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Garcia
Andruw Garcia

ENGL 1302-228

Trisha Briones

7 February 2024

Reflection Essay

For my first writing assignment I was introduced to a somewhat familiar prompt that with

a couple differences than I have in my experience as a writer. Learning to adapt to research

topics, and looking thoroughly through several peer-reviewed articles provided a challenge

necessary for me to overcome. Academic research is more of a broad spectacle, in that it can be

vast and full of many different aspects of the field of academics. It can stem from basic research

like this essay to more sophisticated forms of gathering information to prove a specific theory

correct or incorrect. What I learned about this particular research will help aid me in other course

whenever it comes to figuring out where to find such forms of media. To elaborate, if I had a

research project in a history class about a specific event that occurred, I would be able to use my

knowledge of the library search to find articles based on my topic.

The annotated bibliography aids me in terms of research in a way that it serves as a

document or reference that I can base my future essays on. Not to mention the peer-reviewed

articles manage to portray a variety of studies that all correlate to one another. That being said, I

am capable of grasping various perspectives on my topic at hand; therefore, I can base future

research on my bibliography because it allows for a clearer picture to be created. In terms of

skill, the bibliography was a completely different concept that I was not used to. Unfortunately, I

was not prepared enough mentally for the struggles that were about to be thrown my way.
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However, having completed my writing assignment, I can conclude that my confidence was both

stricken down and uplifted as a result of my experience with this essay.

The feedback given helped vastly with my whole thought process as a writer. Since I

came into this project unprepared, the received feedback from my instructor allowed for a more

humbled perspective on my writing. A couple of factors that were altered in my essay were also

due to the feedback handed back. First, I changed the way I gathered the research, divulging into

a more descriptive yet less redundant manner to allow my summaries of each article to be more

comprehensible. Second altering the style of writing, instead of writing from the perspective of a

student reviewing the articles, I attempted to create a style in which I was a part of the project at

hand. I did so in order to create a more confident style to sound more sophisticated.

Although I cherished the criteria from my instructor, I also made sure that I tried to

understand the feedback presented to me from my classmates. In order for me to improve, I have

to learn to take constructive criticism from those who are also in the same boat as I am. I can

very easily say that my experience with past peer reviews has been diminished because I find it

difficult to trust the words of others who might be on a lower level of writing than I am.

However, just like every other thing in life, I had to take the leap of faith to trust the words of my

fellow classmates and was able to excel in my final draft. The main issue that occurred with my

peer review was the use of details or phrases that might come off as redundant in the eyes of

other students. As well as the overall flow of each paragraph, and how they came together to

form an easy understanding of my reviews of every article mentioned. Having changed those to

aspects, I can now see how the feedback from fellow students managed to aid me in the final

draft of my essay.
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By far the most challenging part of this essay was getting it done. Just like in my previous

English class, every essay managed to provide me with the same obstacle as this one. That being

following through and completing it on time. Commencing an essay usually is an essay feat for,

but halfway through if my motivation runs out, then I’ll be in a world of troubles. Not to mention

all the distractions that were inconveniently throwing themselves at me. The least challenging

aspect of this essay was finding the articles that I used in it. Since I was already provided with a

website to find articles, all I had to make sure was that they fit the topic that I was trying to

review in my paper.