Blog Post 38- Reflective Essay Organizing Idea and Thesis

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As Chapter 12 in the Student's Guide reveals, there are five different organizing ideas or themes that I can use when constructing my essay. The theme I chooses will influence the thesis statement in the essay, and thus the structure and content of the essay as well. 

Focus on a specific assignment, experience, or concept

While the first essay I wrote for this course was not terrible, it definitely could have used some extra revision. In order to have my first essay better fit the assignment requirements, my body paragraphs needed to include complete thoughts, better organization, more analysis and thus less summary, and a larger focus on rhetoric as opposed to the controversy itself. 

  
Compare your experience writing in this course to past experiences

In high school, I struggled to enjoy the assignments I wrote about, and thus procrastinated up until the last possible minute; however, in college, I became more passionate about my writing. Now instead of waiting until the last minute to begin drafting and assignment, I begin planning weeks ahead of time by completing pre-writing activities, rough drafts, and sometimes completely re written final drafts.  

Reflect on strengths and weaknesses

Over the course of this class, I have become more aware of my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. I have the ability to draw unique inferences and conclusions from something that I am analyzing, and thus create a well written and thought provoking analysis, but I still struggle with topics like organizing my thoughts and avoiding the use of passive voice. In order to write better essays, I understand that I need to find the best organizational style that fits my rhetorical situation.

Focus on course objectives

The various assignments we were assigned throughout the course helped me to achieve the course objectives; for instance, I was able to become aware of my rhetorical situation much more effectively,  and thus apply that to my critical thinking and composing. Furthermore, each assignment helped me improve slightly more than the last with conventions, and all of those combined together have brought me up to this point of reflection. 

Focus on your writing process/self-perception as a writer

This English course has taught me that is okay to be two different kinds of writers. My writing is about finding a style that best suits me and what I want to say, so if for one project I am a heavy planner, and for another I am a heavy reviser, it is okay; in my case, each writing process is dependent upon my given rhetorical situation. 

Reflection

For this assignment, I am the speaker, and the occasion is to write a reflective essay. Originally, I was interest in focusing on a specific writing assignment because I want to re-write paper one, but now I have chosen to reflect on my strengths and weaknesses, because that will help me to better identify how I could improve overall and not just in one scenario. My audience is my professor and classmates, and I'm sure that at least my professor (if not some of my other classmates) are aware of my strengths and weaknesses of my writing. My purpose is to figure out which parts of my writing and the process in general I am strong in and which parts I struggle with so that I can rewrite my first essay. My subject is of course my strengths and weaknesses, and I plan on creating a semi-formal tone so that I find a happy medium between addressing my professor and my fellow classmates.

I commented on Davis' and Dee's posts.