Abria Flack

Professor Ditch

English 115

6 December 2017

Course Reflection

Over the course of this semester, my writing, analytical, and reading comprehension

skills have improved in a variety of ways. With especial consideration of areas of study,

execution of assignments granted by those studies, and reading criteria, English 115 has

potentially fulfilled each element of literary recognition that I had hoped my first English course

at university would. Due to the fact, I am now comfortable with the thought and expectations of

what is to come with English courses that I will be taking in the future.

Going into this course, I did not know what to expect from the classs structure and

criteria. The only aspect of the course that I was most aware of was the topic it would address:

gender studies. The topic itself was something I was quite interested in prior to enrolling into the

class, therefore making the taught material easier to absorb and more exciting to learn. My preset

interest in the topic also made reading the distributed texts less burdening and more enjoyable.

Even in circumstances where reading did not seem very enticing, I believe I did quite a good job

at reacquiring motivation to complete the assignments that prompted it anyway. The motivation

that I would instill within myself was a product of me recognizing how beneficial and practical

simply reading the assigned texts would be. The benefits had made themselves apparent in my

essay and presentation scores.

 Another aspect of the class that I feel I have done quite well in is oral argumentation. I

have always been fond of oral debate and presentation because it gives the student the chance to

truly exercise their knowledge of the subjects dealt in the class. However, it had been a while

since I had last given an oral presentation or participated in an oral debate. From the verbal

assignments distributed in this class, I was able to refresh my skills and receive advice that

would benefit my experiences with it in the future. As mentioned previously, reading the

assigned and required texts was absolutely essential for proper and effective oral argumentation

because it was potential fuel for the supportive elements that contribute to verbal delivery.

Reading the assigned texts also made it easier to accurately respond to the instructors summon

for class interjection; I was always prepared to answer any questions regarding the consistency of

the readings and/or how I felt about them.

But overall, the literary element I feel I excelled in most was writing. Writing is the

literary skill that I am most confident in. I was never burdened by assigned written tasks and

looked forward to how they would turn out. Throughout the semester in this course, I

strengthened these skills and became even more comfortable using them; multiple visits to the

Learning Resource Center greatly contribute this boost of confidence. From each visit to the

Learning Resource Center, I found that I would improve in the areas addressed in previous visits

and therefore be able to avert attention to other areas of my writing that also require

improvement; the enhancement of skill was accumulative. I am most proud of the score I

received on the first essay submitted in this class, or in other words the first essay I ever written

and submitted at university. For the most part, the areas that required improvement in that essay

were in regards to format or wonky word placement. From this essay, I am most proud of the

commentary I illustrated and the response it had received that essentially contributed to the
papers final, successful result. In the first essay I submitted titled Abnormal Normalities, there

was an instance where I addressed my personal experience with gender roles and encounter with

the word tomboy. I went on to express my feelings about the word, concluding that a label for

a girl who does not necessarily partake in or favor feminine activity should not exist. From this

implementation of commentary, I received positive acclaim from my instructor, which was

gratifying considering it was an anecdote I was quite proud of. And as odd as it may seem, when

writing any essay, I find a hook sentence most daunting (but fun) to come up with. I strive to

make them something that will lure the readers attention for even just a minimal amount of

time. Out of every essay or summary I had written in the course, the hook that I am most proud

of resides in the introduction of my second essay submitted to the Project Text assignment. I

had introduced the topic of my essay by incorporating how Western Society has been persistent

and successful at fooling its inhabitants into believing that socially constructed gender concepts

are naturally imposed. The introduction to any essay or written assignment must consist of a

statement strong enough to acquire attention from people who rest on both sides of the potential

argument; I feel as though I had done well in exhibiting that notion within this statement.

But acclamation aside, there are still a plethora of areas that I can improve in-- in reading

and writing primarily. As confident as I am with my reading comprehension skills, I still feel as

though there are occasions where I see the elements expressed through the writing from one

perspective as opposed to multiple. I also hold a fear of misinterpretation or subliminal

adherence of certain literary elements that are essential for complete comprehension of the

written topic. This essentially correlates to the areas of writing (especially in response to read

texts) that can use improvement, because one can only write so well when they have such a

minimal understanding of what they are to write about. Another area of writing that I struggled
with during this course was the composition of concluding paragraphs. As simple as writing

them are for some, I find it especially difficult to reiterate whats been illustrated throughout the

essay in both a reflective and nonrepetitive way. For example, in the concluding paragraph of my

Project Space essay, I only very briefly addressed the overall context of the essay, but would

essentially avert from mentioning the true focal point of the essay.

Overall, I was very impressed with the skills that this course focused on, and feel as

though it had informed me of what to expect in other English classes that I will be taking in the

future. For the skills that I was most comfortable with, I felt as though they had excelled in a way

that they hadnt before-- in a way that would prepare me for literary courses at the university

level.