Chachula

Lauren Chachula
Prof. Beadle
English 115
8 December 2015
Reflective Essay
When I first began this class, I came in expecting a much more difficult English class
than high school due to it now being a college level course. I expected to be graded more harshly
than I was used to and felt as though I would be expected to have a wide understanding as to
what an A essay means. That being said though, I do much enjoy writing. I appreciate the fact
that there are no boundaries to writing meaning one can string any words together and be able to
create a masterpiece. Additionally, writing helps me express my feelings and what im thinking or
what my position is on a certain topic. It allows me to get all that is in my head out on paper as a
physical entity. Writing gives control to the writer, they can go in any direction they want
without restriction and I feel that a big aspect to why I enjoy writing. We live in a world with
many restrictions but no one can tell you what to write, it is up to the writer they may be given a
prompt but they can choose what argument they want to make and what they will use to provide
evidence for that argument.
In contrast, writing also has its downfalls. Many a time it is difficult to think on the spot
and thus I tend to walk away from my essays in order to have a fresh and open mind once I sit
back down to complete a writing. I tend to maintain writers block which is very detrimental
especially when on a time crunch. Additionally, I dont generally like the fact that I can make an
argument eloquently in my head, but once it comes time to put it all on paper, it doesnt sound as
well thought out as it did in my mind. As well as, when being told to write we are asked to use

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certain concepts in order to appeal to an audience or it is given as a requirement to use in our

writing, I feel this prohibits one from being able to write the way they want to. We learned some
of these concepts in class such as pathos appeal meaning appeal to ones emotions, logos appeal
meaning to appeal to ones logic and ethos appeal meaning to appeal to ones credibility and
ethics. These are generally used in order to persuade and connect the audience to the paper they
are reading. We also learned how to develop counterarguments in order to maintain balance and
state that although this argument has this problem, heres how we can refute it. Additionally,
we learned the concept that gender is constructed by society and that sex is constructed based on
ones physiology. Although minimally touched upon, I feel a major concept we learned is the
idea that, generally, outside forces affect our view of gender. We personally dont develop our
own inferences but actually absorbs others views and manipulate them into our own. This was
argued in most articles found in Composing Gender and was the basis for my first Progression
essay. This concept is a challenge many of us must face in order to fit in. Likewise, I also faced
challenges within the English 115 course.
Some of the challenges Ive encountered include, but are not limited to, being able to not
become repetitive in my essays such as in Progression I where I tended to state the same
argument just different wording, creating a clear and concise thesis statement, being able to meet
all the requirements such as page minimum/maximum, and being able to establish an argument
that could be back up based on the readings we did in class and in Composing Gender by Claire
Renzetti and Daniel Curran. For my first and second challenge, being able to not repeat points
and have a clear thesis statement, I was able to overcome these by visiting the Learning Resource
Center and the tutors that helped me, giving me tips on how to improve on these problems. They
showed me how to brainstorm correctly to make sure my points were all narrow, specific, and

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different from one another and they had me write thesis statements for different prompts in order
for me to practice on how to create a clear, short, and concise thesis. For example I was able to
change my previous Progression I thesis from We can relate most of our values based on how
we are raised and treated by our parents and what they tell us is right for our gender category,
such as toys, clothing, or even behavior and reaction, versus what is not to We can relate most
of our values based on how we are raised and treated by our parents and what they tell us is right
and wrong for our gender category. This includes, but is not limited to, toys, clothing, behavior
and reaction. The second statement is more on point and not a run-on. Meeting the page
requirements was a large problem for me due to the fact that I tend to write without stopping and
general after double-spacing my essays, they tended to be much longer than the maximum page
requirement. When I originally wrote Progression II it was a little over 7 pages due to the fact
that I originally had 4 points rather than 3. Thus I had to take a point out and condense my essay
as to not go over the 6 page maximum. This posed detrimental in that, it was difficult to cut my
essay so that I can say all that I needed and what I felt was important all in the maximum page
requirement. But, I was able to push past it and each paper I wrote, it became easier and easier to
follow the page requirement. One of the reasons I constantly pushed passed the page requirement
was due to the fact that we needed evidence from Composing Gender and occasionally outside
sources in our essays. It was challenging to find specific evidence that could help the argument I
was making due to the fact that most of the quotes tended to be broad thus I had to morph the
quote so that it would help rather than hinder the point I was trying to produce.
Although I had many challenged I still feel as though I am a strong writer. Looking from
my first Progression to Project Space I feel the difference between the two shows an extensive
improvement. My points in Project Space were clear and each had their own evidence and I

