Garcia 1

Andruw Garcia

ENGL 1302-228

Trisha Briones

1 May 2024

Final Reflection

The main idea that I learned throughout the course of academic research, is more or less

the procedure of how things pan out. From setting up the topic that will be reviewed through the

academic research, there are more than likely many different ways to go about it. The reason

why I mention the procedure is mainly due to the lack of experience I had prior to completing

my three essays in English 1302. Usually there is a set of regulations that I like to withhold upon

myself to follow, so that my essay can come out as best as possible in terms of the criteria. When

it came to the research related essays that occurred within this semester, I found it to be

extremely difficult to motivate myself to complete each writing assignment that was assigned.

Therefore, I believe the most essential thing I was able to learn in terms of academic research,

would be the way to go about it, or the methods used to finish them. The assignments that helped

me reach this level of knowledge, would be each rough and final draft I did for each of the three

essays. Specifically, the rough drafts were the main reason why I managed to overcome writing

the three essays. The reason why I mention rough drafts, is because I consider them to be part of

a brainstorming process that is present throughout almost the entirety of writing assignments.

From the rough draft comes the final draft, nonetheless, the rough draft manages to emphasize

the quality of each essay by pinpointing weak aspects of the paper and allowing for them to be

revised to suit the prompt or topic of the assignment. To be more specific, the aspects of my
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essays that I managed to change was the rearrangement of each one. The feedback that was

returned to me stated that I failed to meet the proper criteria of certain prompts, and instead

provided a much vaguer representation of the desired prompt. The main essay that displayed this

was the research analysis, the second essay provided. I was unable to give a definitive argument,

and only presented different perspectives that pertained to the argument that was not present

throughout my essay.

In terms of the writing process of this course, I found it similar to the previous course,

English 1301. This is mainly due to the fact that I share the same professor as I did in 1301, in

1302. The writing process consists of developing the first or rough draft, and then submitting to

receive feedback from both peers and the instructor. From there one can review the feedback and

attempt to rewrite the essay as a final draft, that follows or takes into consideration, the criteria

that was given back prior to the final draft being completed. Without a doubt, the assignments

that helped embed the writing process into my brain was the first draft, and peer-reviewed tasks

that we were assigned with throughout the completion of each essay. Mainly the first draft

because it is a major part of the brainstorming process that is apparent through most of the

process of completing each writing assignment. The learning that I received definitely helped

develop my knowledge of the writing process further by allowing me to comprehend it. It is not

always simple to gain a better understanding of new topics or ideas introduced to you so

suddenly. Although I wouldn’t say that all of a sudden, I had to learn the writing process for this

class, I would say that being accustomed to a specific method of writing for a while will make it

difficult to transition to a new style or method of writing. Therefore, I believe that just by being

able to understand how this writing process works, will help aid me in other classes that will

introduce new concepts for me to grasp. To elaborate, prior to my experiences with both 1301
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and 1302, I had never really followed the practice of rough drafts or peer-reviews. Specifically,

the peer-reviews were something that I was never used to. When it comes to rough drafts, before

college I had never bothered to practice rough drafts and attempt to implement them into my

writing process. I always tried to get everything perfect the first time, and then would come to

learn that it doesn’t always work like that. Now that I’m used to the rough draft aspect of the

writing process, the last thing left would be to continue the practice of peer-reviewing. I’m still

skeptical when it comes to it, solely because I find it hard to accept the opinions of others who

either seem on the same level, or on a lower level. I tend to respect the criticism from those I

know are at a higher level of experience than I am. However, this is more of a mental obstacle

that I’m going to be forced to overcome later on in the future.

Revising is something that I am surprisingly not as experienced in when it comes to

writing assignments. The reason for this, as I stated previously, is mainly because I would always

attempt to get everything right the first time. So, my first draft, would technically count as my

final draft as well. On occasion I would read through it and notice some parts that did not flow as

smoothly as I’d liked, so I would edit them and try to improve them. Despite that counting as

revision, through my eyes, I didn’t really see it that way and continued to only write a single

draft. Until I arrived at college that was when I actually learned a lot about the art of revision.

The essay that I chose to revise in this specific scenario would be the research analysis paper.

