Reflection Essay: How I Learned In Writing

Improved Essays
Honestly I didn’t think I would take as much as I have away from this class as I did. I took this class online to free up some time in my schedule. Little did I know that this would be the class I learned the most in. This semester has given me a lot of insight as to what writing actually entails. Structuring a paper, writing the paper, revising the paper, and peer editing are all things I have found I have improved on the semester. Not only did I take away a stronger understanding of writing, I have also gained a new sense of self accomplishment and management.
The first thing I want to touch on is detail. In the first graded copy of my personal narrative essay I lacked detail. “I am not going to go in to the boring details of basic training
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When starting English composition 101, I had no grasp on how to properly cite anything. I did not know how to cite in text citation, or how to properly make a work cited paper. In the 15 short weeks I have learned to format a paper using MLA, how to properly cite a source and parenthetical in text citation as well as in a work sited page. I learned that normally set up of a page is Times new Roman 12-point font double-spaced with page numbers in the top right corner. Learning to structure a paper properly and how to cite correctly is important in the writing process because it gives your paper a nice layout and keeps you in the clear from accidentally plagiarizing. In the reflective essay for the book a beautiful boy we were required to cite. Taking direct quotes from the book required you to know how to properly structure a sentence to be able to have an in text citation. I found that the website citation machine helped a lot if I was confused on how to cite a certain source. “Many families drain every penny, mortgaging their homes and bankrupting their college funds and retirement accounts, trying successive drug-rehab programs as well as boot camps, wilderness camps, and every variety of therapist” (Sheff, Chapter 12). This quote came directly out of book, and was cited correctly in my essay. I am confident in my ability to site a source in text and make a work cited page for any …show more content…
Vocabulary can be a powerful thing, if it is used correctly. Before I would submit a paper for this class I would email it to a friend of mine. This friends would always send it back to me with changes, mostly words. Out of my portrait of the dead essay he took the sentence, “During an overdose, you stop breathing slowly, but you 're already in a state of euphoria, so it doesn’t hurt like you think it would. You fall asleep, and you just don’t ever start breathing again. and turned it in to, “During an overdose, you slowly stop breathing, but you 're already in a state of euphoria. It doesn’t hurt like you think it would. You pass out from hypoxia, a lack of oxygen due to respiratory distress, and you just don’t ever start breathing again.” By using a more extensive vocabulary you can take a sentence and reconstruct it into a more educated piece of

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