Perez1

Kiara Perez
Prof. Beadle
English 113B
9 May 2016
Reflective Essay
Throughout this semester my writing skills have improved at an increasingly high level
compared to how I use to write at the beginning of the semester. Leaving English 113A I felt a
lot better with my writing from when I first started college, but I knew I wasnt where I needed
to be. When writing essays I still had trouble being detailed, clear on stating facts, and having
supporting evidences. I continuously struggled with citing my quotes and briefly explaining my
quotes as well. But as the semester has gone by every step of the way I was fixing the little
mistakes to better myself in writing and vocabulary. I knew that if I attempted to fix multiple
errors all at once I wouldnt realize or notice what I was doing wrong; I was just fixing my errors
to fix them with no attention given to them. Focusing on one of my errors I knew that I would
see what I was doing wrong and this would help me not make the same mistakes over again.
Each draft was a chance to exceed and do better than what I did the essay before that, and so I
did.
With my first essay, Project Space, was not in good shape the first few drafts due to the
lack of attention and revision. I knew that by the last and final draft of this essay it had to be
worth turning in to the professor. With the first two drafts I was missing quotes, citations,
supporting details, no counterargument and I did not expand on of my argument. There was
plenty of missing things that are mandatory in all essays no matter what its for. I knew there was

Perez2

a lot of things that where needed for the next two drafts so I got to work. With the first draft to
the second one I did not include any outside sources and for the academic sources I did include
as well and I didnt cite them. So when it was time to start my last essay I made sure to include
quotes, sources, and supporting evidences or else Id be marked off again. What made citing
sources difficult for me was that not all the information I needed was not stated so it was
confusing at first. After seeking help and citing multiple sources for practice it helped when I had
to do the ones for my essay.
From my first writing essay with multiple drafts it helped on improving my skills for the
next essay. Youth Culture was my topic and because I am currently experiencing it, it was an
easy topic to relate to. The book, Every Day by David Levithan, was a big contribution for my
essay because it is based on a teenager who was experiencing different phases and in and out of
different bodies. Everything was easy to tie in together but I did start off rough when putting it
all together. One of my biggest issues with this essay as well was citing the page number after
the quote. Because I found the book through pdf. File it was different than actually being able to
find the same quote through the book. But what helped improve this was borrowing a book from
a classmate so that I could see what book numbers they were. As I kept writing the next two
drafts it definitely turned out to be easier because I put a lot of focus on all of my errors so that
the same mistakes wouldnt be repeated whether if it was grammar, cites, length, and other
cosmetic mistakes.
Something that both of my essays had in common when it came to making mistakes it
was citing my work and writing the length that was asked of me. For some reason I could not be
as detailed with both of the essays until I got to the last and final draft. Instead of being

Perez3

completely detailed Id only write the basic facts on it and not expand on it. Same thing with the
quotes, I only included them because it was a part of the mandatory things that needed to be
done. After the first two drafts and not only getting feedback from my professors, but also from
my peers, it gave me different points of view of what I should be doing to keep my audience
interested and focused. Doing the peer reviews helped a lot because it gave me a look at what my
readers wanted to see from me and also giving me tips on what I should do to make my writing
better.
As I finally came to my last and final draft it became so much easier because I had three
chances to get it together. I had three chances to show that I understood what was being asked of
me. For both of my essays I cited both well, fixed all of my grammar mistakes, fixed my quote
sandwiches, became detailed and expanded further about something instead of just stating things,
and because I started expanding on things it also became easier to fill all the page requirements
as well. Not only did the peer reviews help but also the SI class that was after the English class
helped as well because our professor clarified what our English professor wanted from us.
Because she was an English major as well she was skilled in what we were supposed to do.
Through this entire semester with all the resources I had available to my advantaged I
definitely have improved my writing skills excessively. Ive improved in grammar, citing,
quoting, and being descriptive. These were all issues I struggled with throughout the semester
but I managed to learn from my mistakes and became the well writer that I am today. From this
experience as well I now know what it takes to write a well written essay regardless of what the
topic is.