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Cerda, Esmeralda

English 113B

Professor Spitler-Lawson

12 May 2017

Word Count: 616

The Portfolio Reflection Essay

After working on each Project and considering steps such as:

drafting, peer review workshops, re-reading, revising, and editing, I

was able to develop strong points that helped support my thesis

statement and it also helped me improve my writing skills.

Furthermore, workshops and discussions in class helped further my

ideas and incorporate the research properly. I was aware of the

resources that California State University, Northridge had to offer; for

example, like the databases on the Oviatt Library website. This helped

develop my ideas for each assignment, including my research papers

and also conduct a stronger paper. For minor assignments, I still

considered using further research although it was not necessary. This

process helped me in many ways when it came down to writing the

assignment. I was able to use his knowledge on my assignment and it

helped further my ideas. Incorporating these sources on my major

assignments helped improve my writing skills. Peer review workshops

also gave me the benefit of including sources with the correct format,
developing a clear essay, achieving the minimum requirements, and

correcting minor mistakes. After successfully completing these

assignments, I realized that what I learned could also be used outside

of this course

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and throughout my academic career at California State University,

Northridge. Writing is an essential skill that everyone should obtain in

order to understand the basics in the workplace, in college, and in the

community. This class has influenced my writing significantly in various

ways; for example, it helped me write well developed research papers

outside of my English class, improve the main point of my papers,

include sufficient details in order to support my main point. I was also

able to acknowledge my mistakes and distinguish how I could have

improved my papers. After successfully completing my portfolio, each

assignment presented has been carefully read and I realized that there

are minor mistakes that you can always correct and make a huge

difference to strive for the highest grade mark possible. The class

exposed my classmates as well as myself to the different styles of

writing and how we can analyze a piece of work. I learned how to

narrow my topic, focus on certain areas of writing when it comes to

developing an arguable thesis statement, and understand the context

of different writing styles. Using these strategies helped expand my

body paragraphs to make a clear point. As I reread, reviewed, and

edited the assignments in my portfolio, I became aware of the

organization of my essays and how I can improve my writing skills. I

realized that I was not providing sufficient examples throughout my

writing tasks and this affected my writing significantly. After revising

and editing my final assignments, I was able to support my thesis

statement with sufficient details and expand my ideas. Throughout this

semester, I learned how to develop a strong thesis statement, ways to

support my point with reliable information, and developing strong body

paragraphs in my essay

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to improve my writing skills. One thing I struggled with was inserting

quotes from sources. This was a common problem for me when I was

required to write a research paper for other classes. The feedback I had

received from my peers as well as from my professor helped me

become aware of the minor errors in my writing and exposed me to a

variety of ideas that I could have taken into consideration to receive a

better grade. In fact, this course impacted my writing skills inside and

outside of my academic career. I was able to provide most of what I

learned inside of this course on my tasks assigned in the workplace.