Morales1

IngridMorales
ProfessorBeadle
English115
December6,2016
ReflectiveEssay
ThisEnglish115coursehasbeenverybeneficialformenotonlyformyimproved
writingability,butalsoithasgivenmeanewfoundconfidenceasawriteranduniversitystudent.
AsthisEnglishclasshasprogressed,Ihavegrownasawriterandlearnedmanynewskillsthat
willhelpmeinallareasofmystudiesinthefuture.Withthehelpofournumerousassignments,
Ihavelearnedtoincorporatequotesseamlesslyintomywritinginordertostructuremy
arguments.Ihaveimprovedinmyabilitytoexpressmyideasthroughtheuseofevidenceand
analysisandhaveincreasedmyvocabularyinordertowriteattheuniversitylevel.Also,my
overallunderstandingofmystrengthsandweaknessesasawriterhasimprovedwhichhaslead
metodevelopastrongsenseofconfidenceinmyabilitytosucceedinuniversitylevelcourse
work.ItrulyfeelIhaveabrightfuturehereatCaliforniaStateUniversityNorthridge.
Oneofthemanyweaknessofmyfirstassignmentswasthelackofuseful,insightful
quotesasevidence.Theclaimsbeingmadeinmyassignmentslackedsupportduemyuseof
irrelevantquotations.InmyProgressionOneEssay,titledTheDevaluationofFemininity,a
selectfewquotesthatIattemptedtousetosupportmythesiswerenotwellthoughtout.While
thequotesdidmakesenseinthecontextofmyassignment,Icouldhavechosenanother
quotationthatcouldhaveexpressedmyideamoreclearlyandeloquently.Suchasinthesecond
paragraphofmyessaywhentheideaoffemininityasweakandvulnerableisraisedandImade

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referencetothesexdifferencesinsexistsocietiesthatvalueonegroupmorehighlythanthe
other(Hubbard51).Thisquotedidnotaddanewideaorconcepttobuildupontheoriginal
statementthathadbeenmade.Thisshowsalackoftrueunderstandingoftheunderlying
meaningoftheoriginalstatementandofthequoteitself.OnceIrealizedthatthestatementsin
mywritinglackeddepthandcomplexity,Isetouttochangemymethodofquoteweaving.Inmy
ProgressionTwoEssay,TitledJimmyChooAdvertisement,Ifocusedonsupportingmymain
ideaswithquotesandusingthemtoleadintothenextconceptofmyargument.Inthethird
paragraphofmyessaythestatementismadethatwomenareobligatedtocommunicatethe
abilityforsexualoremotionalservice(Devor41)inordertobefeminineisweavedintothe
analysisoftheideaseamlessly.Thisevidenceaddedsupportanddepthtoargumentbeing
presentedinthisparagraph.Thestructureofmywritingassignmentshasbeenenhancedthrough
thiscourseasIhavechallengedmyselftoincorporateevidenceandquotesfromscholarlytexts
toexpresstheideasthatIhavedevelopedinresponsetothewritingprompts.Movingforwardin
mycollegecareer,myknowledgeofwritinghasimprovedinnumerousways,includingtheuse
ofquotesandevidencetoincreasedepthandunderstandingofmyfuturewriting.
AnotherareathatIstruggledinasawriterisfollowingupaproposedideawithanalysis.
Forexample,insomeareasofmywritingIincorporatedquotescorrectlyandhadastronglead
in,yetIdidnotsupportalltheexamplesorfullyexplaintheintendedmeaningofthequote.In
myProgressionOneEssay,IbegintoanalyzevariousideasproposedbytheauthorAaronDevor
inhisarticleBecomingMembersofSociety:TheSocialMeaningofGender,andinthethird
paragraphIreferencetheideologicalcontentionsmentionedinthearticle.Ithengoonto
examinehowtheseideologicalcontentionsaffectourlivesandourperspectiveongender,

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howeverIneverspecificallyidentifythecontentions.IfIhaddonesoitwouldhaveallowedthe
readertoknowexactlywhatmessageIwastryingtoportrayinmywriting.Withthisinmind,I
beganmyProgressionTwoEssayandfocusedondevelopingfull,completeideaswithevidence,
supportandanalysis.Inthethirdparagraphofmyessay,Ibeganlayeringideaspresentedbythe
JimmyChooAdvertisementtocreatethefoundationforevidencesupportingmyclaimsof
sexualizedviolenceinthemedia.IusedaquotefromthearticleTheImpactofViolence
AgainstWomeninAdvertisements,byMichaelCapellaEtAl,tofurthermyargument,stating
thattheviolenceinadvertisementsmaytriggerorprompttheseaggressivescriptsinmen.
ThisaddedanotheraspectoftheargumenttomypaperandIwentontoexpandonthisand
completelydeveloptheidea.Beingabletoreviewandevaluatemypreviouswritingassignments
hasassistedmetorealizethefaultsandshortcomingsofmyideasandhasgivenmethechance
tocorrecttheminthefuture.
LastlyanaspectofmywritingthatIstrugglewithoneachandeveryessayisthe
introductionparagraph.TheintroductionparagraphofmyProgressionOneEssaywasorganized
andthoughtful,howeveritlackedmanyimportantpoints.IfailedtointroducethearticlesthatI
wouldlatergoontouseforsupportinthebodyparagraphs.Thismayleavethereader
wonderingwheremysupportcamefromandhowitapplystomymainargumentbecauseitwas
notpreviouslyintroduced.However,Ihavelearnedtocorrectmistakesandaddmissingideasto
thissectiononmypapersinordertocreateastrongerleadintomyargumentbyintroducingall
theideastocome.TheintroductionofmyProgressionTwoEssaywaswellthoughtoutand
developed.Ilaidoutallthemainpointsofmyargumentandhadaclear,strongthesistobasemy
paperoffof.InthisparagraphIdidintroducethemainevidenceofmyargument,theJimmy

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Chooadvertisement.Thisallowedmypapertobeclearandeffectiveinarguingmypointof
view.Introducingacomplexideaisalwaysadifficulttask,howeverIhaveimprovedmyskills
andhavebecomemoreadepttocreateathoughtful,clearintroductionbyfocusingonmypast
faults.
ThroughalltheassignmentsandreadingsforthisenglishcourseIhavebeenableto
developandrefinemywritingskillsbyreviewingmyessaysandseeingtheflawswithinmy
writtenwork.Ihaveimprovedmyuseofquoteswithinmywritinginordertocreatecomplex
ideas.Ihavealsolearnedthatquotesareintendedtoaddanewconcepttoyourargumentorto
supportapreviouslydevelopedconcept.Theanalysisthatfollowsthesequotationsmustalsoadd
totheargumentandexpandontheoriginalideasbeingpresented.Aswellastheintroductory
paragraph,itmustessentiallybeusedtocreateanoutlinefortheideasandconceptstocome
withinthepaper.Ifeelhaveimprovedinalltheseareasofmywritingandhavegainedanew
understandingoftheconceptsthemselveswhichIcannowcarryonintoalltheacademic
challengesIhaveyettoface.Thiscoursehasbeenverybeneficialtomyunderstandingof
writingmethodsandhasallowedmegainexperiencedevelopingcomplexideasandattemptto
perfectmywritingstyle.