1 Alebrahim

Shikah AlEbrahim

English 113B
Dec 6 2015
Prof.jackie
hymes

My Reflective essay

My experience through this English class has been very productive. Ever
since day one I started learning here, I have gained a lot. Having a status of
an international student means that you have to fully participate in every
activity of the class so as not to miss any detail. My progress has been good
considering I am not native English speaker. This paper is a reflection of how
I feel about the activities that I have participated in and whether or not it has
improved both my reading and writing skills. The paper is also about the
benefits that I am going to get while moving on the other university course,
how I am going to present my case in a proper well researched English. This
reflection paper is very seroius because it draws the same level I have
reached in terms of this class. I am going to carefully study the skills that this
class has provided me with and also how it has negatively affected me. The
main focus on this paper is listing and explaining what I have gained
throughout this class. The English class has improved my skills because I can
now read and critically think, breakdown of difficult topics, create a thesis
.and to write effectively

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Most essays people write nowadays is about studying of a reading and

one has to read and then do some critical thinking to be moving to the next
step. Also, critical thinking can be done in the form of audios and images.
Listening to the audio and viewing images can now make me ready to do
some critical thinking. When you are provided with an audio or a video, the
first important thing you are supposed to do is to listen or watch all the feed
back then you move to the second stage. The second stage means gathering
the evidence from the audio or video to support the thesis. The other thing is
the use of images or photographs to reflect on it. Images have so many
details such that it can be used to write a complete essay. One look at these
image and you can follow a pattern that the authors have used to make it
bring out a message. After you get the message, critical thinking follows then
writing of the paper. I have finally come to understand that critical thinking is
trying to understand what the author is putting across then providing my
.opinion based on the evidences
This class has taught me how to examine a reading, image, audio or video
then coming up with my own thesis depending on how I am doing my
analysis. A thesis statement is very important because it provides the
readers with the knowledge of what you are defending on the whole
argument. I have learned that an essay without a thesis will make the
readers not understand the main theme of the writing. Audiences want to
know exactly what you are writing about and the thesis is the part of the

3 Alebrahim

introduction that completely shows what the whole paper is all about. A
thesis statement can be used to show the positive views or the negative
views the writer has towards the topic. The thesis is used to give the exact
position of the writer also assisting him/her in drawing a pattern for the
essay and how it is going to be written. Also, in every paragraph that is
supporting the thesis statement, you have to begin with a topic sentence.
The topic sentence has to show the reader every aspect that is going to be
discussed in the whole paragraph. The thesis and the topic sentences makes
.writing easier because it guides the writer not to go off topic
English class has taught me how to read hard and difficult topics and to
be able to understand and analyze it without any struggles. Most analytical
essays require the writer to be a good and patient reader. The essay that
he/she is going to write heavily depends on how he/she understands what it
is talking about. Reading a complex text can be very hard to digest and it
may lead to the wrong interpretation of the whole topic or them of the story.
The best way to read, is to have enough time for it and also reading more
than two times. It will make the understanding of the text easier and ideas
on how to analyze will quickly come one by one. Through my experience,
reading stories with difficult topics has made me become more adventures
and creative in terms of choosing the right to handle the situation. As
compared to a topic which is very easy, the mind of the writer becomes
sharper because he/she wants to understand the story and give out the
.correct figure

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Writing effectively is the main issue when it comes to being creative and
unique with your critical thinking. The perception towards fighting will be
changed automatically after one has understood how to write properly.
During the first semester, the papers were simple as compared to this
semester. Therefore the writing before was smooth and with little errors, but
now with all that complication around the readings, the quality of writing has
slightly gone down. Not all the forms of English can make you write an
effective paper even if you have little fact and you are expected to continue
finding those facts in a reading does not mean it will be bad. Effective
reading and effective writing is a combination that I both have due to the
.many assignments I have done
Although the pace at which I have used to learn how to read and write is
fair, I still feel that moving to these difficult scenarios has made me take
more of my time studying. Nearly every time I have to study so that I cannot
be left behind. Although being an international student, I have to follow to
the rules and do these difficult assignments. It is supposed to sink in without
difficulties but since I am an international student, I feel it should go at a
slower pace. I am still struggling with the part of grammar and punctuation
and to add more weight of bringing in complex stories for me to read and
come up with a writing is too much. That is the only disadvantage that is
making the whole concept become negative. The advantage here is to
exceed the disadvantage because I have come to understand how to write
.under pressure and also how to use all the elements of writing

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Ever since I joined this class I have been keep going at a very fast speed.
I have learnt how to write an essay right from nothing. In various parts of the
teachings I received, I gained acceptable knowledge and skills that has made
me a good writer. I have understood all the major sections of how to read
and write and I am capable of writing even with a short notice because of the
skills that I possess. The main purpose of this essay was to show my
negative or positive reflection on how far I have reached on this class. The
class had various assignments that I finished on time and performed well,
that summarizes exactly what I scored. The rules of essay writing is at an
advanced level which I have managed to understand against being an
international student. Now, for the better performance of students in this
class, I suggest that teachers should have a one on one sessions in order to
improve their writing skills. There might not be enough time for that but it is
an option that is almost a must for the sake of the results of the students.
Otherwise, the level at which the class has reached is good and something to
.be proud of for the students and the teachers