Cynthia Moreno

Mrs. McCann

English 1301.125

13 October 2021

Reflection – Essay 2

Essay 1 made it much simpler to find communities and describe the ways in which they

utilized genres to spread messages and communicate with viewers/users. Having a general idea

of genres and communities from the first essay, the second essay became much easier to write. I

was able to reuse Panthera’s community from the first essay, but this time, it was more about

describing the features their site had and comparing them to the ones that the Wildcat Sanctuary

and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Although knowledge about communities and their use of

genres came in useful during this second essay, there were a few things that were not applicable.

There was no need to analyze a single piece of text or an individual webpage. Instead, we had to

analyze multiple features for three different communities.

Genres and their concepts can be applied to other courses. The idea of genres could come

in useful for other courses such as English 1302, literature, and even a music related course.

These courses are most likely to apply any sort of knowledge related to genres since the course

are sort of umbrellas for genres. For instance, music has genres such as R&B, pop, and jazz.

Students may have to identify the type of genre for a piece of writing, a novel, or a song. On the

other hand, the topic of genres would probably not be applicable to any course that does not

involve writing about communities, such as courses related to science since the students write

more research-based essays.

 Based on my peer’s responses, my thesis statement was strong and served it’s purpose in

informing the readers about what essay two was about and what was going to be compared

throughout the entirety of the essay. However, the essay itself was lacking in details. According

to my peers, there was not enough information about all three communities. The conclusion was

also said to need better wording. It was indeed a lot more difficult to write than the rest of the

essay. Writing conclusions has remained as one of my more prominent weaknesses, as I am

unable to write a good conclusion that summarizes the essays. Starting the essay, giving enough

details, and closing the essay were the more difficult goals to accomplish for this essay. Coming

up with a way to hook the reader in the introduction and having a satisfying, well rounded

conclusion is very challenging. I was unable to find any feedback from the professor relating to

essay 1.

Although essay 2 was much lengthier than essay 1, the former remains as the essay with

the easier prompt. I like to think that it is because I am improving as a writer. Personally, topics

such as the ones we have been given so far really make you think outside the box. They require

more advanced thinking. The process of drafting has also improved the quality of my writing in

general. Drafting has become more of a habit, so in the near future when it is required for

students to write important academic essays, drafting will be implemented and further improve

the quality of the essays.