Johnathan Guardiola

Mrs. Briones

ENGL 1302-261

May 5, 2024

Final Reflection Essay

This course has taught me a lot about using my analyzing skills for not just my academic

career but for just about any situation in my everyday life. I’ve learned how to properly analyze

text and pictures throughout my English 1302 experience. As well as being able to correctly

research articles by using various keywords when searching for articles. This course has taught

me how to use context clues when trying to figure out the authors true intentions and the

message they are trying to convey. Homework like our assigned presentation or jury day helped

me see how I can properly argue my case and the others. These assignments helped me

acknowledge that there are two sides to an argument and have helped me learn that

understanding both sides of an argument can help me prepare and build one side of an argument.

This kind of situation can appear later in my life when I’m having to write a dissertation or

anything. I have to know what I decide to write about in and out. I must know my side and the

opposite so I can have the best outcome. When starting research I’ve learned to search through

keywords. Breakdown the topic and choose words that describe the topic that way I find exactly

what I’m looking for. The way I would analyze text and pictures I am able to apply that to how I

can analyze music and its meaning. Because I am a music major, I will be expected to analyze

work. Keywords that are felt through music will help me understand a composer's intentions. Or

researching why we teach music theory the way we do. These types of things are able to be

solved through research.

 I thought the writing process was a little more for this course because in 1301 we worked

on different essays while in 1302 we worked on one big essay. A big difference in my opinion

between both courses is that 1302 is more research geared than 1301.The word requirement was

more but it was very much possible to achieve because we were learning how to research which

allowed us to use more sources to thoroughly write a successful essay. Something that helped me

towards writing my last essay was the jury day activity we had during class. This helped me

because we were given various topics and had a certain amount of time to come up with solid

arguments and to have the jury vote in our favor. This helped because while me and my partner

were thinking of things to back our claim which was, allowing phones in school, we were also

thinking of what the other side could use against us. We had to think be thinking one step ahead

so we can convince our audience. I applied this knowledge to my essay by understanding the

topic and researching both sides of it. This allowed me to have the best possible argument. This

is not a homework but a process that helped me the most in writing was brainstorming and the

drafting process. In order for me to have a successful essay I must begin by brainstorming ideas

on what I should talk about. Once I have an idea, I start my research process while also starting

my writing process by drafting. Drafting helps me see my ideas. At first, I did not think that the

drafting process was important, however throughout this course my instructor’s feedback

through my drafts have been extremely helpful.

I learned that revising one last essay helps me see that no matter how many final drafts I

may have, my essay can always improve and get better. Although I did not have many mistakes

to fix, I did see some patterns of mistakes that I made. One being the way I cite MLA. This kind

of mistake is usually not one I make, yet I went back, acknowledged my mistake and fixed it.

Another mistake I made quite a bit was the font of my last name and number of each page. I
would make this mistake because I would forget that I have to individually select it and change

it. Other than that, I didn’t have many major mistakes because I’m used to writing within these

boundaries from my previous 1301 course.

I chose to revise my first essay which was the annotated bibliography because I had the

most mistakes in that essay. I only had to change a few things like font and the way I cite. I had

to change my font on some words because I forgot that when I select the entirety of text it only

selects the text and not page numbers. Because of this my last name and page number was not in

the correct font. Another mistake was using the word “and” in between the authors of an in-text

citation. For example, I used “(John Doe and John Doe)” instead of “(John Doe & John Doe)”.

I’m not entirely sure why we have to use the symbol other than the word. I did not have a

difficult time revising my essay since I didn’t have that much feedback to work with just about

my citations. The least challenging thing was making edits because I didn’t get a ton of feedback

from my instructor nor my peer. Although I did not receive a ton of feedback, I still proofread it

so I can see if anything was missed.

