how to

properly structure your essays, all the things I learned in class have helped me know how to write

academically. I used everything I learned from my past class and implemented it into my essay,

it has never been a simple task, but I’m satisfied with the results. I have learned many valuable

lessons thanks to this class, and one of them is the significance of feedback to improve my

writing. Using peer review and feedback from my classmates, I have been able to see my

strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Using this feedback, I have been able to assess and fix my
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incorrect writing habits. Additionally, I have learned how to incorporate research into my writing

by properly citing sources and using credible evidence to support my arguments.

I believe I have used everything I learned from English 1301 when writing this essay, so I

can’t imagine anything that wouldn’t work since every lesson can be molded to fit my essay.

Though something that wasn’t necessary was learning how to analyze peer reviewed documents

or images, since most of this essay relied on my personal observations.

I learned the importance of clear and concise writing to communicate my essay’s sources

and citationa. I also gained an understanding of how to cite and properly utilize my sources.

Especially how it can be applied to other subjects. For example, in history class, I can investigate

primary sources and cite them to prove my point. Additionally, the essay taught me the value of

conducting thorough research and providing reliable sources to support my claims. These skills

can work in any writing assignment, regardless of the subject.

I think there are a few things I learned in this essay that won’t be too applicable with

other classes. Since this essay had me looking for sources, I doubt there would be many other

classes that would ask me to investigate and cite besides history. Regardless, it was still a new

experience for me and learning how to write this type of essay helped me become a better writer.

The creation of this essay using over 10 sources has helped improve my writing skills in

several ways. Firstly, it has helped my ability to articulate ideas coherently. The process of

reading dozens of articles to find the best ones requires careful consideration of the problem, as

well as the methods and tools used to collect data. This practice translates well into other writing

tasks, as it encourages me to approach the assignment with a clear focus and to stay on track. For

example, using the many peer reviewed sites was a new experience for me and it helped me
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realize how much a journal can help at capturing what I had experienced in real time. I believe

it’s significantly more accurate than writing after it happened.

I found that I accidentally kept repeating some mistakes I had back in English 1301. One

of them was how I used first person pronouns sometimes in my first draft, it is sometimes hard to

get out of habits, but I am sure I’ll ease out of it once I’m completely used to writing essays

again. Another issue I’ve noticed is how hard it is for me to start something when there are no

specific guidelines or specifications since I usually always overthink and dwell on too much.

In writing my essay, I found the most challenging aspect to be searching for the citations.

While I had a clear idea of the problem but finding peer reviewed articles on fashion was a

difficult task. For instance, I had to make the few articles available would fit with my topic.

Additionally, I had to take into consideration any articles that may be pay walled and avoid them.

Overall, the process required careful attention to detail and lots of patience. The least challenging

part was writing the essay itself, since I read the articles dozens of ideas helped me write thee

ssay.

Writing this cited essay has been a challenging yet rewarding experience that has shown

me how far I have come regarding my writing abilities. Before starting the assignment, I felt

intimidated by having to look through so many sources. But with careful planning, I was able to

make a well-structured essay. Being able to make my first detailed bibliography has given me a

deeper understanding regarding the importance of concise writing and sourcing. Conducting

research and analyzing data even helped me at learning critical thinking skills. I am proud of

myself for the effort I put in at learning something new, this experience has shown me that with

dedication, I can achieve great things through my own writing.