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Alexis Quinones
Professor Jon Beadle
English 113B
11 May 2016
My Work In The Mirror
Working on multiple essays in my English class this semester has taught me new many
things. I have learned that if I can write about a rock I can write about almost anything. Getting
help or feedback from my peers is never a bad thing, but rather a very helpful tool. I have learned
that there will be many difficult obstacles I will encounter on my journey when developing an
essay, whether its explaining what I am trying to say or how to properly formant an essay.
Professor Jon Beadle has helped me discover my strengths and weaknesses throughout my work
from Project Space, and Project Text, hence, I can fully say I have progressed in writing by using
the skills I have absorbed throughout my English class with these essays.
Everyone has a strength and weakness in writing. My strength in writing is coming up
with great ideas. For example, in Project Space, I explained my cross-culture aspect and how I
am part of this culture. However, I had a difficult time trying to clarify how it has shaped my
own self-being. This is where my weakness comes in. I struggle sometimes trying to make
connections or stretching out my ideas. Having my classmates revise my essay was a great way
to keep me going. By them giving me different ways to expand my analysis, I continued to make
progression. My writing began to improve once I proceeded on. My classmates even said when I
had them revise my next essay which was Project Text, "that it was really good" or they know

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what I am talking about. I know my writing skills have become better from the feedback I was
receiving from my fellow peers.
The use of including credible sources in my essay makes my paper overall look stronger.
In my progression of Project Space I found myself in a hole sometimes, roughly because I would
run out of things to say. The objective was to define what is our own culture and space. The
articles we would discuss and read about in our class was a great use of support in my paper. For
example I used this brief description of what space is and an insertion of a quote to defend my
evidence. "Space is an unoccupied area in which we are free to fill with our expressions and
desires. In the article 'Self-Identity and Culture' by Ronald Jackson, Cerise Glenn, and Kesha
Williams, it says that 'While places are physical locations, spaces are psychological locations that
frame understanding of preferences surrounding closeness and distances' (119).' This quote
means that space is in our mentality, where comprehension of our liking can get close or pushed
far away from us." As I put this source into my essay I know I am getting the audiences attention
because I am relating it to a scholarly article. Once I have backed up what I am trying to say with
this source my essay becomes plausible. By placing this source in my essay I know I have
become a better writer, and increasing my strong points while writing.
The use of quote sandwich's made my essay look properly structured and direct to the
point. On my passage through Project Text I found a great way to insert a quote and how to
properly explain and relate it to what I am arguing about. For example, the objective in Project
Text was to use text from the book I read called EveryDay. An example I used in my essay was
this one. "A began to violate Nathan's ideology, as soon as he started planning a way to see
Rhiannon and when he/she makes Nathan act gay, 'That cool?' I ask, figuring it will make
Nathan even less threatening if he's gay.' (Levithan 72). A pretended to act gay while being in

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Nathan's body in order to get closer to Rhiannon, since Nathan does not know Rhiannon or
anyone at the party A is breaking Nathan's ideology." Before, I applied this quote sandwich
method into my essay. I wrote how A began to violate Nathan's self-identity when he sought a
way to see Rhiannon by acting gay. Next I got actual evidence from the book to prove my reason.
After, that I reworded what I stated before to make my point credible. While creating an
argument I have learned that to make your paper more convincing is to involve a counter
argument. A counter argument is when you include the opposing side's argument and explain
why, and how they have these views towards your perspective. For example, I said in my essay,
"The problem is that A is not the natural owner of that human body, thus, causing A to lose the
right to make decisions for them." People may argue against me, and state that A, even though, A
is not the proper owner of that body, he/she is not causing actual harm to them. By me placing
this counter argument and quote sandwich in my essay, my skill towards writing have improved.
Overall, I have had an amazing experience this semester in my English class. I was able
to see my strengths and weaknesses. I was able to see that having a weakness can improve. By
working on these essays and inserting what I have learned. I know I have created direct, strong
and credible essays. The amount of skills I have developed over this course have helped me
become a better writer, therefore will lead me to continue establishing powerful essays.