Nick Tracy

Professor Baker
English 101
8 May 2017
Final Self Reflection Essay
Through my experience in English 101, I was able to solidify my writing skills in a
handful of different areas. In this course I wrote an essay in each of the different styles: narrative
and example, comparison/contrast, cause and effect, and argument. Before writing my essays, I
would first learn exactly what an essay of that nature requires and how an official author would
write one thanks to my readings in both the Rules for Writers and The Brief Bedford Reader. An
example of that would be during unit 3 when I was assigned to read a cause and effect essay
titled Plata o Plomo: Silver or Lead. This essay demonstrated clearly how an action can lead to
an effect by discussing the actions taken on drug laws in the United States and the effects it has
on Southern countries (Javdani, 377). I believe it helped me greatly when writing my essay,
Depression, as it showed the correct way to relate my ideas to other ones. After responding to
the essay, we would then host discussions on it as a class through the MC website. This was
something that was new to me since I have never taken an online or blended class before, and I
believe it was also something that made me feel more involved in the class then I usually do.
Finally, we would have grammar tests every unit to ensure our skills were up to par with what
they should be.

The things I learned from this class have changed the way I write my essays. The
grammar modules have made me more conscious of certain aspects of my writing, such as
parallelism of verbs and the placement of modifiers. Also, the narrative essay was a nice
refresher to my memory since it has been a while since Ive had to write an essay in that style.
Additionally, Id like to believe that Im now more of a systematic writer, in the sense that I now
approach my essays with an outline which allows me to be more organized in my thoughts.
Before I would wait until the last day to write my final draft which would yield sloppy results,
but this class has taught me the power of planning out essays as I can clearly see the difference
between what I used to write and what I currently write.

With what I learned from this class, I hope to be a more powerful writer so that I can
portray my thoughts exactly the way I want to. Contrary to what a lot of people believe, learning
how to write is actually really important. People seem to think that certain jobs dont require any
writing skills, but that isnt true. Once I am done with college, Im hoping to become a computer
programmer or engineer. I imagine that every now and then I am going to have to write some
sort of request, complaint, or report to my higher-powers. And when that time inevitably comes, I
am going to be thankful for the skills I gained from this class.
 Works Cited Page

Javdani, Marie "Plata o Plomo: Silver or Lead." The Brief Bedford Reader, Ed. Bedford/St.
Martin's. Boston, MA. Print

Tracy, Nicholas. The Cause and Effects of Depression. Unpublished paper. Germantown, MD,
2017. Print