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Matthew Carballeira

Dr. Nelson

Engl. 1301

12-4-2023

Final Reflection Essay

Before starting English 1301, I truly felt like I was a proficient writer. After facing a few

challenges on some assignments in this course, I realize that times have changed. The way I was

expected to write in middle school and even in some of my other collegiate courses differed from

1301. I had moments of despair and instead of giving up, I pushed myself to adapt to the new

ways of writing. As part of my growth and development, reflecting on oneself is necessary in

order to meet and exceed expectations.

When reflecting back on English 1301, I have learned that sticking to the writing process

is crucial. In order to produce a well-thought-out essay, there are steps that must be followed.

The first phase of the writing process is the outline. An outline is the backbone of any

professional paper, and it is imperative for one to follow the outline so that the essay is properly

organized. Aside from its organization, an outline also helps structure the text. Text structure and

organization makes the reader's experience more impactful. In my opinion, I believe that the

drafting phase is most important. This is where you take what ideas you have in your head and

put them into perspective. Then aside from that, you have to decide what ideas or research

supports the ideas. Some may argue that an outline is more important; however, this is where you

really go into detail. Next, is the revising and editing. Revising and editing for me is where I
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struggle. However, peer editing and the writing center were huge components of being

successful. Knowing what sentences would be better if reorganized, checking for grammatical

errors are all parts of revising. Additionally, removing sentences that don’t add value to the topic

are especially significant. Sometimes, the reader may feel that the author doesn’t really

understand the prompt when sentences are added and repeated. In fact, it devalues the essay in its

entirety. Finally, utilizing the proper format when completing the final copy is significant. One

must understand that when publishing a final copy, there are certain formats that are needed to be

met to properly speak to the audience and its formality of the topic. Overall, when thinking of

my previous courses in writing, one component that was added was the analysis aspect. Properly

being able to analyze and use research that supported my statements was definitely built into the

course compared to my previous ones. In essay one, I was really skeptical about the purpose of

the rhetorical analysis outline assignment. It seemed repetitive and at the beginning I could not

wrap my head around the purpose. However, as I progressed in the assignment I found the value

in this particular assignment. It has helped build my knowledge and brought clarity to the

importance of outlining and putting my thoughts on paper. Having the different sections

outlined for us allowed me to really dig into the material without realizing I was already writing

the majority of the essay.

When speaking on the analysis aspect of this course, one takeaway that has made an

impact on me was analyzing different elements of posters. I had no idea that there was an actual

purpose to certain elements of posters. From the colors used to show symbolism, to the type of

font. The type of font used in the title conveys what the tone and genre the film will be.

Additionally, the images used of the characters on the poster indicate certain character traits. A

prime example of a poster analysis is when only one or the protagonist and antagonist faces are
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zoomed in on. This shows emphasis on those two characters being the main characters. One

thing that really resonated with me while doing the movie poster analysis was that the colors

used indicate the setting or mood of the movie. For instance, a dark red or splattered red may

signify death, depending on the placement and composition of it. On the other hand, it could also

symbolize a deep love. In short, by properly interpreting movie posters, an individual is able to

read different messages about the movie.

In regard to the process of revising, I feel like this is the most challenging area for me.

Grammatically, this area is my strength; however, properly citing sources and introducing

research into my papers was my area of weakness. The paper I struggled most with was the peer

review journal article analysis. I really enjoyed the article because it was about a subject that is

relatable. Veterinary medicine is what I hope to pursue in the near future. However, knowing

how to properly cite from the many places I researched was overwhelming. I set up a couple of

meetings with Texas A&M International’s Writing Center to help me with this. The tutor, along

with Dr. Nelson’s citations cheat sheet, really helped me get through the assignment and avoid

any citing mistakes. Before the help, I was not properly showing my citation. Another concept I

had difficulty with was the research itself. When meeting with Dr. Nelson during my conference

she advised me not to break down my paper to look like a summary of the article but rather

picking apart the rhetorical situations: ethos, pathos, and logos. I was able to make these changes

before my final draft by going back to my outline and digging into the rhetorical situations and

adjusting.

The most challenging part of revising this essay was time management. Correcting

grammar, punctuation, and other errors can be extremely time consuming. It also required that I

have a complete understanding of when to properly use my writing mechanics. I had to make
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myself sit and go through my work and try to find any and all grammatical errors I made and

properly correct them. The least challenging part of the assignment was the content itself. Dr.

