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Reagan Reeves

Bates

College Composition

29 January 2018

The Stat Sheet Part Two

College Composition 112 has been the second intense soccer game this year that has the
statistics to prove it. This game was filled with missed shots, shots on-frame, goals, and assists.
The stat sheet of this game, my portfolio, has recorded all these significant moments that have
occurred in this course.
At the beginning of the semester, we started by taking steps off of the last semester. I had
some goals for this semester. My first goal was to use less “to be” verbs throughout my writing,
specifically my topic sentences. Next goal was to improve my integration of evidence into my
writing. Third goal was to improve the organization and effectiveness of my thesis skills. Lastly,
I hoped to develop my writer’s voice.
We began the semester with a difficult essay that was an extension of what we learned
from the previous semester’s research essay. We started with the Aristotelian argument essay
that involved writing an argumentative essay with research and logic while avoiding fallacy.
Overall, I felt this essay was decent because I greatly improved on areas I was struggling with
earlier in the writing process. This essay was a shot on frame! I felt I improved greatly in this
essay from the previous essay we did involving research. I integrated the research well and
allowed it to flow while not forgetting to proofread for grammatical and mechanical errors.
Within this essay, I found I was strong in providing clear introductions and conclusions. My
topic sentences and paragraph transitions were very well-written too. This essay still had many
ways to improve however, the development and portrayal of my thesis being the main weakness.
My thesis was very confusing and unclear. The thesis lacked flow and it was very difficult for
the readers to follow. As we started a new essay, the literary analysis, I remembered all these
weaknesses and focused on improving them in this essay. The literary analysis I wrote based on
A Thousand Splendid Suns​ by Khaled Hosseini was my strongest piece all year long, which was
great to see since it was my last essay I would write in College Composition 112. This essay was
a goal in the soccer game! My thesis on this essay was such an improvement in skill. I showed
mastery of this skill. It was my best thesis ever. It was clear, concise and very telling for the rest
of the essay. Not only did I improve my ability to write a thesis skills but my literary analysis
skills were mastered too. I was strong in providing more analysis than summary when trying to
prove my thesis. I focused on providing in-depth examinations of elements that related to my
analysis. I broke down aspects of the text and symbols in order to come to conclusive evidence
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of how and why the author used certain elements to reveal the purpose of the book. Despite the
strength and grave improvement of this essay, I still could sharpen my skills of flow within body
paragraphs and my use of unnecessary fluff. I was happy with how far my writing has come this
semester. I have mastered very important skills I will need for the next game.
Overall, this last semester was one tough game. It was an endurance haul. I reach some
goals and didn’t reach others. My argument essay helped me develop into my own writer’s voice
and learn how to integrate evidence while keeping the flow. On the other hand, my literary
analysis helped me reach my goal of improving my ability to write a thesis and helped continued
to work on my ability to integrate evidence while having flow. Through all these goals being
reached, I still failed to lessen the use of “to be” verbs in my essays. I didn’t reach that goal
because I focused on many other aspects like meeting the requirements of the rubric and
proofreading. I hope to focus on this specific goal in my next essay at the next game.
The next game I will be playing will be difficult, intense, filled with sweat, glimpses of
surrender, missed shots, but it will also have its goals, mini victories, hope, and strength. I am
ready for this new challenge of Slippery Rock University. At Slippery Rock University, I will be
a full time student and soccer player at this medium sized, division two university in
Pennsylvania. I will be taking a few general education classes including critical reading and
writing. I am excited for these challenges. I will be majoring in Homeland Security and minoring
in modern languages such as Arabic. I hope to go into the military after college and become an
officer. I will learned from my mistakes in the previous game of College Composition 111 and
112, and I plan to be ready to improve in this next game of Slippery Rock University and life.