Reflective Essay

As I am writing this paper, I still wonder about the skill and craft of
writing. No one has yet to perfect it. As a matter of fact, I believe that no one will
ever take writing to a science of perfect understanding. It is because of this fact
that I have fallen in love with the joy of writing and all of its elements. I have been
hypnotized by this technique since my days of high school, and since then, I have
made it my effort to control my style and watch it evolve into the form and
discourse that I now use whenever I write. Through the aid of this portfolio, I
have pieced together some of my most influential works over my tenure as an
undergraduate English major. The purpose of this portfolio is to show how my
technique of writing has evolved into an ability to perform different forms of
writing in different class settings, thus showing my audience, potential school
systems or law firms, my flexibility of writing while keeping a general style
throughout the different types, focusing mainly on the thematic works of certain
classes.
The rigorous course work that I have participated in my two years at
Georgia State University, has prepared me far more than any English course that
I would have taken at Xavier University of Louisiana. The reason that I say this is
because I have been able to delve into different forms of literature that have never
been offered at Xavier. I wouldnt have dreamed of taking a course solely based
on the theories of rhetoric had I stayed there. Im glad that I was able to make the
right decision to come here to GSU to experience such intelligent and inventive
classes. Doing so has prepared me for my future career goals of either becoming a

high school teacher permanently, or teaching for two years to prepare myself to
pursue attending law school.
While taking the numerous courses that I have taken at Georgia State,
Introduction to Literary Theory, Theories of 20th Century Composition and
Rhetoric, African American Literature, and Electronic Writing and Publishing to
name a few, I have been given numerous writing assignments to fulfill and
display to those specific teachers. The choices that I have made to place into this
portfolio are just a taste of the huge buffet of selections from that I chose. In no
way am I displaying these works as my best works, but I have actually chosen
these works from key classes within my major and have arbitrarily decided upon
these essays.
The material included within the portfolio is material that has been
required as coursework within the concentration. The material of the portfolio is
introduced as it follows:
Historical/Theoretical Work Section

I decided for this section to be my focal point of the portfolio. Within this
section, I have encompassed the major works from my English 3100
course entitled 20th Century Composition Theory and Practice.

The first essay included in this section is on my philosophy on teaching

composition. Through the discourse of this essay, I have written about how
one should write and teach to write based on the emotion that is brought
through the writer. However, while writing expressively, the writer should
also take the audience to whom he or she is writing into consideration.

This philosophy was supported by theory based on certain essayists of

composition as Richard Fulkerson.

The second essay of his section includes my history of composition. Within

this essay, I write about how my style and technique of writing has
changed over the course of my life. In addition, I have focused on my weak
points as a writer and my strong abilities. The essay also tells of some of
my achievements that Ive accomplished because of my ability to write
influential compositions for which I have won awards by such companies
as Coca-Cola.

My third essay is an argumentative essay that questioned how teachers

should teach composition. The essay argues that a teacher should teach
composition based on to whom a teacher is teaching instead of what a
teacher teaches to fulfill requirements by school system standards. To
attract students to the joys of composition, I suggest that teachers do not
follow the guidelines brought upon by higher powers. Like previous essays,
this is supported by known writers such as Peter Elbow, who makes an
excellent argument on the standards of teaching composition.

Professional Work Section

Within this section of the portfolio, I have submitted a memorandum

that was composed within a Technical Writing course here at Georgia
State. The purpose of the memorandum was to find a website that
could be improved and make suggestions to the Webmaster of that
particular website. My choice for the website that I wished to improve

was the Harvard School of Law. In short, the memo entails how the
website hadnt been updated in a year, and there were some problems
with the attraction of some demographics (i.e. African Americans) to
the school, via the web page. Ultimately, the memo gives some very
novice suggestions to improving the website, to increase interest
among potential students.

Thematic Work Section

Within this section, I have chosen essays from the classes Introduction to
Literary Studies and Postcolonial Literature, respectively. This essay in the
Literary Studies class explores John Miltons When I consider How my
Light was Spent, and it analyzes the structure and considers Miltons
meaning of the poem. In addition, the Milton essay explores the
relationship of the dialogue and form within the poem.

From the Postcolonial Literature class, I have submitted a literary analysis

based on a collection of short stories by Chitra Divakaruni entitled
Arranged Marriage. The essay explores the historical significance of
clothing in Indian culture. In addition to the significance of the clothing,
the essay also finds literary tropes that clothing plays, through
Divakarunis technique of writing.
When asked how my writing process has changed over the period of my

life, I cannot fully explain how my works have evolved. I cannot completely
understand how the works that I have produced for every English class Ive ever
taken has changed because I only see my works as what Ive always been able to

produce. However, I guess that I could refer to what I stated in my history of

composition where I write, Even as I write this paper now, I begin to wonder
what kind of writer I have become. I conclude my style in the following way: I
write what I feel and hold nothing back but I try to get it across as smoothly as
possible. It is here that wrote this because it does give a brief yet accurate sum
total of my opinion of my works. There is an old church hymn that says, Let the
works that Ive done speak for me, and that is what I intend to do no matter for
whom or what I am writing. I cannot specifically say how I write; I can only write
how I feel.