Reflective Essay

Diamond Moore

English 1001

Jonathan Maxey

13 April 2020

Reflective Essay

Introduction

During this course I have struggled with staying motivated to do papers. I have also struggled with one or two essays. Sometimes not knowing what to type can set me back. For example, drafting the research paper was somewhat difficult because of the transition from in person to online. Also, setting the paper up was difficult as well. The counter arguments were the hardest part of everything for me in the research paper. This transition may have impacted the quality of my paper because I have been less inclined to do homework. I kind of just push it off till the day before. I try to work around this issue by remembering that classes will be over soon, and I will not have to do this for a few months. School drains me and I like being able to do what I want when I want without having to do homework every other day. Some of my strengths as a writer would have to be my ability to really sit and try to go into detail with a paper. I think I do well with asking questions and follow the directions of the assignments. These are my biggest strengths because I like to make sure my projects are correct. I somewhat irritates me if it is not done correctly. It also hinders my grade, so this is a good strength to have. I believe my strengths have been shown throughout my papers. I try my hardest to do my best on each paper and yes sometimes I may get very sick of the papers, but I know it is important to get done.

Rhetorical Essay

The rhetorical essay was actually one of my least favorite essays. I did not like it because it was based of another essay that was written prior. But I learned that in order to write the best essay possible it is important to know and understand the audience one is writing for. Typically, the audience is the professor. The analysis helps the student understand and process the writing. The analysis is different because you are taking a lot of info from the article that was written and making it your own while also giving credit to where it is needed. I struggled with what to add. I also struggled with writing the paper correctly, but I think I eventually got it right. I did well with going back and trying my best to fix the essay.

Exploratory Essay

            While writing the exploratory essay, I learned more background information about the field I want to venture in. I have also learned more and better ways to search for information using the University of Cincinnati library website. I have also used it for many more articles and essays for many other classes. The exploration essay is different because you are looking for information that pertains to your career. This essay has made me even more interested in my career field. It was easy, in my opinion, to not take a position on the topic. The only part that I struggled with was one or two questions. Writing and finding many of my questions were the easy parts. Overall, I believe I feel good about the essay.

Research Essay

From the research essay I learned a few resources that help women business owners. I also learned that women are at a disadvantage in the business industry. The research essay is focused on a topic that I picked. Its longer and has a lot more sources and takes a lot more time to write. I think it was difficult to find information for my counter arguments. Just because I understood my side of the arguments but did not know what to search for the counter arguments. I had to really put myself in the shoes of someone who would understand the counter arguments. It was not difficult at all for me to stick with one position. I think it was extremely easy for me to stay on one side because I understand the problems. I am a woman that wants to go into business, so this topic is very interesting to me. It was more difficult to understand the counter arguments. Research gives a student a way to back up their information. It helps a student prove a point. I struggled with making my counter arguments at first. I also struggled with writing some parts of the essay. For example, the counter arguments were the hardest part for me to write. It was not my favorite part at all. I did well with doing each piece of time and meeting the requirements. I think my partner and I also did well with communicating with each other and making plans to give each other.

Multimodal Project

            I learned that the multimodal project is extraordinarily complex. It makes me somewhat irritated that there is such strict regulations for the project. Of course, the project should not be 2 minutes of someone else video, but I do not think that my video that is 42 seconds will be accepted. The project only allows 15 slides with picture and 5 can have text. There is also a time limit of 5  minutes. The multimodal project is different because it is a PowerPoint. And it is also based off another paper that we have previously done. Finding the correct images was not that hard. When finding a video, it was hard to edit out the important parts that I wanted to share. There was just so many. I struggled with looking at the instructions in the beginning. I had 11 slides before I noticed the amount of text that could be used and could not. So, I had to redo 10 slides which was not that hard but was very frustrating. Overall, the project took me about an hour and a half to do. I think I will struggle with the audio part because it will irk me if the audio does not work well or sound well on the slides. I think out of all of the projects we have done this is my least favorite. I think I did well with finding the right images to go with each topic and the placement of each topic. 

Conclusion

            I wish I did not forget some assignments at the beginning. But I am most proud that I did finish the course with a decent grade and finished all the assignments. After failing to turn in the first few assignments I have really been on top on my English homework. The assignments have   made me realize how I write and who I write to is important. I believe I have improved my writing. I will definitely use the tools and sites I have found in this course for another course like I have done in the past. The University of Cincinnati Blue Ash site was very helpful and made work for other classes a hundred times easier for me. For someone who is coming into this course I suggest making sure you have a plan to be available for assignments, do not be shy make sure you ask questions whenever needed, and put your all in each assignment make sure not to rush.