Martinez 1

Josie Martinez

Professor Jon

English 115: Approaches to University Writing

10 December 2021

Growing As Writer

During my first semester as a freshman at California State University, Northridge, I grew in many

areas, most notably as a writer in the course ENGLISH 115: Approaches to University Writing. My

professor helped me in strengthening my writing abilities so that I could write at the university level

throughout the semester while remaining virtual. They achieved this by providing a secure, entertaining,

and open-minded classroom environment, despite the fact that it was virtual. They designed activities to

assist me in improving my writing, along with making lectures more enjoyable by including me to help

me fully understand the material. My writing has improved throughout the Project Space, Project Text,

and Project Media essays. Due to this, it has given me the ability to analyze texts and write critically.

My writing has improved during the process of Project Space. In my essay "Khushi Virval vs.

Sofie G. L. Hansen," it is seen how reading critically has helped me progress as a writer. This essay

included reading and comparing two texts while applying rhetorical strategies such as logos, ethos, and

pathos to establish the author's purpose. When I was reading through the text, I used to only concentrate

on what the author was attempting to say with his words rather than how he was accomplishing it. Now,

when I read anything, such as an article, I can identify the usage of ethos, pathos, and logos and assess

what they are attempting to portray to the audience. I struggled with my body paragraphs throughout my

article. It was difficult at first to determine which rhetorical methods both authors used throughout the

article. However, with the assistance of my professor, I was able to evaluate the texts and determine what

rhetorical methods they were employing to make an effective argument. Reading critically has really

helped me in becoming a better writer by providing me with a deeper comprehension of any primary

source that I will be writing about from now on.

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During the Project Text Essay, I discussed Franz Kafka's novel “The Metamorphosis”. While

writing my essay titled "The Desire Within," I improved as a writer by communicating more clearly and

accurately, successfully citing several sources, and including an in-text citation for every source of

evidence obtained. However, I had some difficulty structuring my body paragraphs. Nevertheless, with

my professor's assistance and guidance, they were able to help me by offering feedback that would allow

me to organize my paragraphs in a way that would run smoothly and generally make more sense to the

reader. True, I have made many mistakes in my writing, but I've learnt from them, and they've helped

shape me into a better writer than I was before.

The Project Media Essay was the peak that demonstrated my growth as a writer. I have grown and

strengthened my writing by putting into practice all I have learnt from the previous essays I have written.

In my essay titled "Coraline," I had to extensively analyze and interpret the film Coraline, directed by

Henry Selick. I was able to construct my essay more smoothly, as well as efficiently recognize my

grammar mistakes and sentence-level structure. In this essay, I was able to better cite my sources and

strengthen the clarity of the essay.

Overall, my writing has certainly improved across the Project Space, Project Text, and Project

Media essays as I learned the ability to read critically and write more effectively over my time in the

course. In addition, I have enhanced my sentence-level structure, formatting skills, and successfully

corrected any grammatical errors. We must understand that fixing even minor errors can make a

significant impact on one's work. I can state that I evolved as a writer as a result of the writing faults I

made in previous essays and being able to fix my writing by visiting the LRC and asking for support. I

believe that acknowledging my mistakes is a significant step toward improvement since it will benefit me

when writing future papers.

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Works Cited

Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Bantam Books, 1915. Assessed 1 November. 2021.

Selick, Henry. Coraline. Focus Features, 2009.