English Reflective Essay

I came into my first college writing class feeling prepared thanks to you and your investment in me as a student in your AP Lang class. I developed as a writer more than I ever had in your class, and it definitely helped me in my college writing class this semester. I already knew how important it was to revise and continuously critically think about my writing, as well as the importance of multiple drafts and peer review. My English 110 class this semester was very similar to yours because we also did multiple drafts where I could revise my paper as many times as needed. The big difference was that the focus was on different genres and how to appeal to those, which was something new compared to my high school English courses.

Throughout this semester, I have grown as a writer in many ways. I looked back on all the essays I have done and I can see the improvement throughout each essay I did. The three essays that I will be using in my portfolio are the Writing and Reading History Essay, the Non-Academic Discourse Essay, and the Rhetorical Analysis Essay. The reason that I chose the three essays were because of the improvement I could see throughout each one.

Going through daily life you experience many different things, and most of them are the daily rigors of life that you do not think twice about. However, sometimes you have experiences that are not part of your average day, and those are the experience, I believe you learn the most from. One experience that has contributed the most to my development since I have been at West Point is the investigation into the lacrosse team last year. While I was not involved in the investigation, I experienced the effects and aftermath of the investigation. One way it affected my development is that it made me truly understand the impact leaders have on a group.

My primary destination was to fulfill the English requirement to complete my degree, but in the meantime, it has become my focus to improve my composition accomplishments. Writing composition for me is a scary feeling, especially at the university level. Getting word to write papers is fairly new to me and very intimidating. One of the most difficult things to overcome is writer’s block, hence the reason it took me a few months to submit my first assignment. I was always afraid of the mistakes I would make in grammar, or not have anything to write in my essays.

To the person who unfortunately has to read this: After about 6 hours of sleep, I woke up at 6:40 AM to get ready for probably the most difficult English exam I’ve ever taken. Since I’d already taken 2 other exams in the the previous days, I felt prepared to take this one. It was my last exam, so I expected it to be straightforward and easy ...right?

When I moved to the Philippines with my family at age six, I had no idea that I’d wind up locking myself in the room downstairs every day for weeks. I remember refusing to go to school where everyone would speak to me in a language I had no fluency in, and instead feebly hiding in the corner of the room in my new house with the door locked, waiting for my carpool to leave before I would come out. I was terrified and overwhelmed; the culture shock seemed insurmountable at the time and looking back now, it definitely was. Everything in the Philippines differed so much from what I was used to in California, and even from Japan where I lived for a year prior to moving. Never would I have thought that it would be there where I would find myself and become more intact with my culture than anywhere

Grammar is the formation of any sentence, quote or paper. When I write I will re-read each section of my paper to make sure that it flows smoothly and that I have not missed a coma. Coma’s do me in each time. I will add them when they are not necessary and will not add them when I actually need one. Writing is a learning process.

Competence in English I pursued all my school education in in my own language before entering United States. However, my family and myself prepared me well to pursue higher education in English since my middle school. After my immigration to United States, I had only one year (placed as a senior) to fulfill 3 years of English language requirement and 3 years of History requirement to graduate high school on time. I accept the challenge and work harder to finish the requirements.

As a sociology major, I have learned many sociological concepts that could be contributing factors that may help me with my future. Sociology is interesting seized my attention in the early stages of introductory course and has expanded significantly since then. The controversial aspect of the more abstract concepts engaged my attention and peeked my interest within a class setting. I had started as a sociology minor and with increased encouragement and continuous discussion about the inner working of how society works the Academic Center for Excellence; I pursued the degree as a minor until I reached my maximum amount of courses. Once I realized I only needed a handful of classes to get a degree in a subject that I could not get enough of, I decided to become a major.

Self-Evaluation English Language and Composition turned out to be much more than I thought it would be. From talking to other students, it seems like we all came in with slightly different reasons for taking the class. For me, it was about a love of English and a desire to improve my writing skills. I never anticipated a class so heavily based on bettering your argumentative skills and exposing yourself to a greater variety of perspectives and then listening to your own reactions and those of the people around you. The thing is, all of it actually helps you to become a better writer.

Through the time in this class, I think the peer review has been the most helpful to my writing skill. Since I only had the English for few years, I often make many grammar errors as I did on my first two writing assignments. But the process of peer review has given me a lot help. In the peer review, my essay got edited from many classmates and they provided me many suggestions and feedbacks on both grammar errors and the content. Moreover, as I read the essays from other students, I can often discover the mistake that appeared on my own writing and improve my writing skills.

Ever since I was little, I struggled to write down on paper what I thought in my head. I never dreamed it would change in such a short amount of time. I’m not trying to say that my writing is anywhere near perfect, but it sure is a heck of a lot better than it used to be. Advanced Composition has helped me reach new limits in my writing and it can be easily seen by comparing the first paper in wrote in this class up to the most recent. There are numerous reasons why I made the number of errors during my writing.

Reflection As a student enrolled in English 5A for almost 5 months, I have steadily acquired knowledge of the basic elements of an academic paper along with the amount of depth that these elements can add to one’s paper. Practices such as, identifying the conversation, which was the basis of our first academic essay, summarizing another’s views, the topic of our second essay, and entering the conversation, which was an accumulation of all the techniques the class and I had gained and the topic of our third essay, have instilled within me the necessary knowledge to seamlessly incorporate my own views with that of others. However, the third essay in particular required another attribute that was never present in previous essays; that element

As a student, there are times that I face challenges or problems. All these challenges become an experience in my life in which I strive to learn from as a student. Writing in an English class has to be a daily conflict that I face. Though writing may be my weakest point in school, it makes me someone who is determined to be the best in. Having writing as my weakest point makes my room for improvement greater and more achievable.

Mainland China has been one of the most self-reflective places that I have visited. The time that I spent within mainland China has allowed me to develop a more holistic understanding of my heritage and the differences that exists between China and the U.S. While I was originally born within the landscape of China, I never became old enough to become fully aware of the culture and the subsequent norms that are present. After growing up in the United States as a Chinese American I noticed many similarities as well as differences between how I was raised in the U.S compared with my experiences in mainland China. The strongest observation that I have made has been the westernization of mainland China especially as the nation undergoes further urbanization.