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Robert Brunn
December 7th, 2014
English Composition 1
Portfolio Reflective Essay
Portfolio Essay
I learned in English Composition 111 that pre-writing is a crucial part of making an
essay. It helps you get your brain flowing and come up with ideas. About 90% of the time we did
pre-writing I used something that I came up with during the pre-writing. It helped me
tremendously because half the time when you try and just write a paper you without planning it
out it isnt going to be a very well organized paper. The first time you do a paper it isnt going to
be perfect so that is where rough drafts and proofreading come into play. If we didnt do peer
editing my essays wouldnt be even close to what they look like now because when you get a
different set of eyes on a paper they will see things you dont notice. That other person will also
give you insight that you might not have even thought about. Once you get that other persons
feedback you have to revise your paper. Revising your paper requires you to make some changes
and incorporate those ideas given to you by others.
In order to write a successful paper you have to write with the correct structure. Your
introduction should be crafted well and have your thesis in it. Also, your introduction should
give your reader some sort of an idea of how you are going to discuss the topic. You should have
a clear and concise thesis in your introduction. An example of how you should write a clear and
concise thesis would be in my 4th essay, The University of Akron needs to stop smoking on
campus because it is dangerous for the students around them, the environment, and bad for the
peoples health that are actually smoking themselves. (Brunn Essay 4)

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The body paragraphs are what back up what you are saying in your paper. Every body paragraph
in the paper should relate back to the thesis that was stated in the introduction. You should also
have smooth transitions in your paper in order to go from the last paragraph to the next. These
are necessary because it keeps the essay in flow. It makes everything sound smoother. The
conclusion should be a reminder of the main ideas that were discussed in the paper and should tie
up all of the loose ends in the paper. An example of a good conclusion from my paper would be
in my 3rd essay,
In conclusion, the narrator throughout the entire story tries to prove to either the readers
or possibly a shrink that he isnt crazy. For the most part he did the complete opposite,
but did show a little sanity by showing some sort of remorse for what he did. Also, the
first paragraph is actually in real time the ending of the story, because he starts the story
by telling someone a story. I think he is in prison talking to a psych ward trying to prove
that he is mentally sane. This is a riveting story that will keep you on the edge of your
seat. (Brunn Essay 3)
This is a good example because it correlates back to the main idea and reminds you of what you
just read. It is also good because it shows two different views on the topic discussed and lets the
reader chose which one they believe is correct.
When writing an essay it is crucial to remind yourself about how the reader will perceive
what you are writing. You have to remember that not everyone thinks the way you do so it is
important to remember when writing. If you only write about your own opinions then you will
come off as bias and no one will take your paper seriously. Also, never assume the audience
knows anything about what you are writing. When you assume things that creates gaps in your
paper and can very easily confuse the reader. When making a statement in your essay back it up

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with reasonable facts not just more opinions. In doing so you will gain more trust from your
readers, which is very important to do.
It is very important to incorporate your ideas in connection with outside materials
because no one is going to believe a college student knows everything so you have to have some
help in backing up your point. You can do this by quoting a piece from someone elses work to
help prove your point. Then after doing that you would do a parenthetical citation. A great
example of this is in my 3rd essay,
This is an incredible that the narrator actually likes the old man, but he wants to kill him.
The reason he gives is because of the old mans eye. The narrator says, He had the eye
of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it.(Poe Pars 2) Obviously no normal
person thinks like this so yet again he is disproving himself throughout the story.
(Brunn essay 3) This is how you properly integrate a quote into a paper successfully.
Critical Reading is important because it allows you to truly understand what the author
was trying to say and understand it better It helps you ask questions and look up words you dont
understand and to mark up the text. In doing this you will get a better understanding of what the
goal would be of this paper. Analytical writing I thought was going to be very long, tedious, and
difficult. It turned out that it is long, but it really wasnt that difficult. You just incorporate quotes
to back up your ideas from the story that you read.
I have been using MLA format since the 6th grade so I am very familiar with the format. I
havent had any difficulties with MLA and it has shown in all of my essays. More
specifically here is a great example of MLA in my 4th essay, The University of Akron.
"Non-Smoking Policy.: The University of Akron. The University of Akron, n.d. Web. 22

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Nov. 2014. <https://www.uakron.edu/health/non-smoking-policy.dot>. That is a great
example of how to cite a source in MLA format.
In conclusion, I have learned some great things from this class and really enjoyed myself while
doing it as well. I learned that I am a much better writer than I ever thought that I was,
but I still need to improve on my grammar and then I will be an even better writer than I
am today.