Essay #1 Reflection Post

How do you think you did?

I believe that I did fairly well on the essay. To me, it was both clear, concise, and well organized. Though some one of the sources (1/4) was not extremely credible, the essay, overall, was well written, and covered the standards for the history sheet. I should have used several more sources, and weeded out the ones that weren't necessary, which was rooted in our Wiki problem with annotations, which we simply did not do. If I'm being asked to grade myself using the np/lp/p/hp structure... I guess I'd give myself somewhere between lp and p, because I could really have used my time better. The essay, as a whole, could've been much better. Some of the essays that I read were truly better than mine, both in source material and overall structure, so I should strive to better my material usage and structuring as well.


What have you learned about your writing process and philosophy?

Writing using the 'They Say I Say' template made my job a lot easier. Without it, I believe that my essay, as a whole, would've been structured a lot looser, which could have resulted in an unclear, questionably worded essay, which I don't feel I ended up with. I used all of my knowledge of the 'They Say I Say' template, as well as a few others, and applied them directly to my writing, which increased my writing ability, I believe. Writing in the following order: Prewrite/think/Write/Rewrite/Revise, has been a structure that I've always loosely followed, since middle school, however, using it strictly helped me get my message across, I believe.

My philosophy mainly revolved around how often I wrote, so I guess this simply strengthened my case.


What have you learned about college writing vs. high school writing?

College writing is much more involved than high school writing. Writing at a college level requires much more research, whereas, in high school, it's all in a text book. This last essay forced me to look outside of the text book and search for other papers and readings with opinions on the topic that I was writing on. This isn't restricting, to say the least. I felt as though I was more free to do with my paper as I chose to do with it, even though there were fairly strict requirements that had to be met.


What changes will you make next time?

In the future, when using the Wiki, at least, I intend to annotate on the page. This will help both myself, and those around me. Also, I will make more time to write my essay. Making more time is always a goal of mine that I don't tend to follow through with. Though I end with decent papers, I feel as though, with more time, I could've done more, or at least made it easier on myself.