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Chase Schneider

Professor Ditch

English 115

20 November 2017

Reflection Essay

As I am looking back at how fast time flies and realize its already almost the end of the

semester, its easy to overlook the amount of material and lessons I truly learned in my first

semester of college. The transition from high school to college was not an easy adjustment for

me as I had an idea of what to expect but never knew it would be to this extent. Writing for me

has never come naturally as I used to be a pretty bad writer up until my junior year of high

school. I had a teacher who completely changed my perspective on writing for the better. This

new outlook that my teacher Patty Amnes gave me helped me to better understand how

analyzing consistent flaws in my written work will only help me improve as a writer. With this

outlook in mind, I realized that the difficulties I have with my writing are differentiating the use

of commas vs. semi colons, staying on topic and not jumping around, rhythm and flow of the

language, and most importantly, time management. After realizing these specific flaws, I began

to change my approach on my writing style making sure these flaws were covered and fixed

which greatly improved my writing.

The first improvements I addressed in my writing are the use of commas and colons

along with time management. Commas were usually difficult for me as I used to just place them

through out different parts of a sentence to separate lists and or to just create a pause when I
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thought one needed to be added. After Professor Ditch did a small review regarding the correct

usage of commas versus colons in class; I was reminded of how important it was to properly

follow and use the rules associated with differentiating commas and colons. The rule of using a

comma between two long independent clauses reminded me to analyze a sentence by classifying

it as two different clauses: independent clause, and or dependent clause. Using commas to

separate clauses makes my writing come across as more formal. For example, in my Project Text

essay I stated The story helped me to see a different side of Dawsy, the one Dawsy wouldn't be

willing to show many other but I believe he chooses to show Juliet this because he has feelings

for her. I believe the way I inserted my brief opinion separated by a comma before I broke

down my opinion further makes the reader see my perspective in a clearer manner. Another trait

that was crucial in helping me improve my writing was time management. Laying out a concrete

schedule, plan, and outline of time in which I'm just focusing on writing is the most important

piece in examining how my writing has improved. Before I learned how to use time management

to my advantage, my papers lacked strong arguments and correct punctuation. Learning to give

myself enough time for me to improve these factors in my paper definitely helped improve my

productivity along with my grades.

The second set of improvements I addressed in my writing are the rhythm and flow of my

word choice and staying on topic. Rhythm and flow in writing is important as these two traits

keep your reader attentive, without these components a paper is looked upon as bland and

boring. Choosing strong words that portray emotion and relate to the topic at hand allowed me to

better connect with my audience which made my paper come across as more sophisticated. For
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example, in my Project Space essay I stated Not all women are interested in keeping warm

relationships or even caring for children. Describing relationships as warm makes it easier for

the reader to understand the type of Hollywood film like, lovey dovey' relationship Im talking

about. Another trait that has helped my writing improve is staying on topic. Staying true to the

subject at hand is something I used to struggle with pretty badly due to my ADHD. Attention-

deficit/hyperactivity disorder makes writing really hard for me as its hard for me to focus

attentively for long periods of time. After completing several essays within English 115, I

learned that in order for me to stay on topic I need to lay out a clear and precise outline that

breaks down everything I'm going to be writing about. Following the outline helps me stay on

track with the topics I plan on writing about and keeps me from jumping back and forth between

new ideas. For example in my Project Space essay I point out exactly what I'm talking about to

guide the reader, Im going to discuss how in different environments peoples gender roles can

change depending how comfortable they are with their surroundings.

In conclusion, I have greatly improved in my writing abilities since the first weeks of

English 115. Over the course of this class I've learned that the transition from high school to

college is different for everyone and the only way that one can improve their writing at the

college level is to recognize the parts of the essay writing process that you have the most

difficulty with. I found that with substantial practice and enough drive that I decide how good or

bad of a writer I truly am. Waiting till the last minute to start an essay is not the proper way it

took me a while to realize this but I personally learn more from my mistakes. One particular

lesson really stood out to me that Professor Ditch taught our class, the Japanese word kaizen, the
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constant improvement of oneself day after day. Practicing kaizen in everyday life will make you

improve in anything that you do, especially when you apply the principle of kaizen to essays.
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Works Cited

Schneider, Chase Project Space Essay 2017

Schneider, Chase Project Text Essay 2017