Garcia 1

Valerie Garcia

ENGL 1302- 231

Dr. Sharity Nelson

1 May 2024

A Reflection Essay on my English 1302 Experience

Throughout this semester, ENGL 1302 has taught me the importance of academic

research and how to efficiently analyze and synthesize peer-reviewed journal articles. I

discovered how to properly look through databases that gave me the correct research data I

needed for my essays. From the research learning experience, I was able to also know how to

draft my essay, revise it to meet the standards, and provide powerful argumentative essays for

the general audience to understand. The three essays I’ve done this semester have taught me how

to properly describe the research in my writings by searching for articles that revealed each

scholars’ statements towards the central argument. This course guided me by giving me an

understanding of coherence in academic writing and how to present an argument with backup

sources so that the audience can access the information. Overall, the knowledge I’ve gained from

ENGL 1301 was implemented towards ENGL 1302 by gaining knowledge on communication,

conducting research, and informing readers on the subject of my findings.

In this course, I gained the proper knowledge towards academic research and proper

borrowing practices in academic writing by using multiple databases and adapting to the MLA

formatting style to cite my sources. For this course, I had to pick a topic of choice for the

semester including ten peer-reviewed journal articles that provided backup information for our

topic. Once I picked my topic, I was able to browse through my university’s library website and
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find the ten articles I was going to use. I chose my topic on social media affecting individuals, so

I began researching sources that can help me with my argument. The homework assignment

“Library Research Packet” helped me figure out if the ten sources worked well with my topic.

As I picked out my articles, I gained the importance of how to avoid plagiarism and give credit

to the authors by knowing how to cite my sources with quoting or paraphrasing (Garcia). For

instance, the annotated bibliograph essay showed me how to summarize and evaluate the

credibility to my research topic (Garcia). This taught me how to analyze and read my sources by

adding them in my writing and reference the articles on the works cited page (Garcia). To

summarize, these assignments provided me with guidance on how to do my research carefully

and learn the MLA style in order to avoid plagiarism. With this knowledge, I am able to apply it

to my future research papers based on the skills of conducting and writing ethically from this

course.

As for the writing process of this course, ENGL 1302 has taught me how to communicate

and express my knowledge on research through the essays I worked on. I learned how to draft

my essays, acknowledge the mistakes I have made through feedback I was given, and how to

finalize my writing. For assistance, I was given homework activities that helped me organize my

peer-review journals into structuring the ideas I was gathering from the articles. For example, as

I began my literature review essay, the assignment “Articles Analysis Worksheet” helped me

point out each of the scholars’ arguments and key points of their findings and methods (Nelson).

Because the concept of a literature review required synthesizing, the assignment “Synthesis

Worksheet” also served as a guide to “map the exact areas in which the peer reviewed sources

present similarities and differences” (Nelson). Both the “Synthesis Outline Worksheet” and

“Researched Position Outline Worksheet” helped me organize my essay to make it simpler for
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me to gather what I “need to discuss in each section of the essay” (Nelson). As I completed the

drafting process, I was given feedback throughout the drafts by my professor and in class peer

work. For example, in draft one of the annotated bibliography, my professor told me to “check

quotations and revise any accidental plagiarism mistakes” so that my essay was structured

perfectly. I was also told to “add more details explaining the context of the research” (Nelson).

Moreover, my peer also gave me resourceful feedback by placing comments on my essay

document to make improvements (Luna). With both helpful feedback from my professor and

classmate, I was able to strengthen my essay by fixing errors, revising my citations, and going

over my information. Additionally, the writing process of the course helped me craft clear and

well written work by providing the evidence credible sources I needed for the essays. The

assignments and feedback made me realize and provided me with steps on how to make my

essays readable for the audience.

After viewing my performance from the annotated bibliograph, the literature review, and

the researched position essay, I saw that I did not perform well on the researched position essay.

I chose to revise that writing assignment one last time to improve its clarity and organization and

fix my errors based on my instructor’s feedback. As I began to revise my essay, I took notice of

providing more detailed information and background information with the correct citations to

help improve my paper’s understanding. Based on the feedback I received, my instructor pointed

out that my “topics were vague and did not provide clear direction for each section” (Nelson). To

fix this issue, I was able to fix the structure of my body paragraphs by changing the claims to

support my thesis statement (Garcia). Correcting my mistake acknowledge me more to be careful

when writing my body paragraphs as they need to follow up on what my thesis statement

provides in the introduction. Another issue I fixed was rewriting my thesis statement to improve
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its concise meaning. Before, it sounded “awkward and unclear” (Nelson) because of the

uncertainty throughout the entire essay. Adjusting the thesis statement taught me how to properly

introduce the topics and main idea of the argument to the audience, allowing them to follow

along through the essay. Finalizing the revision of my researched position essay taught me how

to take my time carefully in reviewing my mistakes and revising the essay based on the crucial

feedback I received.

The most difficult part of the revising process was making sure my points were being

supported correctly since I found it hard to provide enough evidence to back up my claims.

When I completed the final draft of the researched position essay, I imputed different

information that did not support my statements, which made my essay a bit disorganized. I was

also not referring back to my thesis statement, so I had to revise and fix that mistake. Zin order

to successfully challenge this, I included more information that aligned well with my writing.

Even though I struggled throughout this revision, the least challenging part of it was fixing my

grammar mistakes. I was able to view the misspelled words that were highlighted and directly

fixed them to make the flow of my writing more proper and freer of errors. In summary, the

opportunity to revise my essay one last time truly helped me gain an understanding of the topic

and how to check before submitting my final draft.

