Alexis Atwater 

Peter Camilleri 

English 170  

12/06/2023 

Reflective Cover Letter  

Prior to English 170, I had very little confidence in my writing. Growing up, I was always told I was not the best writer, and it never came naturally to me. I always dreaded writing papers and essays for my classes. I felt that my writing was very immature and not very academic. I was never very good at wording sentences right so that they would sound smart and that they would flow. I have always been very hard on myself because of the negative feedback I received when I was younger. This has made me overanalyze my writing, thinking it sounds worse than it does. Since I have this anxiety, dread, and lack of confidence around writing, I never really had a good attitude when I had to write a paper. After taking this class, I have gained a whole new perspective on my writing abilities and writing in general. My teacher helped me to except that everyone has a different way of writing and a different style. The class made me feel more confident in my writing because I was able to apply my writing in an academic way, but with my style added. I was able to write the way I felt comfortable with but still make it academic. I achieved this new and positive attitude about my writing through feedback from my professor. One way in which I improved my writing was when I got my teachers feedback on my argumentative paper. In my argumentative paper, I learned that I could not make too subjective claims. In an argumentative paper, you must be persuasive, showing you favor one side, but you must prove that side other than your own opinion. In my research paper, I made sure that my claims were not too subjective and that I could back them up with effective evidence and reasoning.  

In English 170, I was taught many strategies on writing and analyzing. Through practice and exposure to these strategies, I was able to apply them in other classes. I utilized the process of drafting out your paper and making an outline for your paper. This has helped me stay organized and on task with my paper, knowing everything I am going to write about. It makes me feel more confident in what my paper is going to look like and what direction it is going in. it made it so much easier to write my papers in other classes when I used this strategy of drawing and outlining my paper out. I also learned how to analyze writings, videos, dialogue, arguments, and articles. I used this knowledge of analyzation and used it a lot in my sociology class. In each module, we had to read an article of a specific topic and analyze it and make comments about certain sentences and claims being made. I was able to effectively make connections about a sentence or idea and relate it back to the content of the class, and I was able to pose questions about the readings. English 170 has also changed the way I think about analysis and writing in my other classes. A specific example is that I have learned how to effectively analyze rhetoric in everyday situations and college situations. Before this class, I had very little knowledge of what rhetoric was. I learned that rhetoric is all around us and it has made me more attuned to it in my classes, in conversations, in readings, and in the environment around me. I have become a lot more aware of the rhetoric around me, especially in my psych classes. We had to do a final project on Amy Winehouse in my psychopathology and distress class. I had to analyze a movie about Amy Winehouse and her struggles, and then write a paper on what I thought she would be diagnosed with and what were the reasons for it. In this movie, I saw the power of rhetoric being used constantly. The way the movie was organized, the things that were said in the movie, and the footage they used, were all designed to get the audience to feel for Amy and persuade you that her struggles were deeper than previously thought. Since we learned so much about rhetoric and the rhetorical devices, I was able to really analyze the movie in a rhetorical way and see how effective it was. 

English 170 has taught me so much about the writing process and how write an academic paper. I learned how to effectively layout a research paper. My teacher guided me through ways in which I could organize and layout my research paper. This was extremely helpful to me because I struggle to write when I have little direction. By knowing a way to format and layout my essay, I was able to narrow my research down and know clearly which direction I wanted to go in. I will use this strategy for my classes in the future that require a research essay. I also learned that it is always good to have a draft and to submit a draft for feedback. Before English 170, I never really made drafts of my paper. I thought that drafts had to be the whole essay written out, but not reviewed and edited. I learned that a draft could range from just an outline to a few paragraphs or more. The emphasis on drafting was really helpful in the writing process. It helped me get ideas down on the paper, organize my writing and layout, and helped me to focus on what I needed to do to finalize my papers. 

This class has helped me improve in so many ways and helped me find what my strengths are when it comes to writing. I think that my organizational skills have grown tremendously. I also think that my presentations skills have grown as well. Through doing the presentation myself, and seeing my classmates give their presentations, I found what really works and what doesn’t work. I now have the confidence to present information on a topic, and answer questions effectively. I also feel confident in how I organize my presentations and make them visually appealing. Although English 170 has helped me become confident in some aspects of my writing skills, there are still a few things I feel I need to work on. Some areas for me that I feel need more growth are word choice and creating a focused and debatable thesis. I struggle with my word choice because I do not have the best vocabulary. I find that sometimes my wording is very repetitive and immature sounding. I feel that I could work on this by trying different ways to write sentences and expand my vocabulary. I also struggle to create a debatable and focused thesis. I am very indecisive when it comes to just about everything, so picking a topic and writing a thesis on it is very difficult for me. I feel that with more practice on how to write thesis’ and writing it in a way that is debatable, I will better my skills. 

English 170 has made me feel better prepared for my future classes in many ways. I feel very prepared to write and analyze texts. I feel that we spent a lot of time analyzing and using rhetoric to analyze writings, videos, and arguments. I feel that I can effectively analyze these things for my other classes and my future classes.  I also feel very prepared on how to write different kinds of papers because we wrote so many different style papers and analyzed different types of papers. I feel that I can effectively write an argumentative essay and a research essay. I also feel that I can write a narrative essay well and feel prepared to do so.