Reflective Essay at the End of the Semester

July 8, 2010

Reflective Essay at the End of the Semester

When I first began the class, I was not sure what to expect. As a matter of fact I was leaning toward the English 114 class because of its focus on communication skills, but then I began to think learning to write an effective argument in my line of work is also important. This journey has been enlightening and challenging all at once and well worth the trip.

I would with Chapter one, Recognizing Arguments and Finding Issues. In this chapter we learn the definition of argument, how it is use and who uses it. Although that wasn't so much of a surprise the organization that it taught will be helpful from this point forward to better prepare a written argument. We were introduce to Traditional (convincing their audience to side with them and accept their points) and Consensual arguments (to find common ground on an issue and solution on which everyone can agree). There is no doubt that there are times in our life when both arugment styles have their place.

My personal favorite The chapter helps you to identify you personal style

• Think about what you learned as you completed each assignment – about writing, argument, research, yourself? How did you learn from each assignment? Why did each assignment work or not work for you? (Even if you didn’t enjoy an assignment, it was still a learning experience, right?)
• Notice your writing process from pre-writing to final draft. What changes did you make from one draft to the next? Did revision always improve your writing? (It might not have, but it was still a learning experience, right?)  What did you learn from revising?
• Notice how your writing process changed from the very beginning of the course to the very end.  What changed or improved? What would you still like to change and improve?
• Think about your thought process. Has your thinking about writing, argument, or research changed at all?  Have your thoughts about college writing changed? Your thoughts about academic writing?
• Examine the order of the assignments and how the course was laid out. Did this impact your learning?
• Do you see trends in your writing? What can you learn from those?

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