Third Reflection

Looking Back

The final portion of the class has gone fairly well in my eyes. I have enjoyed researching and writing for project two. The topic I chose to write about is one that has interested me ever since the onset of the issue. This class was really the driving force for me to gain more knowledge on a subject matter that is very important in my community. I found it especially challenging to present my information in the format of a letter. Appealing directly to an audience member is something I have not practiced very much, especially in regards to calling one to action. I had to practice writing directly to someone, and decipher at which frequency I should do it. It was also a change creating an advocacy ad. It was fun to search through pictures and find the right one to overlay text. It was recommended by peers that I add more statistics to both my advocacy ad, and my text. I definitely took advantage of the advice offered and added more statistics to both pieces of my work.

One of my main concerns was that my advocacy ad’s main text is too morbid. I wasn’t sure if I had crossed the line between serious and sad. I think that if the message is perceived as too sad, it will push people away from wanting to learn more about the topic. Pretty much the same reason most people don’t like to watch the news anymore, as people are overloaded with sadness in this day and age. The point that I am trying to get across in both my letter, and my advocacy ad is definitely regarding a very sad social issue, so I was skating on thin ice creating my ad. Despite my initial concerns, I am sure that my main phrase catches peoples attention while also confronting them with the severity of the issue. The main change that I made to the advocacy ad is the link to a local petition that people can sign to help displaced residents in the area who have had their lives uprooted due to the rent crisis. I think this was a crucial alteration to the image, as it provides people with a course of action.

Pictured: Feedback from my peer regarding my advocacy ad.

Pictured: The before and after of my revision of the advocacy ad I created for project two.

I am very proud of myself for completing this course, especially when I gained somewhat of a negative viewpoint as the class went on. I do think that in a sense I feel a little better about the way I have performed in this course. I have been challenged by the materials and prompts in this class, and the way I view myself as a writer has changed many ways, and many times. It has been fun to explore new formats, and be challenged by the different assignments given. Creating my portfolio has been fun, and one of my favorite aspects of the class. I really like that format, and I’m excited to have it as a resource to display my writing for this class, as well as others as time goes on. I find that it also showcases my growth from the beginning of ENG 101 to the end of ENG 102.

Moving Forward

This class has helped me grow a lot, and has introduced me to many new concepts and skills that will be able to transfer to other classes and areas of life. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating my portfolio. It has been a great way to record and track the progress I have made throughout the course. It is something that I definitely wish to continue practicing after the completion of English 102 as a means of compiling and showcasing my work. I really enjoy using Google Sites as the method of creating the portfolio as well. It is easy to navigate and design on, so I feel continuing and creating through this platform will be the best course of action for that. In my English 101 course I had a hard time figuring out certain aspects of the website, but once I was able to, it was very smooth and I had no problems with my formatting or writing.

Pictured: An excerpt from my writing portfolio on the Google Sites platform.

This class has given me new insight and experience with statistical writing. I am a biology major, so I anticipate that a lot of my future writing assignments will be scientific prompts that will require me to include different statistics. This kind of exposure has been very good for me in that respect. I was able to write about a topic that I have been interested in educating myself on for a long time. I’m proud of myself for becoming more fluent on an issue within my community. I have already found myself speaking with and sharing information regarding the rent crisis with multiple co-workers and family members. I enjoy being educated on local topics, so to be able to share this kind of information has been a true test of how I have retained what I have been writing about in this class. I hope that my future work will include prompts that I am interested in learning more about. It has been so great being able to write about and to local topics and people.

Pictured: The first paragraph of my second project containing statistics.

I think my main goal for myself and my writing would be to improve on my punctuation and grammar. I think that my writing is okay, but could still use some more fine-tuning on the actual technicalities of it. In my opinion, this holds especially true when I expect my future writing assignments to mostly be research based papers. One question I have about the future of my writing is: how will I be able to focus on the improvement of my writing as well as my other classes. This is my final required English course, and I get concerned about how to delegate my time between classes and other writing practice when I am not being assigned work that is in that area. I know I have grown in my writing significantly due to English 101, and 102, however I also recognize that I still have much work to do to reach the full potential of my writing skill levels.