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found it much easier to find quotes from Composing Gender to back up my claims. I now am
able to find many perspectives when it comes to writing which helps me see many different sides
to an argument which in turn, allows me to choose the strongest side and write it promptly. Also,
I feel I am a strong writer due to my open-mindedness giving me a strong edge on writing and
allowing me to write thoroughly and honestly. Lastly, I feel I am a strong writer by having a
large vocabulary and being able to rephrase a sentence so that it sounds much more elegant and
sophisticated as a college writer should. Such as in Progression II I wrote that By gaining super
powers it is showing that men are supposedly the ones with super powers not literally but
figuratively and women are seen as inferior or not capable of meeting that generalized male
stature where as one could of simply wrote Kamala gained super powers which is a man thing
so now she is seen as manly. Im able to take a sentence and change it so that it states the same
thing but in a more articulate manner. Though I am a strong writer, I have many areas that need
improvement, but I do already have some areas that I improved in. Some areas I feel I need
improvement, are being able to take criticism. I tend to have a bias where I feel as though my
writing is fine the way it is and I tend not to read comments given to me by others. It is a bad
habit and a bit irrational but im gradually breaking out of it and finding that others comments do
in fact improve my writing skills. I used the comments Professor Beadle gave me to revise my
both essays and dare I say it looks and sounds much better (He knows what hes talking about).
Another area I need improvement in is being able to say I dont understand a prompt. I
thoroughly enjoy when I understand something and thus refuse to admit when I dont understand
what is being asked of me. I realized that in order to get a good grade, one must first understand
the prompt. Thus, I will make it so I thoroughly understand what the prompt asks by either
asking the professor of asking a fellow classmate.

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In contrast, I have improved in some areas. Ive improved on my outlining skills, I used to
never make outlines but by being asked to create prospectuss I have improved my brainstorming
and outlining skills. Ive also improved on my argumentative skills. I find it much easier now to
produce a well though out and easily arguable argument in a shorter amount of time. It used to
take me ages to develop an argument that was strong and easy to provide proof and evidence to
amp its credibility. I now am able to create one both much faster, and much more conversation
worthy. I have improved much one my writing but one aspect I am most proud of is being able to
get my points across in an understandable manner and in a manner that flows. People tend to
have points that are unnecessary or irrelevant but unlike those people I am proud that even if I
dont fully understand a prompt I am still capable of being able to shell out points that are
appropriate to the prompt.
Likewise, people tend to have papers that are choppy and dont transition well. I know
this based on some of the essays ive peer reviewed (sorry!) I am able to make sure my writing
flows together as a whole rather than patches of arguments. Through this course I have learned
many things that I will take with me to other courses such as being able to see the bigger picture
of an argument, writing a clear thesis, using counterarguments, and not being repetitive. These
will prove most helpful in most if not all of my future courses due to them being a fundamental
parts of writing which is done in many classes and courses. If a student were to ask for advice on
how to succeed in the course, I would tell them to pay attention, ask questions, take constructive
criticism graciously, dont be afraid to ask questions, and do the assignments assigned to you. I
would also tell them to do their best, not everyone is a strong writer even those who get As
can still improve on their writing.

Chachula

I have thoroughly enjoyed being apart of my English 115 class. We all got along great
and Professor Beadle was a great professor. I learned an extensive amount of knowledge on the
basis of gender categorization, expectation, objectification, and assimilation. I feel much more
confident in my writing and found just how helpful the LRC can be when preparing an essay. I
value most everything Ive attained within the course and will take it with me as I venture onto
other courses. I am a well developed writer and can only grow from here. Thankyou for a great 4
months.