When designing my website, I made sure to have it clear as possible by labeling where

things are and keeping straight to the point. I labeled where things are in a nice clear manner. I

provided my audience with what I worked on throughout the semester. Which includes first

drafts, instructor/peer feedback, and reflection essays. Including every piece of work will help

someone understand and maybe even make their own English portfolio. I made my website

accessible to just about anyone by sectioning essay 1, essay 2, and essay 3. I input things in their

proper section that helped me achieve the final result of each essay. I made the text clear along

with the design of my website. I kept it in a neutral color so that the focus is primarily on the

essays and their meanings. I chose not to decorate my website because of the topic I chose to
write about. The topic of weapons and how they impact our daily lives should not be correlated

with anything good. I kept the back simple to allow the essays to speak for themselves.

The most difficult aspect of this course was the writing part. Although most of the word

requirements were not bad, I do think it took more time. Another thing was meeting the

requirement for the number of research articles we needed for our essays. Locating articles that

focused on different subtopics about the same topic was tough for me. I would find articles that

were one sided or not even with research. After skimming through google scholar and the

TAMIU Library database for hours, I finally found 10 articles which correlated with one another.

I was not expecting to take a long time in finding articles let alone 10. After getting every article

I had to read and write about what each article talked about. Some articles were easy to write

about and others weren’t. Once we got to the last two writing assignments, I was able to write

more freely and was able to connect each one to each other. Another difficult thing was

maintaining a neutral stance and just explaining what the articles talked about. I found it tough

because I would catch myself expressing my own views and using I or we. It wasn’t too difficult

however it was something that came up once in a while. When it came time to start reading every

article, I would catch myself losing attention. I don’t love to read which is why I felt that way,

yet I was able to overcome this obstacle by listening to a lot of classical music which helped me

focus a lot more. Reading more than one article is a lot for me, but I’m glad we had to because

when I read it feels more fluent now.

I think the least challenging aspect of this course was the number of assignments we had

throughout the semester. Since we didn’t have a ton of assignments it felt like I had more time

for other classes and more time to work on the essays. This helped me focus on all my classes

and helped me ensure that I passed every class. Even with assignments that we got, I thought
they were extremely helpful. The most helpful assignment was the presentation we had to do for

the book we were using in class. This assignment made us look at important chapters from our

book which helped us in creating, brainstorming, and even revising essays. I’ve discovered that

even though I do not like writing, I am a pretty good writer. I found this out by my own doing

because I would start and complete an essay the day before or even the day off. After doing this

and witnessing the grades I would get for how much time it took me I realized how much of a

better writer I could be if I took more time. If I didn’t procrastinate, I would have less trouble

writing and I would be able to write more. One thing this course taught me was to use my time

wisely. I must spread my work evenly so that I do not over stress myself at the very end when

something is due. My instructor gave me this helpful advice that I will use throughout my life.

It’s not just English that I learned from this course. I was taught important life lessons and I saw

myself growing as a writer, researcher, and as an English speaker. I was given multiple materials

which has been an effective tool to enhancing my English and my professionalism.

This course has taught me a lot from learning how to properly research various things, to

learning how to give credit to people, to applying things we learned from this course to the

outside world. Back in high school English was my worst subject. I hated it because I never liked

to read nor write. I always found it hard to come up with words and to meet a word requirement.

Eventually, I grew up and I saw the importance of English. I saw how crucial it is for the

betterment of society. The course helps people grow their English understanding and vocabulary.

Even though I am a native English speaker, I 100% agree that this course has prepared me for a

professional lifestyle. I will never stop writing/typing because I do it on a daily basis. The skills I

picked up from this course will never leave my side because I will continue to grow and continue

to learn. This course has definitely prepared me to be able to write academically. As a musician I
will eventually have to write about why composers do what they do and how. I will use the exact

same strategies I learned throughout the semester in my academic career. This course taught me

how to write and research. Researching will be a crucial part of my career because I have to learn

there are different perspectives and understandings of various topics. I must learn to stop and

find the original source or creator of a topic. I’ve learned to research different types of words and

to research until I hit a dead end. I’m incredibly thankful for such a productive semester in this

course. The instruction was straight to the point with our instructor being clear and engaging

throughout the semester. My view on English as a course has shifted dramatically thanks to an

amazing instructor who clearly loves teaching the subject.