Rodriguez 1

Cynthia Rodriguez
Professor Spitler-Lawson
English 113B
May 11, 2016
Portfolio Reflection
Word Count: 636
Growing Apart
In my English 113A class I learned many different things that I thought would be helpful
in this course. During the English 113B course, I used skills that I had learned from last years
English class such as rhetorical strategies of ethos, pathos, logos, brainstorming, and outlining.
This course has helped me reinforce the topics of what I have already learned it because it
became useful when I would cite in between paragraphs, which is known as in-text citation.
Using in-text citation for my research has been one of my weaknesses that I have but the essays
have been good practices I have done and allowed me to get better on citing on my own. The
writings from this course have been challenging because I had to write my essays from a third
person point of view, but I have managed to complete them with confidence after having my
peers correct them.
During spring, English 113B course consisted of three projects. The projects were all
based on readings, assignments, and activities that later on leaded to a rough and final draft of
the essay. Each project is different from one another there were argumentative, informative, and
persuasive. The project that I was struggling the most with was Project Web, because it required
me to use my own opinions, and use citations that supported my opinions. Project web was an
informative essay that required citations to support your information, but argument essays uses

Rodriguez 2

information to support the stance that you are proving. In all of my essays, proving my point has
always been easier rather than writing my thoughts down, and finding information to support my
thoughts. Personally, I strongly believe that project web was difficult for me to finish, but I saw
my improvements throughout the semester and I was happy when I earned an A on my essay.
The one project that I felt confident about from English 113B was the Project Space
essay. I felt so confident about this essay because I did not need to do any online research or use
any articles to support my stance. As a matter of fact, in project space I had to do a fieldwork
report and visit the place that I was writing my paper on. I wrote about the place Placita Olvera,
located in Los Angeles. I had to conduct research of the history of the place, and the culture of
people that visit this place. Doing this project interested me a lot because I used the skills of
ethos, logos, and pathos. I had to observe the emotions, interactions, stores, sights, smells, and
everything else going on in this place. Furthermore, I enjoyed writing about this cultural place
essay and I showed my strengths as a writer when I talked about the observation about this place.
While taking this class, I learned a lot about myself as a writer. I learned that I can make
a great paper by gathering up details, brainstorming and after, outlining my essay. Also, I learned
that my papers sound better when I read it out loud to myself and when I start my essay head of
time and dont procrastinate. I would meet up with my professor, Spitler-Lawson for meetings
when I felt like my paper sounded weak. The meetings and peer reviews we had in class really
helped me a lot and prepared me for what I needed to expect for my final draft. Overall, this
class and the essays that have been included have prepared me to become a better writer for my
next paper. Although, my essays had a pattern, I saw the changes of my improvements and felt
confident with myself when I finished correcting my final draft.