Reflective Essay To An AP English Course

Originally, coming into this course from having taken AP English (allowing me to skip English 101), I had an embarrassingly false sense of security about my writing. Although high school was valuable, as it taught me how to concisely put my thoughts together and make a cohesive essay, I was often writing rhetorical analyses or synthesizing given sources – nothing like English 102 required. I was conditioned to write in very limited periods of time with barely a second to look back, which was a bold contrast to the reflective manner of college writing. I’ve discovered that taking time to revise (and reflect, and revise some more), in combination with peer reviewing, learning how to better develop my opinions into objective, convincing arguments, and acquiring the skill of researching and implementing sources to support those arguments …show more content…
Overall, this course has exposed me to many new skills that I can implement in later English courses, as well as others like Bioethics, for example, where it’s heavily influenced by having the ability to think beyond one’s own viewpoint. My major, Environmental Public Health, will likely involve situations where I must efficiently convey my ideas and back them up while appealing to important audiences. Public speaking will also likely play a large role in my career, so I feel that English courses condition more concise, developed thinking. Most of all, though, I enjoyed getting to use topics I’m passionate about, and originally found that to be a daunting task since I had previously always been told what to write about. But now, it’s liberating being able to translate a passion into a convincing argument through rhetorical strategies that may later promote change and