Arviso 1

Cheyenne Arviso
English 113B Mon/Wed 2-3:15p.m
Professor Griffith
15 May 2016
Reflective Essay

I am a child of many things. No matter the generation there are always students in groups,
whether they are popular, book nerds, rockers, hippies, or athletes; I have always been the neutral
type where I associated with everyone despite their categories. I am not a brand; I am diverse
with everyone always getting along with other students. School wise, I struggled in a few
subjects, mainly English. Although I enjoyed reading history and non- fictional novels, but was
still horrible with my wording; I can write a good essay just not on paper. I have been an athlete
all my life yet I can be a procrastinator in life, I am scared to make that big jump. My problem is
that I am indecisive; I cannot commit one hundred percent on certain issues. My weakness is
procrastination, and time-management that affects me more in class with my grades. My first
year as a freshman in college has given me knowledge, a reality check, and motivation to never
give up.
My first semester for English 113A, was focused on the details in an essay, the context.
The class learned or reviewed how to use syntax, figurative language, etc. to know what to use to
put in certain essays: Informative, persuasive, argumentative, research, etc. For example, we had
a book with definitions and examples of sentences with syntax and figurative language, along
with blank sentences for students to practice using. We would always use this book first semester
as a guide for class lectures. We would also get in groups to find metaphors, similes, and others

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in the novels we read, and then would write it on the board for the class to dissect what they
meant. My professor was amazing making the students in the class interact with each other to
help solve things as a class, so other students can have different perspectives. The first semester
helped me have a more clear thought out essay. On a side note, I loved how much compassion
my professor had for animals, it made me feel more comfortable to talk to her, having that
common interest.
As for my second semester, my 113B English class focused on the context of three
essays: project web, project space, and project text. I was blessed and grateful to have picked
Professor Griffith as my professor. She gives off such a positive vibe to the class with a little
humor that keeps students attentive; she also understands which made it easier for me to ask
questions. This class helped me approach a prompt, how to connect it to todays society, what
theories that can be used to help make a students essay stronger, along with writing a certain
length of pages for an essay. For example, we would analyze everything, images, use theories to
see how the author of the novels we read were, what type of stories did they like to write and
why, we would see videos for visuals. This class was more general, where we should be expected
to know how to write an essay, so we just learned the basics of whats expected in an essay: the
hook, thesis, transactions, and conclusion of an essay. This class just made sure we understood
what the prompt was asking us, and how to approach it. Compared first semester to second
semester, second semester was on how students would do with writing an essay by themselves
rather than being babied.
From High School to now, I have improved as a writer. I have always been good at what
to say for my points but never good at writing it on paper. Learning different types of theories,
how they are approached, and how someone can deconstruct it, helps me double check my

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evidence to look for pros and cons, making sure my essay cannot be deconstructed. I have
learned when writing an essay, I need to use secondary sources if I want to use my society
compared to the novel.
Something I can always improve on is my time-management, my use in vocabulary, and my use
in resources. Someone can always do more, there is never a line for success, you can always be
better at something. I know I can get better at writing my hooks and thesis with the use of tutors.
The campus library offers tutors for multiple subjects; my favorite is that a student can have one
on one time for students that want to work on an essay. Going more often to my Professors
office hours can help explain more on what to do for an assignment.
This year in English has given me more knowledge, guidance, and motivation to keep
reaching for better success. Thanks to both English class 113A and B, I can now have a stronger
essay that can be strong enough not to be deconstructed.