Austin Guzman

Rachel Feldman
Writing 2
12/5/19
Final Reflective Paper

Writing has always proved to be a challenge for many people, including myself.

Especially, when the writing must be done for a school assignment. A lot of anxiety goes into

preparing these papers. You must first read and analyze your prompt and then come up with an

argument/answer to the prompt with supportive details and evidence. This can often be nerve-

wracking because it is so easy for a thesis to be vague or just restate the prompt and if you have a

weak beginning to your writing, it is very hard to come back from that and it will always be

better to just restart. Nevertheless, writing is a lot more than just putting words on a page; it is an

arrangement of thoughts and ideas. When I first had to write my writing projects 1 and 2, I was

completely lost and did not know where to start. I analyzed my prompt, created an argument,

found sources and details, and made my way through. Be that as it may, having to rewrite the

previously written essays has proven to be significantly easier than writing the papers in the first

place. This should have been obvious of course though because when revising a paper, you are

merely just tuning up and fixing an already written paper.

When I first wrote my Writing Project 1, I struggled greatly, more than all the other

writing pieces that were assigned. The prompt seemed extremely confusing and I could not

grasp what exactly it was asking me to do. I was supposed to pick a topic and look at writing

about the topic, but not write about the topic itself. When explained in this way it would

confusing to anyone. However, I managed to figure it out and find some examples to use in my

writing. I chose songs and movies that deal with social issues and using song/screenwriting as a
platform to communicate awareness for these issues. I initially felt as if I had chosen a very

interesting topic and examples to support them, but I quickly confused myself and was too vague

In my writing and danced in circles around the subject rather than clearly articulated my point.

Unfortunately, I was not the only one that recognized these mistakes and I received a less than

desired grade on this first writing project. Nonetheless, it was a start! When I rewrote this

assignment the first problem I targeted were paragraphs and sentences that were extremely

obscure and I added more detail. I elaborated more on certain points and I included actual lyrics

and examples from my sources which is something I greatly lacked before. Throughout my time

in this writing course I came to realize that writing a paper is like a drawing. The more detail

you add, the more effective the writing is. This was a nice conclusion to come to because I love

to draw, and I understand that you start with a vague, undetailed drawing of a figure and as you

go along you add more and more detail until the final masterpiece appears. That is sort of what

this first writing project was like. Sadly, I turned in the undetailed version of my paper and got

the grade that version of the paper deserved. Although thankfully, for this final portfolio I was

able to revise and add details to create this final paper.

My Writing Project 2 was a lot easier to craft as I understood how to break down prompts

more efficiently and write with descriptive details from my sources to support my thesis.

However, Writing Project 2 did take longer to write as it was more thorough and academic.

When I was writing the paper, I noticed that I had finished my Writing Project 1 so quickly

because it lacked insightfulness and my Writing Project 2 took me several library hours because

it was more thought out and well organized. The Writing Project 2 also taught me how to

correctly analyze sources and use them in my writing. As mentioned before, my first WP

required more in-text examples from my sources. A big part of why that was an issue was
because I sort of, flat out, did not know how to use sources and include them into my paper.

Luckily, that was a large part of the second WP and it forced me to learn how to use my sources.

I learned how to include examples where relevant. I put a lot more effort into the second WP

than I did the first one and that is what earned me a significantly better grade.

Beyond just the Writing Projects, the Project Builders were extremely useful in

organizing information for my papers. Something I always struggled with was outlining and

organizing my ideas before writing an essay. It was always easier for me to just write and get

my ideas on the page. Where this can be useful, one must be careful because this can also be

detrimental. Not outlining my ideas is one of the main causes of my tendency to go in circles

with my information. The PBs forced me to really think about my ideas and get them on a page

in a semi-disorganized way which then aided me when I wrote the Writing Project because the

thoughts I had for how I was going to approach the project were already jotted down and all I

had to do was reiterate, organize, and elaborate. I credit the PBs greatly with my increased

success this second time around.

By the time the final writing project was assigned a week or so ago I felt as if my writing

abilities had improved greatly since the first project. Writing was easier and I was able to

connect ideas and make them flow in a consistent manner for the essay. Along with that, the

final writing project was a lot easier in what it had to contain. Translating an academic piece of

writing into an informal piece of writing was a lot easier than the previous prompts. The

majority of the writing in the final writing project was in the reflective essay which I found to be

significantly easier to write opposed to the other assignments we have received. A reflective

paper is simple to write because all one must do is simply look back on their thought process of
how they formed their paper. This is also a good strategy to become a better writer. When one

looks back at their work and thinks about their ideas, they allow their mind to expand and look at

the fine details and come up with more efficient ways to write.

All in all, this course really taught me how to take my mediocre writing abilities that I

had and transform them into what they are now. To be completely honest, before the quarter

commenced, I did not think too much into this class and I half expected myself to not really give

it much effort because it was just a requirement I was trying to fill. I almost instantly found out

that this class was going to have to be one of my priorities because I was not as effective at

communicating my thoughts and ideas through writing as I thought I was. The upside of the

quite peculiar prompts we were assigned is that we not only got to practice writing, but we got to

write about other’s writing which can really help one sharpen their skills. Naturally, through

looking at the advanced writing in our sources, for Writing project 2 for example, you start to

mimic the styles of the writers you are reading, making you a better writer as well. In the end, I

find myself to be super grateful to take away the talents I learned in Writing 2 and I honestly

hope to continue my journey in writing, even if I find myself simply writing for fun.