Nelson’s method of presenting the assignment and providing a breakdown of the components

required really helped me to outline and put together what was being asked. I have found that as

much as I really dreaded all the pieces at the beginning of the course, I have learned that they are

there for a reason and at the end of it all, they make for a smoother writing process.

When creating my website, I chose to make it simple, yet meaningful. At the top of the

website, I used drop boxes to properly organize my thoughts and activities, separating each

component with the individual assignments we had throughout the course. When putting my

website together I implemented the full writing process when explaining to my audience the

purpose behind each individual essay. I broke down the components in easy-to-understand terms

so that any person would be able to read my analysis and know why it was written. In my essay

1, genre analysis of the Student Code of Conduct I explained that the handbook was written to

inform students and parents of the expectations and repercussions that Freer ISD implemented.

(Freer, 1) For essay 2, I broke down the concept behind the use of colors and science fiction

artwork to let the audience know that the visually appealing things on a poster served a higher

purpose than just being easy on the eyes. In my essay 3 explanation I let the audience know that

this particular journal article was written for medical professionals and those in the veterinary

field or for those with interests in the agricultural field, particularly with swine. (Bliss, 1) I

believe the shortened explanations allow the reader to get a brief but good overview of what they

can expect to see when they dig deeper in the drop-down menus for each particular assignment.

The most challenging aspect of this course was adapting to MLA formatting, properly

paraphrasing and avoiding plagiarism. One of the main reasons that I struggled in this area is
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because I do not feel that I was properly prepared for the different styles of writing. I truly

believe that our high school writing teachers should work collaboratively with our writing

professors so that there is alignment and students are well prepared to handle the assignments in

English 1301. Furthermore, when it came to the analysis assignment, one of the most challenging

aspects was understanding the symbolism. Much research went into why artists would use

certain colors and fonts. Once I understood these concepts, I was able to fully interpret the

reasoning behind the elements. Another challenge that I faced during the writing processes was

pulling away the outline and putting it together in paragraph format. When writing essay one, I

found that I needed to make the most revisions with Dr. Nelson’s advice. I was new to the

outline and while I was able to do that assignment with some guidance, pulling that information

into an essay was a little difficult. After the meeting with Dr. Nelson, I was able to make

revisions to make my work flow smoothly and become more of an analysis rather than a

paraphrased summary. In my second essay, when writing my analysis on the Star Wars movie

poster, I had a huge challenge because I was trying to write my paper by describing what I was

seeing rather than finding the deeper meaning behind the artist's visuals.

The least challenging aspect of this course was knowing how to write grammatically.

Writing has always been one of my strongest subjects and something I truly enjoy. While this

course was tough because of the type of writing that we were expected to do, the actual

components of the writing process are natural. When doing the peer review discussions, my

partner was able to find very minimal errors and I was in turn able to quickly get them corrected

in my essay to be ready for my conference with Dr. Nelson and further for the submission of my

final draft. Even when working with Texas A&M-International’s Writing Center, the tutor made

notice of how few errors I had in my grammar.

My future plans take me into the field of veterinary medicine; therefore I know that

writing academic papers will not end here. I truly believe that this course has prepared me to

become a part of the academic writing community. I know what it entails to become a better

writer and applying what I have learned here and in other classes is going to help me reach

higher success. I now know how to write professionally and in MLA formatting. I know the

significance of properly paraphrasing someone else's words and how to incorporate research into

the writing process. Aside from that, reading between the lines and truly analyzing and

interpreting how different formats, colors and fonts are used to reach certain audiences. I also

feel that writing styles have changed and from here on out, I must gravitate towards a more

formalized type of writing.

Overall, my junior year of high school has been by far the most challenging. I have faced

many setbacks and at one point, did not know whether or not I was going to remain in early

college or quit. I am so fortunate to have made it this far with my course and I know that I have

no doubt become not only a better writer and analyst, but a better student. This course has truly

prepared me for what lies ahead, and I feel that English 1301 has set a strong foundation in my

future writing career. I look forward to using all I have learned and sharing my knowledge with

others in the future.

Works Cited

Freer ISD. Freer ISD Athletic Code of Conduct. Freer ISD, 03 August 2023.

Bliss, Nola et al, “Movement patterns of exhibition swine and associations of influenza A virus

infection with swine management practices”. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical

Association, vol. 251, no. 6, 2017, pp, 706–713. Academic search Complete

https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.251.6.706