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Jasmin Salcedo

Professor Ludwig

English 101H

4 December 2017

Reflective Writers Memo

The research essay that I chose to revise was essay #2. I chose to revise this essay

because it was the most difficult essay for me to write. Thus, I wanted to take the challenge of

revising and expanding this research essay further. For this essay, I wrote about the

environmental degradation of national parks. Below, I will identify the changes that I made to

this essay, my rationale for making these changes, and how I developed as a writer this semester.

I made many revisions to essay #2. Specifically, I corrected all of the mistakes that I

made in the essay. I fixed these mistakes by capitalizing words, putting words into present tense,

and redoing my thesis. I noticed that many of my grammatical errors were very similar. For

example, I had the tendency to capitalize the words national parks. However, these words are

not supposed to be capitalized. Also, I fixed the in-text citation for one of my sources by

changing it from (New Report) to (New Report). Furthermore, I used more synonyms for the

word degradation throughout my essay. Instead of using the word degradation, I used

synonyms like destroy, deteriorate, and ruin. Additionally, I expanded this research essay by

adding another source. I incorporated an article by the U.S. Newswire that offers suggestions on

how to preserve national parks. I summarized the article by stating how it relates to what Edward

Abbey said about environmental degradation. The article asserts that people can help save

national parks by walking or riding a bicycle throughout the park and writing to an elected
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official. By following these suggestions, people can help preserve national parks. As a whole, I

feel like the revisions that I made to essay #2 were beneficial and helped to create a better paper.

There are many reasons why I decided to make these changes to essay #2. I fixed all

grammatical errors to exhibit my essays best work. Moreover, I used more synonyms for the

word degradation because I used this word to many times in my essay. By using synonyms for

the word degradation, the essay would not be as repetitive. There are also many reasons why I

decided to expand essay #2. The main reason I decided to expand on this essay was because I

really liked the environmental topic that I wrote about. I remember this essay being very difficult

to write. Therefore, I wanted to challenge myself to do more research on environmental

degradation. I decided to state more reasons why people can protect national parks since I felt

like more suggestions needed to be offered. For my essay, I talked about how Chinas national

parks are being environmentally degraded, how wildlife is being affected by the destruction of

the environment, and how donations can help preserve national parks. However, I only stated

that people can help protect national parks by donating money. Thus, I wanted to expand my

essay by talking about other ways people can help save national parks.

I feel like I have grown a lot as a writer this semester. I have seen a big difference in my

writing from the beginning and the end of the semester. For my website, I decided to use 3 out of

the 4 essays that I wrote this semester. I decided to use essays 1-3 for my website because I feel

like they reflect how I have grown as a writer over the semester. Specifically, I have seen my

grammar improve. For my first and second essay, I noticed that I had more grammar errors.

However, when I was given back my third essay, there was almost no corrections made. This

helps prove that I have grown a lot as a writer since I have started to pay more attention to my
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grammar and I have gotten better at it. Also, I have grown as a writer since my analysis of books

and short stories has improved. For my first essay, I gave minimal analysis and I barely gave

supporting information for quotes. However, for my second and third essay, my analysis was

more clear and I gave more supporting information for quotes. In addition, my grades on my

essays reflect my growth as a writer. For my first essay I got an 89%. After the first essay, I

slowly got a higher percentage. This helps prove that I have grown as a writer since my essays

have improved over time. Additionally, I have grown as a writer since I have gotten better at

MLA documentation. I remember at the beginning of the semester I had no idea how to create a

works cited page. However, now I know how to create an in-text citation and works cited page.

As a whole, I have seen my writing improve significantly.

Word count: 801