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KatherineGutierrez
ProfessorDitch
ENGL113A
8December2015
ReflectionEssay
IwilladmitinthebeginningIstruggledwithmywriting.Thisclasschallengedmeto
considerthingsthatIwouldhaveneverthoughtabout.Itwasdefinitelyoutofmycomfortzone.
ThetimesIhavewrittenanessaywerejustbasedonreadingsandresearchIhadtodo.Butthe
assignmentforthisclassreallygetsyoutothinkaboutthetopicwhetherIagreewiththemor
not.PartofthereasonIstruggledwithProgressionIwasbecauseoftimemanagement.From
workingonartprojectseveryweektogroupprojects,Iwasnotreservingmyselftimetoactually
lookovermyworkbeforeturningitin.Iwasmorefocusedwithmeetingthedeadlinesrather
thanlookingovermywritinganothertime.AfterProgressionI,IknewIhadtostepupmy
gamebyreservingtimetotakeanextralookortwoonmywritingbeforesubmittingit.
AsIwasreadingthroughmyessay,IrealizedIwastalkingmoreaboutsexualityrather
thangender.Andsexualityhasnothingtodowithit.Inthesecondparagraph,Istarteditoff
with,Genderisconstantlycreatedandrecreatedbysociety(ProgressionI)andconcludedthe
paragraphwith,Peoplearenotjusttheirsexuality.Amancanbeastayathomedadwhilethe
wifeworks.Ormaybetheydonotwanttobeparents.Thereisnorulebookonhowaperson
shouldlivehisorherlife(ProgressionI).TheproblemwasIwasusingsourcesthatdidnot
connectwiththeessayprompt,soIendedupgoingofftopic.

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IalsonoticedItalkedabouthowparentinghastodowithgenderconstruction,soI
wantedtofocusonthetopicofparentingwithmyessaybyredoingthefirsttwobodyparagraphs
andmovingsentencessotheywouldconnecttotheparagraph.Ichangedthetitlefrom
Sexualityvs.Personality:WhoWillWin?toParenting:QuestioningGenderandTryanny.
Before,whenIstartedoffmybodyparagraph,IusedthisquotefromJudithLorber,everyone
doesgenderwithoutthinkingaboutit(19).ProfessorDitchquestionedthecommonthemeI
wastryingtoanalyze.Instead,IreplaceditwiththisquoteformAaronDevor As we move
through our lives, society demands different gender performances from us and rewards, tolerates,
or punishes us differently for conformity to, or digression from, social norms. (35)
From my first draft, my tutor from the LRC suggested that I add a personal experience
that relates to the topic. She told me that what I was doing was throughout my essay I was just
stating facts and once again summarizing the texts from Composing Gender. She taught that
when it comes to writing an essay, I would have to catch the readers attention by adding a
personal experience. If I just stated facts, then the reader will lose interest in the essay. On pages
3 and 4, Professor Ditch pointed out I was missing a focus. I did meet the requirement to include
a personal experience, but it was too much. The minimum she required was at least 2 paragraphs.
I ended up doing three long paragraphs on my personal experience with gender. I omitted some
extra sentences that I did not really have to include. I ended up taking out the paragraph where I
talked about how I became into makeup and fashion after realizing it was too much extra stuff. I
still wanted to keep the paragraph where I talked about my childhood, so I took some of the
sentences from the other two paragraphs on page 4 and put it all together.
For Progression II, Professor Ditch wanted us to connect media with gender. For my
topic, I chose to do it on World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). As a wrestling fan, I wanted to

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write my essay on WWE because everything I wanted to share regarding the companies antics
meant a lot to me and I felt that it needed to be heard. I wanted to focus on the issue of the
female wrestlers, or Divas, being objectified and given fewer opportunities. From looking at my
introductory paragraph, I felt it was too long so starting with the sentence, In WWE up to
Divas division; I removed that chunk of sentences and created a new paragraph using that
chunk. I failed to realize that I forgot to analyze an image so I revised my introductory
paragraph by analyzing an image I found on Wrestlingmedia.com of the WWE Divas wearing
revealing outfits that show off a lot of skin and cleavage in order to support my argument.
From pages 1-3, I had everything planned out. I wrote an outline of what I wanted to
write along with the evidence I was going to provide. But once I got to the fourth and fifth page,
I ended up getting writers block. I just have a difficult time writing essays because I have all of
these ideas in my head that I want to share, but I do not know how to put it onto paper. All of the
articles in Composing Gender all have the same message and I was trying really hard to avoid
repetition. Another thing I learned from the LRC is that for some essays it is okay to use
repetition in order for the reader to understand what I am writing about or else they will be lost in
the text.
Overall, I do not think I am perfect writer, but this class has prepared me on what to
expect in the future for the next time I have to write a paper, give a presentation, and make a final
portfolio. Although I had my ups and downs in this class, I have learned from my mistakes and I
will apply everything I have learned into my college career. I do not claim to be a perfect writer
nor will I ever claim to be a perfect writer. To be real, there is no such thing as being a perfect
writer. I also learned that I should not have to worry so much on what I think the professor wants

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to hear. Instead of being so caught up with thinking what the professor wants to hear, should
focus on what message I want to send to the readers.