Justin Le

Professor Beadle
English 113B
4 May 2016
Growing as a Writer
Some people think that others are natural writers, others wish that they were naturally
good writers. I wished that I was a naturally good writer, but excellent writing comes from
revision and going through countless rough drafts. I use to think that the novels written were
done in only a few drafts, but that not true. I learned that everyone goes through many rough
drafts and peer reviews in order to get the well written papers. I changed as a writer, started to
plan out my essays on paper, I make sure to get my essays peer reviewed, and I learned how to
write stronger thesis.
In the beginning of the semester, I did not plan out my essays on a piece of paper before
type on the computer. I just started typing on the computer. I now make an outline on paper
before starting to write my essay. At first I thought that the prospectus was so dumb and I did not
need to write out my ideas on paper. I thought I would just come up with them on the spot. When
I tried that I discovered that most of my ideas would be all over the place. I would say something
in the beginning of the paragraph and then it would end in a different paragraph. Without the
proper planning and outline of my paper, I noticed that my sentences and paragraphs did not
flow, it would be choppy and strange.
My thesis for my papers have improved. In my Project space I wrote, Asian American
and Student culture go together considering finances and family expectations effect my decisions
of what I spend, behaviors of how I act in certain spaces, and habits how I always do things. I

did not take an official stance on the subject. I only suggested things and that made my essay
weak and indecisive. However, my thesis improved drastically in my project text, A tries to win
Rhiannons love through his or her experiences and experiences that he or shes seen concerning
relationships through couples well-matched personalities, overcoming challenges, and romantic
gestures. In this thesis I took a side and I made sure it had the important key components of a
strong thesis, a how, why, what, and who.
I learned how to write conclusions and introductions this semester, last semester I
struggles so much to write a conclusion and introductions. In my project space I wrote, Culture
affects spaces you are in right now. First of all, what is culture? When most people think about
culture they think about their ethnicity or traditions. I use the clich of starting off my essay
with a question. I now know that is terrible because it makes my ethos very questionable. I
learned from my LRC visits that an introduction should be very general at the top and slowly
move in to my topic and then finally moving in to my thesis. In my project text I wrote, Love is
something that cannot be defined, but only felt or experienced. Some can define love as gestures,
romantic dates, or material goods. I used a general statement about love and I slowly started to
be more specific about what type of love and who. I learned that in my conclusion that it should
be similar to my thesis, but not exactly the same. Then I should summarize the point that I made
in my essay. Then, become very general to have strong sendoff sentence. In my project space I
wrote, Identities are show[n] through how we act in spaces because our culture spills through
into our action and it shows what are your identities. I wrote a general ending that was strong
and left the read satisfied. In my project text I wrote A finally realizes that he wants to keep
Rhiannon safe and happy even if its losing Rhiannon. I did not write a general statement to end
off my essay with. It is still specific about A and Rhiannon not about love. I wrote a better

concluding sentence in my first essay because I forgot that I need a strong last sentence. I was
focused on making a good concluding paragraph that I forgot to write a strong last sentence.
I learned how to use a quote sandwich to make my quotes flow better in the essay. In my
project space essay I wrote, In the journal The Influence of Culture on Parenting Practices of
East Asian Families and Emotional Intelligence of Older Adolescents says, [Asian parents]
generally wish to maintain their values and their habits I did not provide a good amount of
background on the article that I was talking about. I only gave the title of the article and not on
what it is writing about. In my project text essay, I wrote, My Hips, My Caderas by Alisa
Valdes-Rodriguez, an article about Rodriguez stuck in between two worlds, one where they
appreciate her hips and one where they appreciate her mind. Rodriguez is lucky to be able to
move between two worlds, I provide a brief background information about the article and what
its goals are before using the quote. That has improved my writing because it helps the reader
understand why I picked that article and why I am using the quote.
Over the semester I have improved my writing skills significantly. I improved on my
planning and brainstorm techniques that I learned from the LRC and SI class. I learned how to
improve on my thesis by making sure that I answer, why, how, what, where, and who. I also,
improved on my introductions and conclusions by learning that I should be providing a general
sentence at the being and work my way to becoming more specific and do the opposite with my
conclusion. I improved on my quote sandwiches, I now know that I need to introduce my quote
to provide the read with some background about the article and it also helps the reader
understand why I choose my quote. In English 113B I improved my writing so much that I still
cant believe that someone can change and improve as writer in such little time.