Portfolio: Reflective Letter

Angela Kim

Writing 101

December 11, 2007

Reflective Letter

LOOKING BACK

For the past several weeks in my writing 101 class, I have focused on developing and improving my writing skills. The class was assigned many different writing blogs for practice for improvement in writing, as well as expanding one’s knowledge in writing. Although writing is an important part of one’s education, it takes much practice, drafting, and editing in order to perfect one’s writing, and I believe that one must also enjoy writing in order to become a better writer.

I believe that during this quarter, I have improved in my writing abilities. Towards the beginning of the quarter, I learned to use templates for certain types of essays that followed the “They Say, I Say” format. From my previous high school, Seattle Prep, I was mainly taught to follow certain structures for writing. What I learned here at PSEC, differed because I learned to step out of the structural essays I was use to writing, and to follow a more opinionated outline of how I wanted the structure to be like. I believe that throughout this quarter, I have gained much more than I started out with.

The first piece of work placed in my portfolio is my first essay assignment about Bacon’s Rebellion. I did not do as well as I liked, even though I used my time during class well. I became lazy and got into a bad habit where I did not try to achieve beyond the minimum requirements. If only I could go back in time and change this regretful decision I had made. For this essay, I do did not spend much time planning as much as I should have. I grew accustomed to the way high school was, with very specific and detailed outlines where basically the preparation was already done for me. I was not as prepared as I wanted to be for college writing assignments, where I must put in my own details and specifics as well as make my own guidelines to follow in order to do well. My instructor, Craig, had given me advice on how do grab the reader’s attention with the starting sentence. His exact words were, “DO SOMETHING with a quote or an example…don’t throw it in as a check on a list of things to do – USE it.” After reading his comment to me, I made sure to include a quote as the first sentence or create some sort of a hook to grab the reader’s attention. I also learned not to put two quotes together without an explanation. To quote Craig, “You run two quotes together with no explanation. Do not run lists of quotes together.” Given that it is very unprofessional and unorganized, causing confusion when writing essays, I know, now, not to do it again. When I look back on how I used to write, I realize that I have learned so much from this writing 101 class and I truly believe that I have improved my writing skills.

For the second piece of work, I chose to put in my second essay assignment about patriots and loyalists. I believe that I was more prepared and approached the essay much differently than the first essay. During the time that was given in class, I spent most of my time talking with my teacher, Craig, asking him for advice and tips as well as discussing the assignment with my partner, Ramila. At home, my partner and I both worked on the essay separately and would put our ideas together during class the next day. I spent a lot more time going over the story and re-reading it to make sure to include every necessary detail. After discussing the essay with Craig, the way it was structured and the format of it was fine, but it just needed a bit more historical context added in. Despite of not having enough historical content put in, I believe this essay was a success in comparison to the first because I made sure to use my time wisely in school and outside of school. Surprisingly, I ENJOYED writing this second essay because it was fun creating something I have never actually done before.

The final piece of work that I put into the portfolio is my final exam. I believe that I was prepared for this exam because I had gone over reading the passage that was given to us ahead of time. I knew that I would have to summarize what the author meant by the quote, therefore I did a bit of research just to get a general background of Michael Foucault, the types of writings he had done, and what his intent was when he written the quote, “Why [consider history]? Simply because I am interested in the past? No, if one means by that […] a history of the past in terms of the present. Yes, if one means […] the history of the present” (Discipline and Punish, Michael Foucault). In comparison to my first essay, I was sure to give a clear thesis and to stay on topic in my body paragraphs. I really liked the fact that the class was given two hours to complete this final because it allowed me to focus more on the essay itself than worrying about not having enough time to finish.

I have learned that compared to high school, college is very different. Although I may be surrounded by the same people, the educational process, assignments assigned, and grading are all very different. In college, a lot more freedom is given to students, in hope that the students will use the time given effectively, going at one’s own comfortable pace. Throughout the quarter, I strongly believe that I expanded my understanding of the writing process and developed newer, useful writing techniques as well. I also believe that the writing 101 course was very effective and helpful because I know that I have gained so much from all the practice.