And I followed the feedback that I received from my instructor while revising it. The elements

that were altered as a result of the revision was basically the entirety of the essay. Mainly the

format in which I wrote it. As my instructor stated, I failed to provide a definitive argument in

my essay, and only provided the various perspectives on the topic. I ended up rereading every
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paragraph and opened a separate word document as I followed the original, I would type out on

the other word document making slight but noticeable changes.

By far the most challenging aspect of the revision process would hands down be the

reread of the previous essay. Now although it may not seem as such a big feat to pull off, it all

comes down to a matter of motivation. For me, I found that having to reread the essay was the

most frustrating part of it. Mainly because whenever I complete an essay, I see that as the last

time I have to deal with it. Now the revision process makes it so that I have to deal with it again.

Despite all of it sounding rather unnecessary for me to be upset at, it is not as big of a deal as I

am making it out to be. From there everything else becomes rather easier, and somewhat

satisfying I might add. After completing the wall of an obstacle known as reviewing the previous

essay, the ideas simply come to me as I’m able to pinpoint each aspect that needs to be altered.

The least challenging aspect of the revision is actually knowing what to replace the previous,

weaker, section with. For example, when it came to the research analysis, I was able to

immediately switch out the previous statements, and write out a cleaner more sophisticated

sentence. Apart from the submission, the revision itself is actually the easiest or least challenging

factor of the revision process.

In my website, I was able to provide a sense of general knowledge of each of the prompts

that were present throughout the site and course itself. To elaborate, on my home page I set up

each title of the essays, in the order that they were made, as well as a brief explanation of the

prompt below each title. As you progress through each page, there are three pages that dedicate

one essay and prompt to a specific page, again, in the order in which they were assigned. With

each page, I provide yet again another description, this one a little more subjective, in which I

write down my own personal thoughts on the results of each essay. As well as, another
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description of how each prompt works, this time with my own definition of how I interpreted

each prompt. This difference is present mainly so that it can appeal to those who did not

comprehend the more technical description. As stated above, I did provide a brief explanation of

how each prompt worked, and how I wrote each individual essay.

The most challenging aspect of this course, that I found to be the most excruciating. Was

having to overcome it, without having any acquaintances in my classes. To be frank, I’m pretty

sure that my professor was aware of the fact that I was more lonesome, in terms of the class. The

reason being is because every peer that I was friends with in the previous class, was no where to

be found in my class. This led to a less enjoyable experience with 1302, and probably reflects my

sluggishness to complete each one of my essays. I don’t know what it is, but last semester’s

English class seemed livelier to me than this one. I made new friends, and caught up with some

old ones. Apart from my psychological issues, the most challenging part of this course was going

into it without any prior knowledge on how research papers are supposed to be done. It is

obvious to point out that each essay was definitely imperfect, and you can notice the weaker

aspects of each one. I’m pretty sure I was able to provide some examples without pointing them

out specifically. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this class, I just wish I had some friends to converse

with, to keep me motivated.

The least challenging aspect, apart from attending the class itself, to me would be the

reflection essays. I’m pretty sure everyone else would probably put this as their easiest part of

this course. It’s kind of a freebie, because these are completely subjective and require the opinion

of the writer in order to be completed. For me it seemed like a sort of treat at the end of each

essay. Being me, I happen to enjoy ranting or venting about certain topics, or even my own

feelings. So, after a long and enduring essay, being able to provide my personal opinion on the
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experience I had is a rather satisfying to experience in it of itself. Ironically, even though I did

not state it in the previous question, the true hardest aspect of this course is the MLA citations. I

don’t know how I did not manage to complete these, even after using the website provided to

help with these citations, I still could not deliver a proper one, even at the end of the class.

This is probably the only time where I’ve felt somewhat indifferent to this question.

Normally I’d be able to answer this question, whether I’m feeling unsatisfied or satisfied, I’m

still able to provide my true and honest answer to this question. However, I do not necessarily

feel as if I am completely ready to become a member of the academic research community. Nor

do I feel as if I’m still not ready to become a part of the academic research community. I

wouldn’t know what to say, I feel as if I need to experience a little bit more, so that I can be

certain about my standpoint on this question. I do believe that I need to practice more, in terms of

every aspect of academic research-related assignments. However, I do believe I can provide

some effective and impactful claims that help others view things from a different perspective.