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Kyle Poole

Professor Massie

EMGL 1301

09 December 2019

Reflections on English 1301

English is my first and only language. I have taken some type of English course every

year for the last fourteen years of my life, which makes me ask, what else could I possibly need

to know or could learn from another English course? As I begin to reflect on what knowledge I

have gained during this entry-level college course, I am surprised. I feel like I have learned more

in this sixteen-week course than I did in all four years of high school. I feel my writing ability

improved with each essay I wrote, and that my third essay was the most improved upon. I finally

mastered citations and the works cited page, had a firmer grasp on written organization skills,

and increased my writing stamina.

By the time I wrote the visual rhetorical essay, I feel like everything we discussed in class

finally came together. I could successfully use in-text citations, build a proper work cited page,

use effective written organization skills, and my writing stamina was much improved. The first

essay I wrote for this class did not contain any in text citations. The lack of knowledge and

inability to incorporate in text citations into my writing effected the credibility of the paper and

resulted in earning a lower grade than desired. I also failed to produce a properly formatted

works cited page. In my high school English courses, I was never taught how to cite a website

correctly. My high school teachers just wanted the website address pasted at the end of the paper.

After reading my textbook and doing some research on citations and work cited pages, I

discovered several websites that helped me overcome this issue. Another problem I experienced
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that had been eliminated by the time I wrote the visual rhetorical essay was the ability to

organize my thoughts. This was accomplished by learning to create a proper outline and using

transition words. The first essay’s outline I created had too much information and did not set up

topic sentences properly. I failed to use transition words and had to rework my topic sentences

for the final draft. This was a valuable lesson learned because if the topic sentences had been set

up properly in the outline the final draft would have developed more easily. These issues were

resolved by the time I wrote the visual rhetorical essay. The last thing I feel I improved on was

my writing stamina. I remember at the beginning of this course I thought that a 300 –500-word

essay was overwhelming. I questioned myself on how I would possibly accomplish this in the

time allotted, but with practice and the skills learned in this course, I have been able to overcome

this doubt.

This course helped me better understand the elements of writing. It provided valuable

instruction and feedback on proper citation techniques and work cited pages. It allowed plenty of

opportunity for organization skills to develop through structured course work and accountability.

Through instructor guidance and encouragement, my writing stamina was increased beyond my

expectations. This course will always have an impact on my future because it made me a better

communicator.