To present my portfolio to a general audience, I tried to maintain the communication at a

level by making my website visually appealing to the viewer’s eye. I focused on including my

final reflection essay at the home page so that the audience can take a look at my academic

journey in this course. Next, I incorporated some visual designs to make it easier for the

audience to go from page to page as they view my portfolio, such as the annotated bibliography,

literature review, and researched position essay. On each page, I included a visual representation
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on how each essay was done and linked my documents on the website. I provided a small

paragraph that gave an in-depth context to what my writing assignments in ENGL 1302 were

about, the process of writing them, and the assignments that helped me along the way. I tried

avoiding giving too wordy explanations as the audience might not understand the viewpoints of

the essays. In conclusion, my goal was to design a portfolio that will allow the audience to

inform themselves on how ENGL 1302 has helped me become more skilled at academic research

and the writing process.

The most challenging part of this course was understanding the material and having the

motivation to complete the assignments. I often struggled at doing my drafts for the essays, for I

did not have any ideas or how to properly begin my essays. I ended up procrastinating most of

the time and often left my work to complete a day before the deadline. I had other courses that

have interfered with ENGL 1302 as I was given a lot of assignments to be done. I also faced the

challenge of structuring my essay as it needed to be organized and free of plagiarized material.

However, I was able to navigate through my assignments and use the correct materials I needed

to help me draft my essays. Understanding how to write my essays in MLA style and citing my

sources carefully made me improve my skills to write better overall. As I began revising my

drafts, I faced difficulty evaluating my work since I struggled fixing my errors and making sure

my essays were properly corrected. However, the helpful feedback I received throughout this

semester had challenged me to perform better as I continued with the next writing assignment.

Even though I was hit with difficult aspects in this course, I was able to motivate myself to

surpass these challenges and think on how I can improve my skills to grow as a writer. I have

now learned how to use the correct writing style for my essays and plan on imputing my skills

into further academic writing.

The least challenging part of this course was conducting the research I needed for my

essays. I had no trouble in finding my ten sources, for it was easy to access all the material and

information I needed. With the online databases, I was able to find peer-reviewed journals that

were frequently made from the past ten years. Since my topic was on social media, I had to make

sure my information showed the newer advances of technology so it can be up to date and

relevant. This helped me determine whether or not my articles gave me updated information on

how social media affects individuals. I also found it simple to grasp the information from the

articles based on the organization it provided. For example, in each of the articles, there was an

abstract, method, procedure, results, and discussion section that made it easier for me to pick up

the given information on social media. By synthesizing the data, I was able to explain my

research in my writing and strengthen my argument. As a result, the first step of this course

taught me how to explore through databases to find the sources that can help me write my essay.

This course has prepared me to become a part of the academic research community based

on the learning I have gained from this course. Throughout the multiple assignments and

activities, I had, I have gained the essential skills that helped me perform the right academic

research. I managed to evaluate my sources and apply the information throughout my essays by

referencing the data to help me back up my claims. Using the MLA formatting has helped me

become more aware of my mistakes and pointed out that I needed to properly cite my sources.

Moreover, ENGL 1302 has helped me understand the writing complexity of structuring an

annotated bibliography, a literature review, and a researched position essay. Although there are

still more skills to learn on academic writing, ENGL 1302 has provided me with the experience

to know how to further expand my knowledge into other research projects or writings.
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In conclusion, ENGL 1302 has impacted my writing skills in a valuable way to help me

achieve academic research through the three essays of this course. The assignments and writings

have showed me the meaning and process of analyzing, researching, synthesizing, and

constructing arguments with the proper supporting evidence. I will adapt these valuable skills in

the future and always remember the importance of taking this course. With both the knowledge

of ENGL 1301 and 1302, I have gained the skill to draft my essay, integrate the feedback I

receive in my revisions, and conclude the essay by finalizing it. This class has improved my

communication through writing, which has made me gain confidence for future professional

development.
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Works Cited

Garcia, Valerie. “Essay 1 Annotated Bibliography: The Psychological Impact of Social Media.”

9 February. 2024. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M International University, student paper.

Garcia, Valerie. “Essay 2 Literature Review: Discovering Negative and Positive Effects of Social

Media.” 8 March. 2024. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M International University, student

paper.

Garcia, Valerie. “Essay 3 Researched Position: How Social Media Affects Wellbeing.” 12 April.

2024. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M International University, student paper.

Garcia, Valerie. “Library Research Packet.” ENGL 1302: College Composition II, Texas A&M

International University, 2024.

Luna, Lorenzo. “Essay 1, Draft 1 Annotated Bibliography: The Psychological Impact of Social

Media.” Peer Comment, ENGL 1302, Texas A&M International University, 7 February.

2024.

Nelson, Sharity. “Article Analysis Worksheet.” ENGL 1302, 19 February 2024, Texas A&M

International University,

https://tamiu.blackboard.com/ultra/courses/_69218_1/outline/edit/document/_4868418_1

?courseId=_69218_1&view=content. Accessed 19 February 2024. Class handout.

Nelson, Sharity. “Essay 1, Draft 1 Annotated Bibliography: The Psychological Impact of Social

Media.” Professor Comment, ENGL 1302, Texas A&M International University, 9

February. 2024.
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Nelson, Sharity. “Researched Position Outline Worksheet.” ENGL 1302, 27 March 2024, Texas

A&M International University,

https://tamiu.blackboard.com/ultra/courses/_69218_1/outline/edit/document/_5102291_1

?courseId=_69218_1&view=content. Accessed 27 March 2024. Class handout.

Nelson, Sharity. “Synthesis Worksheet.” ENGL 1302, 23 February 2024, Texas A&M

International University,

https://tamiu.blackboard.com/ultra/courses/_69218_1/outline/edit/document/_4868421_1

?courseId=_69218_1&view=content. Accessed 23 February 2024. Class handout.