Javier 1

Elpidio Javier
English 113B
Professor Ditch
8 May 2015
Reflective Essay
The style of writing can be improved day by day, as practice makes perfect within
oneself. There will never be a perfect writer, because there are always new things that can be
learned in writing. Ive always had problems with my writing; either grammar mistakes or
staying on track when following the prompt of an essay topic. But during this semester, I feel
that my writing has improved a lot than before, especially in my essays as I learned many new
things within each essay that was given. Although my essays this semester were not my strongest
and didnt reach high expectations, both has helped me learn a lot on what I was doing wrong
and will assist me in the future to make sure I wont make the same mistakes again in my next
essays. The more I learn about writing will help me improve significantly to be better in the
future.
In my first essay, Project Space was given to explain about analyzing your own identity
through another culture and how I communicated with the people of my culture towards my
surroundings. In the beginning, I thought I was on the right track with what I was talking about
in my essay, and thinking I was following the prompt until Professor Ditch explained to me what
I was doing wrong. I had to change my whole prospectus and figure out a whole new outline on
what I would be talking about. With that said, I talked about how the sports culture influenced
my life on my academics, towards my family and friends, and wherever I go. I had a lot of
mistakes in this essay, grammar wise, and also keeping on track what I was talking about in

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which Ive continuously have had troubled with in the past. A good essay title is very important
to have because it gets the readers attention and to be interested as well. My first essay title of
Project Space, A Lifestyle in Two was not strong enough in my opinion and I felt it wouldnt
get my readers attention in which I needed improvement on. Also, I had a lot of errors in my
sentences, like my thesis, which could have been more detailed such as, It has influenced my
life a lot on what I do whether Im in school or in life general. At the end of that sentence I
should have wrote in more detail of what I meant about life in general because the reader may
not know what I would be talking about. The thesis statement is the overall important part of an
essay because it tells the reader what you are going to talk about the whole essay, and with that
said, I shouldve been more in detail with my thesis and other sentences of my essay as well.
There were minor grammar mistakes in this essay that were pointed out when it was given back
and also following the Purdue Owl on quoting from articles correctly, but other than that
everything was good for Project Space. I needed to work on my sentences being more detailed
and well thought out in this essay in which I would make sure would be correct for Project Text.
Project Text was being more in depth of analyzing texts and having a well thought out
argumentation. This was very challenging in my opinion, as I had a hard time with it in my essay,
and taking a lot of time on. I wasnt very good at analyzing texts, and I felt it would be a difficult
task for me. I made sure I had a lot of quotes in the book to back up what I was arguing about in
which I did good on. Also I had other sources that made my argumentation stronger and more
precise. I made sure and improved on my sentences being more well thought out and detailed
unlike in Project Space, and it helped me a lot in making my argument stronger and more
persuading. Unfortunately, I still had trouble with quoting my sources correctly; whether it was
from the text, or articles. In this essay I needed to introduce my quotes more first because all my

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quotes were towards the end of every paragraph. My thesis statement was unclear and needed to
be more detailed of what I meant. There were still some sentences in my essay that had to be
revised, such as, All of those categories become forgetful to This sentence was unclear
because I was not being specific enough of what I was talking about. Also, I still had grammar
problems in this essay, such as subject verb agreements and using the wrong tense words. Having
to write a 5-6 page argumentative essay was a big challenge for me, but it has helped me to be
ready for future essays that will have to be a longer page requirement.
Although my two essays werent at high expectations, I learned a lot from them
individually and feel that in my next essays I will write I wont make the same mistakes again.
You learn something new in writing day by day, and thats what creates a good writer who
perceives their mistakes and overcome them. I feel that in my future essays they will be more in
depth and clear, and always making sure that everything is correct on what the prompt is talking
about. This class has helped me significantly in my writing skills because we were able to
interact with one another in class and be able to learn more about how to be a better writer and
go beyond the limit of what we usually do. Doing peer reviews with my colleagues was very
helpful because I got a lot of feedback on what I was doing wrong, or what would be more
helpful in my essays. Making appointments at the LRC was a big help because with the extra
assistance from the tutors, as well as Professor Ditch and Manija, I was able to get a lot of help
on my essays on what to do or what I was doing wrong. I enjoyed being in this class this
semester because of the challenges that were set on me in my essays and being able to meet new
people and share with each other new knowledge. Writing will always be connected to you
wherever you go, and enhancing those skills of a writer will be helpful in the future in which will
for me.

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