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MatthewElgin
StephenTopf
English114B
May2nd,2014
SelfReflectionThroughoutTheSemester
Writingisanessentialkeyineducation.Inearlyelementaryschoolwelearnthesimplestepsto
writing,suchaslearninghowtowritelettersthatis.Inmiddleschool,welearnhowtoconstructa
simpleessaybyhavinganintroductoryparagraphwithathesis,bodyparagraphsandasimple
conclusion.Duringhighschool,especiallyinmyschool,welearnedhowtoproperlywriteanessay
withkeycomponentstoeachone.ThesecomponentsincludeCCEJ.Claim:givinganoverallmeaning
ofwhattheessayorargumentisabout,clarification:givingtheaudienceaclearideaofwhatexactlythe
writersargumentisabout,evidence:togivethewritersargumentaconnectionfromanothersource,and
justification:givinganexplanationofwhythepieceofevidenceisrelevanttotheargumentandhowit
provesyourcentralclaim.Thoughthesefourcomponentsarestillessentialinourwritingnow,this
semesterourclassgotmoreanalyticalinourwriting.Duringthispastsemester,wefocusedoncritical
analysisandsocietalaspectsonouressaysfordifferentspacesandtextsgiventousinthesemester.
Imnotthatmuchofananalyticalwriter.Thenagain,Imnotmuchofawritertobeginwith.
WhenIbeginwriting,IstartwiththemainideaandtrytothinkofideasthatIcangooffoffromthe
maintopicthatIknowcanbesupported.Fromthethinkingprocess,Ijustwrite.Idontuseoutlines
becausethentheessaywouldhavetobepreplannedout,andIdontnecessarilyliketopreplanthings
out.WhenIthinkIhavemythoughtsdownandhaveanideaofknowingwhatmyessayorassignment
isabout,IstarttypingmythoughtsdownasImthinkingoftheminmyhead.Ifindthiswayofwriting

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moresimplerthanhavingtocreateanoutlinebecauseIcanjuststartwritingwhatImthinking,and
couldchangethingsasyougoifyouthinktheydontmakeanysenseorconnect.However,thisseems
tobeastruggleformebecausesometimesIwouldwriteaboutacertainidea,andwouldjustjumpinto
anotherideawithnojustificationoranalysisofthefirstidea.Thesereflectivethoughtscomefroma
bookeditedbyDavidBoud,RosemaryKeoghandDavidWalkertitledReflection:TurningExperience
IntoLearning.Thisbookgivesusinsightthatreflectionisntonlytaughtbylearninghowtoreflect,but
byreflectingonpreviousexperiencesoflearning,writing,andlifeskills.Inthebook,itstates,An
importantcontributionofwritingisthatitprovidesanobjectivityinrelationtotheinitiallearning
experience(Walker,pg63).Mylearningexperiencehascomemostlyfrommyhighschoolwritingas
myschoolwastaughttheCCEJformatandstuckwithitthroughoutallfouryearsandasitprogressed
morecomplexwithineachyear.Nowthathighschoolisdone,IcouldusemyexperienceinwhatI
alreadyknowhowtowrite,butthisyear,especiallyinthissemesterofEnglish,thatIwouldneedtouse
adifferentapproachandlearnmultiplewayshowtoapproachaseparatewritingstyle.Inthebeginning
ofthebook,Reflection:TurningExperienceIntoLearning,theeditorsmentionKolbslearningprocess
bysayingTheKolbmodelistermedanexperientiallearningmodeltoemphasizetheimportantpartthat
experienceplaysinthelearningprocess(Boud,Keogh,Walker,pg12).TheKolbmodelistogivea
newsightanddirectioninlearninghowtoreflectbasedontheirexperiences.AsIamlearningnewand
importantwaysinhowtoapproachessaysanalyticallyandcritically,IcanapplyKolbsmodeltomy
writingasIamobservingnewideas,thenwillformanewconceptofhowtoapproachtheessays
argument,whichwillthencreateawholenewexperienceinmywritingskills.
TheskillsandlessonsIlearnedthissemesteraboutcriticalanalysisandsocialaspectsresultedin
twoessayassignments,butfocusedmoreonthe2ndessaythanthefirst.Inmy2ndessayfromProject

