Massey 1

Caitlyn Massey
Professor Collins
ENGL 1301
30 November 2016
Reflection on the Semester
At the beginning of this semester, I was filled with anxiety and anticipation for this class.
English has never been a strong subject for me and I was not sure what to expect from a college
course. In the past I took advanced English courses, but I knew dual-credit English would be
brand new territory for me. Throughout this class, I have grown as a writer and my skills have
strengthened immensely. I have become disciplined in meeting crucial word counts and
deadlines. This semester has allowed me to vary my writing, organize my thoughts better, and
analyze content on a deeper level.
Before entering this class, my writing abilities allowed me to produce a decent essay with
minimal variation. This course has opened my eyes to different ways I can vary my writing
through the process of Ratiocination. Editing a paper with the Ratiocination technique allows me
to upgrade my diction, vary my sentence lengths and write unique sentence starters. I remember
using this editing technique for the first time on the review essay. All the marks, circles, and
highlights on my paper showed me how much I could truly improve as a writer. By using this
form of editing on all of the essays written throughout the course, my bad writing habits and
juvenile errors have slowly been eliminated. I am able to produce higher quality assessments
with vast variation due to Ratiocination.
This course has also improved my organization skills within my writing. Organization in
papers has always been one of my strong suits, but people always have room to grow. In the

Massey 2
report essay I wrote for the class, I was instructed to follow the M.E.A.L plan for my body
paragraphs. This plan stands for main idea, evidence, analysis, and link. Through the use of this
plan, my organization within this paper and future papers for the course improved immensely.
All of my body paragraphs followed this structure which allowed for the content to flow. This
organization technique can be applied to future papers within my educational career.
One of my biggest struggles in previous advanced English classes was analysis. I was
never able to analyze my thoughts and ideas at a deep enough level. This course required me to
produce a visual rhetorical analysis paper which I stressed deeply about. The entire target of this
essay was my biggest weakness within writing. Creating this paper allowed me to push myself
harder than I have before and truly analyze my content in order to meet the hefty word count.
Through the exercises performed in class prior to this assignment and the essay itself, I was able
to strengthen my weak analysis skills. Analyzing is a key component in any paper and I am
thankful this course has helped me overcome my struggle with this writing device.
By reflecting on this semester, I am proud to have pushed myself as hard as I did within
this course. I will be able to apply all the skills and newly acquired strengths obtained towards
my future writings. This class has allowed me to become a brand new writer and I could not be
more grateful.