Reflective Essay

Emma McIntyre

Composition II

Professor Hammett 

Reflective Essay

5 May 2025

Word Count 556

Reflective Essay

    This class has helped me to improve my writing skills in numerous ways. Looking back on my writing I have found the importance of going back and reviewing your writing before submitting a final draft. In most of my past English classes, I would wait until the last minute to write a big essay, and I would be in a hurry and make grammatical errors, get off track in my writing, and not use well researched and credible sources. This class highlighted the importance of getting feedback on your writing from others, and taking their advice and using it to better my writing. This course also made me look at a serious topic through many different perspectives. I knew my stance on the issue before starting my essay, but after writing an academic research paper, I was able to look at both sides of the issue. As well as looking at it from Daphne Du Maurier’s perspective of a mother wanting the best for her children and family. 

    I have been lucky enough in the past to have amazing English teachers who always did an amazing job of instruction, but this class really helped me learn how to analyze an issue from many different perspectives. I usually would struggle with the organization of my essay and finding the best order to put my evidence in to support my argument. I have found with this course that using a PEE format would benefit my writing most. I would look at each paragraph as its own story, but then use the last sentence to help as a transition to the next paragraph. 

    I also learned the importance of having good, academic, and trustworthy sources for your essay. In my first essay, an argumentative research essay, I struggled with correctly citing my sources within the text. I had a hard time with the parenthetical citations at the end of each sentence that I used as a source. I had also forgotten to reorder my works cited page to be in alphabetical order. Thankfully after submitting it, the feedback I was given helped me to understand the best way for me to correct those mistakes. 

    Once I had a good base for my essay and had properly cited academic sources, it made it easier for me to write a well researched and planned out essay. My second essay, a rhetorical analysis, did not have any issues with my citations, and was a much easier read. I had already begun to apply knowledge gained from my first paper. As well as fixing my citations, I was able to fix a lot of my grammatical errors through my peer review. Sometimes, it can be hard to recognise when a sentence does not make sense if you are the one who wrote it. It helps to have someone else’s opinion on your essay to help you make a more well-rounded argument. 

    All in all, this class has taught me the importance of peer review and editing your paper after you have finished writing it. There are many things that Professor Hammett and my peer reviewer caught in my essay that I would not have found on my own. I have learned that seeking outside input is very beneficial to honing my writing skills. I look forward to continuing writing with this valuable knowledge.