Dominick Nordin

May 5th, 2017

Professor Baker ENG 101

Self-Reflection

The exercises that are more meaningful to me is the reading response

discussions. I read the essays from the Bedford reader and saw the different
writing styles that everyone uses. It showed me everyone is different in their
own specific way. Such as the essay by Javdani, Marie. She wrote about the
problems Columbia suffers from. The style she wrote her essay caught my
attention and made me fully understand it. After submitting my reader
response and viewing other students responses made me feel better
knowing some people are just as bad as I am at writing essays. This
empowered me to do better. In my first essay I spent so much time and focus
to make it meaningful and full of voice. I should have been spending my time
doing the other essays that were overdue. In that essay I reflected on how
well of a writer I can be if I am willing and focused on the paper. I should
have done better in this class. The parts of class that were new to me was
meeting once a week and doing the work all online. Never before have been
entitled to this luxury, I am used to having an instructor or sergeant standing
over my shoulder telling me what to do. It made me incompetent and
irresponsible as a student having this luxury.
The lessons I have learned have been invaluable. Writing is a like
learning how to play an instrument. The more you practice, the better you
become. The essays I read from the Bedford Reader have shown me different
writing perspectives. Those perspectives gave me insight on how to write
certain essays. If I want to write a letter to my commander, it will be
informative and straight to the facts. If the letter is to my fiance or family
member, the letter will have more voice and be more of a descriptive letter
in order to show emotion. Knowing your readers is very crucial in writing.
Certain topics and styles will catch their attention, but most of all I need to
make sure the writing is precise and accurate.
Now that I have this new knowledge in my head I will strive to better in
my future English classes. Maybe I am one of those students that need a few
years away from school and attend again to demonstrate my new
perspectives on what I have learned. I plan on learning on how to ask for
help at writing centers, tutors or anyone else that has expertise in the writing
field in order to learn their skills and techniques to crack the code of
becoming a good writer. The only thing I had a problem with was not meeting
in class a few days a week. I learned so much when I was in class on Monday,
but not having the instructor there Wednesday or Friday made me inefficient
in making sure I do the work in a timely manner. I have definitely learned my
lesson this semester, I will do the work when it is due without having
someone there over my shoulder like it has been all my life. I will not make
the same mistake again. Thank you Professor Baker for helping me
understand this.

Javdani, Marie. Plata oPlomo: Silver or Lead The Brief Bedford Reader, 12th
Ed. Edited by Kennedy etal, Bedford/St. Martins, 2014, pp. 377-380