LawsonKitchen 1

Amya LawsonKitchen

Professor Beadle

English 115

02 May 2019

Reflection Essay

Having the ability to face your problems head on is a desirable quality that is wanted by

many. A quote by Tupac states that, “You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even

months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could’ve,

would’ve happened… or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move on.” This pertains

to my academic life is many ways. This is my second time taking English 115. This first time I

took it I received a failing grade. I was really upset and began to think negatively about my

situation. Failing made me feel so embarrassed and dumb. I felt like college isn't for me and that

I wasn't smart enough to make it all four years. Coming into english this time I had a different

mindset. I had something to prove and couldn’t let me or anyone who cares about me down.

Looking back now I did many things differently which allowed for my success in this class

spring semester.

This semester, my essays have improved a lot. This is the most important thing out of the

whole class of course. What I did differently in order to have success is simply apply myself. To

elaborate, in class last semester I wouldn’t be tuned into the information the professor was telling

us. I never took notes and would be on my phone in the back of the class because I thought I was

good at writing essays and didn’t need to learn the same stuff I learned in high school. This time

around I sat in the front of the class, took good notes, and didn’t go on my phone. Those little
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changes in my attitude paved a pathway to have success. Without completely knowing all

material perfectly, applying myself and trying immensely impacted my writing.

The content of my essays also have improved in my eyes. Understanding the prompt

completely helped my writing become stronger and more effective. Understanding the prompt

enabled me to have a strong thesis. This semester I learned that if you have a strong thesis, your

paper will fall in place easier because you know exactly what you are trying to tell your

audience. With that in mind, staying connected to my thesis throughout my essay has made my

arguments and points more effective. By staying connected throughout the essay, everything is

able to flow together smoothly without any confusion to the reader.

Out of the three projects we had, Project Text was my favorite. It was my favorite

because I felt the most confident writing it. I made a schedule and followed it without

procrastinating. That made a huge difference in the essay I was able to create. Instead of being

overwhelmed by the page limit like normal, I was confident in my ability to achieve it. Another

reason why it was my favorite was the story. The Metamorphosis was one of the best stories that

I have been assigned to read. I felt connected to the characters story and saw many hidden

metaphors. I was excited to elaborate on the metaphors I have untapped. Project Text was my

highest grade as well. I got an 84% which boosted my confidence immensely. I was so proud of

myself. Compared to last semester, that was a huge accomplishment. I only got “no pass” on

every essay last semester no matter how hard I thought I was trying. Seeing this time that my

hard work was paying off only motivated me to want to do even better on the next one.

The most challenging essay for me was Project Media. Watching Godzilla in Japanese

was hard to stay interested in because of the fact you had to read the whole time. This made it

hard to find a connection to the story and really be able to dissect it to find a deeper meaning.
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Although I didn’t understand in the first time, talking it over in class and doing my own research

helped me to develop and understanding. This essay was a challenging for me because I didn’t

want to sound redundant in what I was saying. I felt as if I was repeating myself and the

information over and over. It was hard to find ways to present the same information in different

ways. I also felt a bit stressed out over this essay. I didn’t give myself as much time as I wanted

to which caused a heavier load of work near the due date.

I am happy with where I am in my writing, but always want to strive for better.

Comparing myself to last semester I have grown exponentially. I have become better with my

overall writing structure. I learned the “who, what, where, when,why, how” process which

makes formulating thesis sentences more sufficient. I have learned that understanding the

material better will only benefit even if the material at hand is uninteresting. What I need to

continue to work on is making my thesis more specific. Although my thesis has gotten better,

making it more specific will only guide my audience in the direction I want them to go in.

Connecting to my thesis deeper is also something I would like to improve on. Connecting to it

deeper will provoke another level of thought in the reader. Another thing I would like to get

better at is using my evidence more effectively. Using my evidence in a more effective way will

allow for my argument to come across stronger.

In all, english this semester has turned out to be very successful. I have learned a lot of

tools that I will carry with me throughout my life. I have gained confidence within myself and

my writing ability by applying myself and allowing myself to have enough time.