Portfolio : Reflective Letter

Reflective Letter
------My education in writing started in middle school. I was taught to follow a five-paragraph format. But, as I attended Writing 101, I quickly figured out that there were other ways to write. Throughout fall quarter, I slowly realized my strengths and weaknesses in my writing. My weaknesses in writing is that I tend to make some of my sentences awkward and it is hard for me to elaborate in detail. However, I also noticed my strengths. My strengths is that my transitions flow nicely into the up coming paragraph, and I develop the concept of They Say/ I Say. At the end of the fall quarter, I realized the progress I had made. I started to add more characteristics into my writing, and I learned from Writing 101 how to make my writing relatable with the reader by being personal. I feel like my writing ability has tremendously improved throughout fall quarter.
------On my first essay about Bacon’s Rebellion, I showed both my weaknesses and strengths. One of my weaknesses I showed is not elaborating in detail. For example, in my essay I wrote, “Bacon took advantage of the Natives and the colonists in order to get his way. Taking advantage of innocent vulnerable human beings is wrong and it gives other people the wrong message”. In this section, I did not add any analysis and I did not elaborate how or why Bacon took advantage over the natives and colonists. To improve this section, I should have added how Bacon took advantage of the Natives and then elaborate in the next sentence Bacon’s reasoning for doing so. I also showed some of my strengths in this essay as well. I showed the concept of They Say/ I Say. I wrote, “[t]his rebellion was known as ‘an uprising of angry, poor colonists against[…] the Indians(Zinn). Nathaniel Bacon Jr. was looked upon by the colonists as a strong leader that could help the poor colonists with their financial issues”. I used the quote, and then in the next sentence I stated my opinion to support the quote. However, essay one is not the only writing piece that I found my strength and weaknesses in.
------My Essay Two : Patriots & Loyalists, I also showed some of my weaknesses and strengths. One of my weaknesses was “[f]ollowing the King’s practice of church helped me through tough times, and always helped me find the silver lining to every grey cloud”. The phrase, “ King’s practice of church” made the sentence sound awkward. If I changed the phrase to, “practice of the church”, that would have made the sentence less awkward. A strength that I noticed in essay two was my transitions. One of my transitions was, “[t]he colonists set the boundaries in the constitution and have the freedom to exercise authority lawfully. Following the laws of our Mother Country will keep the colonists from rebelling and will satisfy their daily lives”. This shows a strength because, in the first sentence I used the word constitution to transition over to the next topic of the upcoming paragraph which is about the laws of the mother country. From looking over my essays, my progress in Writing 101 has improved so much.
------Writing 101 has helped me in so many levels. From my essays, I realized that as a writer, I have developed new ways of writing. My instructor Craig has taught me one of the most important variables to add into any paper. He taught me that writing is just like talking. Add in your personality and make your writing relatable with the reader. If you have this key factor in your writing, it makes the reader want to read more, and gives your paper pizzazz. From what I have learned in Writing 101, my abilities as a writer will only help me to become a stronger writer in the future.