Lysa Britt
Professor Collins
ENGL 1301
29 November 2017
Before entering this semester, I did not have much knowledge on communicating through
writing academically other than a remedial English course. This semester I have vastly improved
on research, analysis and creative thinking through writing. The two essay assignments that
assisted with my improvement are essay 2 and essay 3. If I were to take this class again I would
research the topics itself, it would further assist my writing drastically. By researching the topic, I
was able to decide which one would have more credible content and if I could relate to it, by doing
Essay 2 was written about a report of the procedure of circumcision on male newborns and
represent either side fairly. I researched through dozens of scholarly reports, medical journals, and
news articles. I had to analyze both sides of the argument and present my findings. The purpose of
the assignment was to form an unbiased report. Upon researching the argument of circumcision, I
came to the realization most people are not going to be easily persuaded if their argument is based
on their faith. Due to the purpose of the essay being a report, I was not able to express my emotions
on the topic I had to utilize my creative thinking. This essay required countless hours of reading,
One of my last assignments happen to be the most challenging, essay 3 was a visual
rhetorical analysis. I choose the advertisement on the effects of banning abortion, it was created
by the Guttmacher Institute. I immediately went to the website and other websites to research the
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facts stated in the advertisement. I learned through research that abortion had a generous amount
of information on both sides of the argument. Analyzing for this advertisement was simple since
it was something I could look at and see. The issue I struggled with this assignment was the creative
thinking, I thought to myself how could I come up with 950-1300 words for this assignment. After
an astounding amount of determination, listening in class, going to a tutor and reading my English
During this semester I was able to grow my communication skills through academic
writing. English 1301 has taught me how to locate credible sources, and what pathos, ethos, and
symbolism entail for academic writing. I have learned how to effectively analyze other published
documents and form a summarization of what was written. Also, during this time, I have been
working on my creative thinking by opening my mind to other viewpoints. I may not be as well
versed as most but most definitely more so I linguistics skills have grown which makes me proud
of myself. Henceforward, the knowledge I come to have accumulated from this course will assist
myself to lay the foundation of any assignment that will be appointed in my upcoming courses.