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Mehak Chawla

Professor Gary Vaughn

ENGL 2089: Intermediate Composition

20 April 2017

Reflective Essay: What Doesnt Kill You Makes You Stronger

English is one of those classes, you know, the classes that are required but are

considered by many to be frivolous and, essentially a waste of time. However, this was not the

case for me. Even with being in a STEM major, I enjoy taking English classes, more so

composition classes, during school. With that being said, I have been challenged to think, read

and write critically throughout this semester. By being pushed and challenged, I have gained the

confidence that writing needs to have to make a point. With this confidence, I am a better writer

and much more critical reader when thinking about how to approach a difficult topic.

Before this class, I had good reading skills in that I can grasp the basic concepts being

stated. However, that was the extent to my skills. I struggled with more difficult pieces of writing

as I did not know how to read a difficult piece and, essentially, where to start. During this course,

I have strengthened my critical readings skills and have learned new techniques on how to read

critically, such as using John Swales article in Writing about Writing, Creating a Research

Space. By looking at how an author establishes the territory, establishes a niche, and occupies a

niche, this helped me break down difficult readings and understand the big picture of why the

article was written. At the beginning of the semester, I struggled with reading longer readings.

My eyes would glaze over the words, but I could not understand why the author wanted to

convey to the reader. However, the class and group discussions helped me understand what the

author was saying and how to read difficult pieces of writing. As a result of this course, I do not
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dread reading hard to understand papers since I know what tools to utilize when dissecting an

article.

Seeing how authors started papers also helped my own writing on how to direct readers

on what the paper is exploring. As I am currently research in a lab and plan to write research

papers in the future regarding research, these skills will help me deliver my intended message to

a larger audience. Also, this would help me look for clues in the writing, such as the three moves

Swales discusses in his article, about difficult topics. When writing, I look at how I can convey

deeper meaning using word choice and diction. The first assignment was a literacy narrative

about a vivid memory from our childhood where we expressed a certain interest in some form of

literacy. I chose to write about the unbreakable bond between me and my dog. This essay stands

out as my favorite of the semester because it allowed me to use my imagination and illustrate

very vivid images from my past as well as engage in reminiscing about a time in my life that was

very enjoyable. Also, this literacy progressed into my passion of psychology and helping people

who deal with mental illnesses which was further explored in my genre analysis. While the genre

analysis was less creative than the first essay, I still enjoyed it since it furthered my

understanding of how authors utilized rhetorical strategies using subtle clues to further the

impact the writing has with the reader.

In my future colleges class and my potential career choice, I plan to employ the strategies

and techniques learned from this course. Communication is a major component of life. You need

to be able to express your thoughts to a large audience and writing is a great way to do so. As I

plan to continue research, I hope to be published and will indeed use rhetoric to make what I

have discovered in my research and the future directions of this research clear to all readers. A

common guiding point in presenting research is that it needs to be understandable by your

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grandmother. With the techniques and skills I have learned for research and writing with

technical writing skills, I will be better able to adequately reach a broader audience. Having a

piece of scientific writing that can be read by more people than the intended audience is a major

skill to have when being a part of the research field and this skills I learned through this course

will push me to explore different ways and methods very difficult material can be explained

simply.

Throughout grade school, I was constantly told to maintain the standard one paragraph

introduction, three supporting body paragraphs, and a one paragraph conclusion. I loathed these

kind of essays as they felt very restrictive with how I can express what I want to say. This course

threw all of that out the window. Introductions with multiple paragraphs were encouraged and

there were no restrictions on how ideas should be expressed --- the more, the merrier. This

approach to writing opened my eyes to a better, more fluid way topics can be written and has

made me a better writer after each assignment.

Obviously, knowing how to write and read is an essential part of communication. So why

do students in science majors toss aside the thought of taking English courses during their

undergraduate career? This class has taught me not only to be confident in what I write, but also

to have confidence in my abilities to read and edit other students papers. At the beginning of the

semester, Professor Vaughn said something along the lines of writing is creativity and creativity

cannot be forced --- dont think about the technicalities of what youre writing, just write. This

little tidbit of information is how I see writing now. Forceful writing is one way to start hating

writing, which is why many students dont like English that much because of rules set by

instructors. This course has taught me to understand that there is no final draft, that there is

always something to improve on in a piece of writing. As a student in the STEM field, I know I
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will utilize the skills I have learned and strengthened during this semester to write research

articles easily understandable by many and to continue creative writing during my free time.