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Lozano, Kevin

Professor Beadle

Engl. 115

December 7 2017

Reflection Essay

Learning is a big part of what makes us human. Through learning we can see what does

and does not work and learn from it. Learning is a key factor in what makes us human and it is

what makes us a better person. Through learning we can learn from experiences that will help us

be a better version of ourselves. During my time in this class Ive learned from what works and

what does not when it comes to writing. From making a work cited page to how to made a thesis

statement; Ive learned and have grown as a writer. I have improved in my writing in order to

achieve a better grade in the class. This class has also provided me new insight in how to

properly make a paper in MLA format.

Before I began this class I lacked knowledge in key aspects of an essay. Since high

school was not demanding on some parts of an essay such as the use of quotes and having a work

cited page, most of the time it was never on my essays. However, now I understand that

information from articles, books, journals, and even websites in the form of quotes aid an essay

in credibility. A quote from sources provides credibility since you can quote people that are even

more qualified you; this gives your argument more credibility and evidence to be backed up. In

my first essay, Alien Invasion Through the Southern Border for project space; I had no outside

sources even though it was required. Therefore it was just me talking about my thesis without the

credibility that outside sources might provide. In the end my paper lacked the credibility I would

have obtained by simply using quotes. All this left me with a bad grade of course and a poor
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written paper. At the same time Im glad I didnt use sources since I had no idea on how to make

a work cited page and probably wouldve skipped it. By the time I had no idea that plagiarism

was a big deal and that one just cannot simply take someone elses thoughts and ideas and add

them without providing credit for the person first. I did not know before finishing the essay that

this was the standard and had no idea on how to even do a work cited page. These two mistakes

were corrected in my second essay. In my project text essay, Godzillas Evolution Reflects

Modern Day Japan. In this essay I made sure to use sources in order to add credibility to my

claim. Since it was about how the monster changed in two different movies in two different time

periods; I searched for articles on what was going on in Japan by the time each one of the two

movies were produced. These aid my thesis by providing evidence and therefore got a higher

grade. I also made sure to add a work cited page in order to provide credit to those whose words

I used in my essay. Learning how to use sources has helped me grow as a writer because my

claims now are stronger and more credible. Also, learning how to make a work cited page has

helped me grow as a writer since I can now avoid plagiarism and follow the standard.

Another way my writing improved thanks to this class is in the connection between my

thesis and body paragraphs. In my first essay for project space; I did not fully connected the

central ideas in my body paragraphs to my thesis statement. This caused my body paragraphs to

just have a lot of information about the topic at hand but no stated connection. I failed connect

the information provided in the paragraphs to the central thesis. This is bad because then all the

information just floats around without any direction. However, I now see how it is supposed to

be done. The body paragraphs serve as a nervous system but in the end I all is connected to the

brain which is just like the central thesis statement. I tried correcting this in Project Text;

however, I still did not do well in one paragraph. I believe in my third and last essay theres a
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better connection between body paragraphs and the thesis. Seeing that the thesis is supposed to

be the main force all throughout the essay helped me grow as a writer. Now I know that a

connection between the info. In the paragraphs and the thesis is necessary.

Last but not least, I learned proper MLA format. In my first few exercises I used font

number 11 and Arial. This is wrong when it comes to MLA format; I had no idea how to

properly do an MLA format paper. In my Project Space essay, I still struggled to get it right.

I did not properly select the margins, the header was in small roman numerals, the font was

wrong, and the spacing was wrong. Now that some time has passed and 2 essays later; I know it

was wrong. Before this class MLA was not required for me to learn so I simply didnt. However,

now I know the proper margins, font, theme, and spacing. This is a great skill to posses because

MLA is one of the most commonly used formats when it comes to writing.

Looking back at this class, I can see that Ive grown. I am now a better writer than what I

was 4 months ago. Through the process of learning Ive acquired skills such as formatting,

proper thesis composition, source use, and how to avoid plagiarism. These are skills that I will

need all throughout my college years and maybe even my whole life. In the end Im glad I got to

take this class.