Bauer 1

Jacob Bauer
Professor Collins
ENGL 1301
30 November 2016
My Reflection upon ENGL 1301
Before I entered ENGL 1301, I came from a background of writing AP English Language
and Composition essays. In that class, the writing was stressed on the content of the argument
and not on the structure. From a mathematical and science-excelled background, this type of
writing was extremely difficult for me. Coming into ENGL 1301, I have been given the
opportunity to work on the elements being used in my essay, and that was one thing that I need a
lot to prepare for my classes I will be taking in college. Throughout the semester, my writing
improved using the techniques I was taught in the class. Alongside the writing component
improving, I have received a feel of how college classes operate while in high school.
My second Short Answer Response was the first prompt I had a difficult time putting my
thoughts together. There were a few lessons that I learned from writing this Short Answer
Response that I could apply into my future essays. One mistake I made was leaving out citations
where they were needed in the final draft, and I learned that I need to add citations even when
paraphrasing. Another mistake that I made was my use of diction in a few spots, and I learned
that I need to be cautious about the words that I choose to use throughout my entire essay.
Through these lessons, the quality of my writing enhanced in my future essays, and it started to
become more knit-picky.
The Report essay was an obstacle to write all the way to the end, and alongside my
Report essay was the Annotated Bibliography. This part of the semester was very overwhelming

Bauer 2
for me because I did not feel confident in what I was wanting to say. It was the first time that I
had to do this type of research essay alongside writing about specific points that within four
resources that I found in my research. I had to learn what the professor wanted to find, and I
made errors in the process. In my rough draft, I was writing bias and adding the page number in
the citations when I was not supposed to. From the feedback in the content check, I corrected
these mistakes made in the rough draft along with revising other areas that I needed to. In the
final draft, I left out a citation in the introductory as well as had a few problems with wordchoice that I did not notice. After reviewing the marks that I received on the final draft grading, I
learned that I need to notice my use of outside sources whenever I am writing, and to use better
diction. In my Annotated Bibliography, I had an issue with originality when dictating what I
found when researching different sources for my Report essay. From this, I learned that I need to
do a better job paraphrasing for my own originality. Also, from doing the Annotated
Bibliography, I learned to be thorough when researching for sources to use in other projects.
ENGL 1301 has prepared me for college by magnitudes. From the new skills that I have
learned and the past skills that I could work on, I have greatly matured on my writing and have
become better at conducting research. I have had a great experience in the class, and I am greatly
appreciative of having a professor that could guide me where I needed to go to improve on the
skills I need.