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Sol Jung

Professor Beadle

English 115

9 December 2019

Reflection for English 115-Fall 2019

Coming to the end of the semester, I came to the realization that I love to learn. Learning

about the different techniques and strategies used in writing was interesting, but was I able to

utilize my learning into my essays? In all honesty, no, however the knowledge learned in class

were used in all the essays: Project Space, Project Text, Project Media. In high school the high

standards to write a complex essay that sounds very sophisticated is the direct result to the

unorganized writing. After multiple LRC writing and Grammar Lab sessions, I came to the

realization that I need to start to practice the basics to further strengthen my newly learned skills.

Despite the lack of practice in grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation, through this

English 115 courses, the increase of self-actualization in my writing style is very memorable.

All the final papers in this course were just brainstorming gibberish with the sole purpose

to just answer the prompt. In the back of my mind, I always thought that the essays could be

better, through this opportunity I was able to spot the multiple sections with innocent sentence

structures with too much complexity. Specifically, in the Project Space “The Path to True

Happiness Starts from Desiring Less” the whole entire introduction needed to be revised. Every

sentence was complicated since I put so much effort to sound like a “college student”. Writing in

a style that did not define who I was screwed me over, as evidenced by the grade I received.

Disregarding the subject, verb, and object (SVO) sentence structure, I listed the definition of

logos, ethos, and pathos before stating these words, “An argument built upon one’s credibility
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utilizes ethos…”. This went in the order of object, verb, then subject which does not abide by the

rules of subject, verb, and then object. I was only able to realize my mistakes when I made

multiple appointments with the Grammar Lab, where I was lucky enough to meet Brandon and

Anne. They assisted and retaught me the basic rules of the English grammar. So instead of the

sentence quoted above, it would be much easier to follow when stated, “One of the rhetorical

strategies, ethos, is the utilization of one’s credibility to build an effective argument…” If I

switched the orders of the sentence structure, I thought that I would indeed sound sophisticated,

but my plan backfired. Essay after essay, the repetition of “check grammar” or “this sentence is

woah”, would build up. I still have not been able to fix every problem, but I am slowly evolving

to read the essay from different perspectives to find the “iffy” sounding sentences. Learning that

writing is not one of the strongest points for me, I was able to discover another aspect of my

mind that I did not think of before.

Over this semester, the context or the ideas of my essays did grow. Trying to scrap up

every piece of outside resources I heard/ learned about to connect back to my essay was the best

part about writing. Just the initial stages of brainstorming and jotting down everything I could

think of with the Writing Lab tutor during the short 30-minute meet ups were the best time

during the essay writing process. One of the ideas in that dwelled in my mind was Maslow’s

Hierarchy of Needs. This theory is from psychology, and every single essay could have had

multiple paragraphs regarding to this. I was going to implement this theory into Project Text on

how Gregor’s needs were unmet which ultimately lead to his downfall/death and how in society

it is also a necessity to fulfill this hierarchy of needs to survive. With no time left due to

procrastination, plan b would come in the way with the basic generic ideas. Having too many

ideas all crowding my head it was inevitable to just forget about it, so I would push it to the back
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of my mind and occasionally just write down what popped up. These bursts of ideas are the

cause to weird/confusing sentences. Still in belief that the more ideas the better, in the near future

I will focus on specific ideas selected through the brainstorming process. This will lead to an

organized essay with clear direction to where the writing is heading towards.

All projects are based upon the ideas of society and psychology; I should have utilized

the resources from previous psychology and current sociology class to create a smoother writing

process. Despite the obstacles faced primarily with the “brain fart” or the “writer’s block”, I was

able to finish all essays before the due date to the best of my efforts given the hours available.

Through this course, the ability to learn about the campus resources were also useful within this

entire semester. This English 115 course’s curriculum and Professor Beadles very straight

forward teaching style was a new experience that guided me to the introduction of college level

writing styles.