Reflection

The semester-long course of English Writing and Rhetoric I has introduced me to new

writing concepts that I have not had much experience with before entering college. For most of

my high school career, I had written essays and papers based on analyzing literary works, and the

main writing format I was using was MLA. So, when English Writing and Rhetoric I shifted the

focus of writing to summarizing and synthesizing scientific journals and articles using an APA

format, I realized I also need to shift my way of thinking and how I approach writing. For this

reflection, I will be discussing how I have changed as a writer over the course of this semester

using two pieces of writing I was assigned in English Writing and Rhetoric I, the synthesis

project and the literature review.

The first piece of writing that was assigned to me in English Writing and Rhetoric I was

the synthesis project. The purpose of this assignment was to write a synthesis over a concept

from the book Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies using five

sources. From completing this assignment, I have learned how to synthesize information from

different authors and improved my skills in analyzing text. Though, when writing this paper, I

was not confident in my ability to synthesize information. So in the future, to further develop my

knowledge, I will ask for more help when it comes to writing these types of papers and to make

sure that my synthesis of the information makes sense. I felt like I did well for my first synthesis

but if I had a better understanding of how to do it, I think I could have done better.

The second piece of writing that was assigned to me in English Writing and Rhetoric I

was the literature review. The purpose of the literature review was to choose a science-based

topic and create a synthesis using twelve peer-reviewed articles. For this assignment, you could

choose to work by yourself or with a group, and I choose to work with a group. While
completing this assignment I had learned how to research articles and piece together concepts

relating to each one. I also had the opportunity to experience working with a group, which I had

never done before with an assignment like this. Having learned how to research a topic and find

common themes between the sources, I feel confident in doing future research projects. Working

with a group on a research project, I realized that it can be difficult to communicate with each

other, especially when the class is online. So, in the future, I want to take what I learned from

working with my group and apply it to my approach to how I work with a group from now on.

In conclusion, English Writing and Rhetoric I had given me the tools to help shift my

way of writing from literary-focused works to more scientific-focused works. The synthesis

project taught me how to synthesize information within a given text. The Literature review

helped me learn how to research different articles and find a common theme between them while

also coordinating with a group to put all these ideas down onto paper. Overall, these experiences

have reshaped my understanding of writing and have helped grow my abilities as a writer.