Villarreal 1

Andres Villarreal

ENGL 1301 - 119

Dr. Sharity Nelson

21 September 2022

Reflection Essay 1

This genre analysis essay has taught me to dive deep into any topic presented by an article,

a website, an advertisement, or any kind of informative document. I learned about knowing the

community that the information is intended for as well as how and why it would be attracted to it.

These skills can be applied to other subjects other than English. For example, the subject of History

analyzes many documents and letters written many years ago. They ask questions of when they

were written or who they were written for. The skills used to write the genre analysis essay can be

used for these historical documents to learn their purpose. By looking at dates and writing styles as

well as the message it is presenting, reading these documents will be simpler to understand.

Although these skills can be applied in other academic areas, they will not work for all of

them. For instance, the subject of general chemistry includes many equations with thought

provoking data and modeling of bonds between elements. It includes the knowing of chemical and

physical changes within elements and memorization of titles and formulas. There is not much

reading in terms of documents or articles to analyze. This requires more scientific and mathematical

skills to answer these problems.

Recognizing the community helps the writer know how to approach the topic and give a

better understanding of the message. I had found it helpful when I was writing my essay to

research the community that was involved and see what they were going through based on the

topic I was writing about. My essay was based on a website that was spreading awareness of
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COVID-19 to the country of Romania. I researched and found that Romania is a lower developed

country compared to others and can be limited to resources needed to protect themselves against

the virus. That is why this website is spreading awareness with steps to help the people of Romania

protect themselves from the virus (UNICEF, “What should I do if…”). I believe by recognizing the

community I will be able to have a more effective essay and a better source of information.

While writing this essay, I realized where my strengths and my weaknesses lie. One of the

strengths I found was that I know how to make a good introduction. I know how to lay out the

topic depending on the situation and build up to the thesis sentence that will lay out the entire

message of the essay. For example, in my essay I started by talking about the COVID-19 pandemic

and how the world was affected by it. I then discussed developing countries that need help like

Romania and how UNICEF is devoted to assisting the citizens of that country with the poster on

their website. One of the weaknesses I found was that I needed to read the prompt carefully. I

noticed with my first draft that I had written a research paper instead of a genre analysis essay. I

needed to go back and rewrite it entirely. I should ask questions that will help me know what it is I

am supposed to be writing about.

During the peer review, I received some feedback that I found helpful. One obvious

comment was that I had too many sources. I had focused so much on the organization that I had

drifted away from the analysis of the website I chose. Another helpful comment was being specific

with who the audience was. As I stated previously, knowing who the community is will help in

knowing what to write about. My first draft seemed to be intended for a general audience instead

of who it was specifically for. These comments helped me in making my final draft as best as it can

be.
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This project has helped me find myself and how you like to approach a task. I found that I

like to lay out my thoughts by writing them down and seeing what I can use to prove my point. I

like to start in order with the introduction and ending with the conclusion. Starting with my

introduction helps me know what I need to write about and what to stay true to throughout the

body. The conclusion then becomes simpler to me as I am then able to tie everything together. This

project has helped me develop as a writer and has helped me know that the community is very

important to consider.

During my academic career I have learned about genre, but up until this semester, I have

developed a new understanding of it. I have learned that genre targets a specific audience of any

category. I have done activities that have helped me over the time I was writing. One of the

activities I was assigned was analyzing a piece of writing with strategies (Lunsford, “Everyone’s

an Author, Chapter 7”). I learned about finding the audience of the excerpt and seeing how they

would be interested in it. I put myself in the shoes of the audience and learned how the writer uses

language and date to catch the reader’s attention. This contributed to my writing and how I can

catch the attention of the audience.

This task certainly came with challenges. I believe the most challenging part was trying to

stay on topic and not move away from the main point. My first draft had too many sources which

made it deviate from the central purpose of the essay. To avoid doing this again, I had to

concentrate and stay on track of the analysis I was writing about. The least challenging part was

the introduction and conclusion. I found myself writing fluidly for both of these sections. I edited a

bit for the final product, but in the end I was able to keep what I had first written in the first draft.

I have never written a paper based on genre analysis before this semester. It has taught me

to go deeper into a piece of writing and learn about it in a different perspective. I had always
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thought of myself as a good writer, but this project has definitely humbled me and has let me be

able to allow myself to be taught in this new way of writing. I had never thought much about the

audience and how my writing affects a specific community. I have learned to put myself in the

place of a specific audience depending on the topic of the paper. My writing skills have developed

significantly in such a short amount of time.

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References

Lundsford, Andrea A., and et al. Everyone's an Author. W.W. Norton & Company, 2021.

UNICEF. “What should I do if...” UNICEF,

https://www.unicef.org/romania/documents/poster-what-should-i-do-if. Accessed 21 September

2022.