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Space,Italkedabouthowcertainvalues,socialnormativities,andthemeswerepresentandhowthere
couldbepossiblefactorsasinwhytheyarepresentintwoseparateamusementparks.Withinthis
essay,Istruggledandconqueredmanydifferentaspectsinwritingit.Mystrengthsinwritingthisessay
andingeneralaregatheringpiecesofevidenceandpresentingtheevidencetotheaudience.For
example,inmyessayIusedaquotefromaProfessorwhomIaddressedandpresentedbeforethe
actualquote:AccordingtoProfessorPatrickDiVietri,hedefinesfamilyvaluesasthosewhichafamily
sharesforthecommongoodofitsmembers.Thisprovidesagood,clearstatementofhowevidence
shouldbepresented.But,IdothinkthatIshouldoftalkedmoreaboutthesourcebeforestatingthe
actualquote.Inthesenseofthebook,Anyindividualwillhavestrengthsandwillneedtodevelop
theskillstooperatealongthefullrangeiftheyareabletobeeffective(pg1213).Tohavestrengthsin
writing,youmustknowhowtousetheapplicationskillcorrectly.Inordertogettheskilldonecorrectly
anddonewell,youneedtobringwhatexperienceyouhavewithitandapplyittotheassignment
numeroustimesuntilitcomesabitnaturaltoyou.However,withstrengths,comesweaknesses.Ithink
myweaknessesarewhenitcomestothejustificationpartandtryingtogobeneaththesurfaceand
analyzingtheevidenceandhowitrelatestomycentralargument.Ifinditoneofthemostimportant
thingstohaveinanessaybecausethatisessentiallywhatweretryingtoarguetotheaudience,butI
cantfindmythoughtsingoingaboveandbeyondtoconnectittomyargument.AnotherweaknessI
haveinmywritingistryingtofindacentralclaimtostatemyargumentin.Thoughitisjuststatingwhat
weregoingtoarguethroughouttheessay,butwehavetostatereasonstogivethereaderabuilding
blockofwhatbranchesoffthemaintopicoftheessay.Inordertofixtheseweaknessesandturnthem
intopossiblestrengthsinmyessays,Imustlearndifferentstepsinhowtocreateastrongcentral

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argument.Thesestepscanincludepracticingmakingdifferentclaimstodifferenttopics,orcreatea
differentprocessinapproachingthinkingofwhattheargumentwillbeabout.
InmyProjectSpaceessayaboutthevaluesandnormspresentinthedifferentamusement
parks,therearethingsthatIthinkshouldbechanged.Ithinktherearemanyissueswithmyessay,one
beingthatIthinkIshouldveusedadifferentamusementpark,suchasDisneyland,wheretheywould
havemoresourcesavailabletomethanSixFlagsandCaliforniasGreatAmerica.Anotherissueisthat
Iwasnotfocusingonthespaceofeachplaceanddifferentfactorsthatcanhaveonthesizeofthepark,
thevarietyofpeople,andthetypesofsocialnormsbetweeneachamusementparkandhowthosecan
playwiththevibewithintheparkandtheguests.IfIcoulddoanythingtomyessay,itwouldjusttoadd
morethoughtofthedifferentfactorsthatcouldbeatplayineachparkandwhyitisatthislocationand
notsomewhereelse.Theadditionwouldgivetheessayalotmoretotalkaboutandincorporate
additionalsourcesandanalyzeitthoroughly.
Allinall,Ihadaninteresting,yetunexpectedfeelingthroughthissemester.Ihavelearnedmany
newthingseachmonthandgavemeandinsightofwhattoexpectintheupcomingyearsofmycollege
education.Learningtothinkandwritemoreanalytically,directly,andcriticallycanimprovenotonly
yourmentalitywithinyourwritingbutalsoourlogicskills.Wecanconnectvariousthingsintheworld
andinoursocietyandapplythemtothemainargument,whichbringstheexperiencetheindividualhas
whentheyareobservingsocietyandthepeoplearoundthemandthesocialaspectswithinsociety.Ive
gatheredalotofnewthinkingskillsfromthisclass,andtheseskillsbringmenewexperiencestothe
worldaroundmyselfinwhichIcanexploreeverydayinmylifebecauseofthisclass.

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WorksCited
1)Boud,David,RosemaryKeogh,andDavidWalker.Reflection,TurningExperienceintoLearning.
London:NewYork:KoganPageNicholsPub,1985.