Afable 1

Camille Afable
Professor Lynette Morinini
English 114B
04 May 2015
Preface
In transitioning from English 114A to English 114B, the journey with English 114B was
more fulfilling compared to English 114A. In English 114B, I was able to learn more about
poetry and the styles of poetry. In high school, I used to dislike reading poetry because I could
never understand the poems I read. Another learning experience I had in English 114B was
reading an interesting book called The Omnivores Dilemma and watching films related to the
book called King Corn and Food Inc. We were also able to respond to it in an in-class essay. In
the end, we wrote a research paper on a topic about food. The journey in English 114B brought
out the inner writer in me since I looked at writing as something interesting rather than stressful.
In my poetry essay, I wrote about my analysis and reflection on the poem Phenomenal
Woman by Maya Angelou. It was not that difficult to analyze and reflect on her style of
writing. The only challenge was that during the process, I was disorganized with the order of my
paragraphs and I was being repetitive about the word confident. Although I had all my
paragraphs in front of me, I lacked the organization of my thoughts in order to create a good
flow. The best part was the personal reflection on the poem because it made me see my own
beauty even though there were different perspectives. As I was writing this essay, I was able to
recognize my inner beauty, and this increased my confidence. In the end, the essay was a
success due to the well-thought analysis and personal reflection on the poem.

Afable 2
Our final paper towards the end of the semester was a research paper based on a topic
about food. During the process, I was able to gather enough sources to turn my paper from a
broad topic to something more specific. One problem was the thesis since a single sentence
could not demonstrate what the argument was about. I was able to split the thesis into two
sentences in order to provide a good flow to the introduction paragraph. The counterargument to
the essay was my strongest point in the research paper. In the end, I was able to present enough
information for both sides of the argument.
Before the research paper, the next essay was an in-class essay about responding to The
Omnivores Dilemma and what we learned so far while reading the book. At first, my writing
mainly focused on the beginning of the book. As I continued writing, it surprised me as to what I
learned with the book regarding where our food came from. But during the process, there were
some minor grammar problems and some repetition. I was later able to create a good flow on the
essay that related to the prompt of the response. Overall, the process was a success resulting to a
clear thesis, good body paragraphs, and an effective conclusion.
As my journey of English 114B came to an end, I hope that the things I learned and the
writing techniques I acquired do not fade away through all my college years. From the styles of
poetry to knowing about what is in our food, this class greatly helped me improve in my writing
techniques by learning about thesis and organization. Throughout the progress of writing all
these essays, I learned how organization plays a huge role for a smooth flow in an essay. In the
future, I hope to be more organized in writing my thoughts so I could create an essay that would
bring delight and enjoyment to its reader.