Reflection Essay 2

Martinez 1
Alejandra Martinez
ENGL 1302-101
Dr. Sharity Nelson
17 October 2022
Reflection Essay 2
From the first essay, I was able to learn how to research information that was useful to
create more knowledge on a topic. In both essays, I was instructed to find peer-reviewed articles
on the chosen topic and I learned a lot about each one. The second essay was more difficult
because I needed to find more articles than the first essay, however after reading each article, I
found it easier to write my paper. Gaining knowledge and finding research on the topic of
conversation helped me understand the assignment, as well as gain a different perspective on the
assignment. The topic that I chose has recently been extremely controversial in recent times, so I
was able to apply what I learned in my US Government class to the essay. With background
knowledge on the topic, I was able to formulate ideas and thoughts and use new research to
expand those thoughts. The government class helped me gain an understanding of our nation’s
government and political ideals. For example, I learned about the idea of “separation of church
and state” which assisted me in understanding how politicians formulate laws for the country and
the logic behind them. I also learned how the government is always changing trying to keep up
with the changing times and social views of the public.
In essay one, I was instructed to conduct an experiment and analyze the data and results,
furthermore, create a discussion on the chosen topic to find answers on what was being
experimented. During essay two, I was instructed to research a topic by finding scholarly
articles and compare and contrast each one with each other without presenting an argument for
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each one. I was not able to create an experiment and record my own data for the topic in this
essay unlike the first one. I was also not able to use all of the prior knowledge/information that I
learned from my US Government class because that only provided me with one perspective on
the topic and I needed multiple. I needed to find different views on the topic of research and
evaluate each one.
From writing and accumulating research for this essay, I learned the different types of
discrimination that people face when out in public as well as the different supreme court cases
that were involved with this topic. As I was learning about these court cases, I could also
compare how this social movement is similar to the civil rights movements that happened not too
long ago. I am able to use this knowledge in other classes because I now gain an understanding
of what different people go through on a daily basis. I could choose better vocabulary that is
inclusive to all people, as well as interact better with others around me. I can also use the
knowledge I collected in my research in classes like psychology, communications, and those that
involve social sciences and studies classes.
In this second essay, I learned a lot about the different religious beliefs and practices of
various religions. I also learned about how the rules of the church have affected those who
identify as part of the LGBTQ community regarding the reactions of family members and higher
members of the church and religious community. I do not think that information and knowledge
is useful in any of my other courses because in school we are taught to not talk about our
religious beliefs, it would simply be unethical to talk about religion, moreover, instructors rarely
talk about religion. This information was useful in my essay, but not useful to other academic
studies.
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By creating this annotated bibliography and constructing this research analysis, I was
able to improve my writing as well as the writing process by changing the way that I research
and study a topic. Preparing to write this essay, I read a lot of various articles that had to do with
this topic. I had to evaluate and eliminate the articles that were either not useful to my analysis
or were not peer-reviewed. By reading and summarizing these articles before starting the writing
process, I was able to quickly look at the summaries I created to remember what the articles were
about and what information they included. In the future, this strategy will be useful because I
now know how to research various articles and evaluate and analyze them. I can also write brief
summaries on each source that could help me locate a specific source faster. This strategy of
finding and annotated sources helped me understand the assignment better, moreover, I learned a
new way of understanding a topic that will help me in future assignments.
Looking back at the comments I received from my classmates in the peer-review
workshop, several comments about being unclear with what I was trying to say. Unlike from
essay 1 where I gave too much detail about the topic, in this essay I gave too little detail of the
topic I was trying to analyze. One of the strongest aspects of my writing includes how I was able
to formulate a strong, informative essay without giving my own opinion on the topic. I was able
to use the sources to form a solid research analysis. My strengths I would say are about the same
from this essay and the previous one. I think that I am able to understand the assignment and not
give an opinion on the topic that I am discussing. From these comments that I received from my
first draft, I was able to fix my mistakes and explain in further detail the message I was trying to
convey to the readers of my essay.
I scored an 85% on the first essay. I think that I could have been clearer on my thesis
statement as well as been more direct as to what I was trying to say. The professor mentioned
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that the thesis statement mostly revealed information gained through an experiment and I still do
not know if that was positive or negative. I also got notes that some of the evidence I included
was loosely connected or irrelevant to the main idea of the experiment. I honestly think that the
comments I will receive on the second essay will be the same. I feel that I understood the
assignment well enough to do good but not excel. I think I will receive the same comments of
“mostly” and “somewhat”. I do however, think that I will receive better comments on how I was
able to not give my opinion on the topic and throughout the essay.
I think the most challenging aspect of this unit was finding the right sources that I was
going to use. I struggled finding sources that were credible and useful for my research. I
switched my topic of research because I could not find enough sources for the first topic that
provided different perspectives on the topic. For the topic I ended up choosing, I was able to
find more useful sources, but they did take a while to find. Once I was able to find all ten of the
sources that I wanted to use, I was easily able to compose the essay. I think that comparing and
contrasting the sources in the essay was less of a challenge to do rather than gathering the
information that I wanted and able to use.

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Works Cited
Martinez, Alejandra. “Same-Sex Marriage: The Reverberation in the United States.” 5 October
2022. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M International University, student paper.

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Martinez 1

Dr. Sharity Nelson

with the changing times and social views of the public.

evaluate each one.

involve social sciences and studies classes.

new way of understanding a topic that will help me in future assignments.

Looking back at the comments I received from my classmates in the peer-review

convey to the readers of my essay.

information that I wanted and able to use.

2022. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M International University, student paper.

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