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Cynthia Rodriguez
Professor Jackie
English 113A
December 8, 2015
How I have Grown Due to English
My name is Cynthia Rodriguez. I graduated from Arleta High School; it is located in the
San Fernando Valley. Never did I think that I was going to improve in my English skills. I was an
average B student when it came to the English material. Coming out of high school, I was
nervous coming to a university because I knew things were no longer going to be the same. But I
continued to stay motivated to do my best in all my classes and work hard to improve my skills
and knowledge. However, I thought I was not going to grow as an English writer but I proved
myself wrong. I proved myself wrong by learning how to properly format papers and how to
make my topics and information sound professional.
My knowledge for English has improved because all the exercises and essays I have done
in this class have improved my writing skills as a writer and thinker as well. I feel like I have
grown because I learned many things from this class such as sounding more professional in my
essays and how to cite my paragraphs. In high school, I was never taught to cite in my
paragraphs or to avoid using rhetorical questions. Furthermore, the progression essays and
exercises I have done in this class has given me practice on what my papers should look like,
while having the help from my professor and peers.
The exercises I have completed have made my English a lot stronger. The exercises that
my professor has assigned for us by far have taught me to not repeat myself in areas and to
become more of a critical thinker based on what my topic is. There have been progressions

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where I had to write 2,700 words which is about 7 pages. Anytime I have an assignment like this,
I try to use different sources and information to reach my goal. The progressions have caused me
to grow as a writer because I dont try to look at the amount of words that I have as I type. I try
to use all the information that I have gathered and extend my sentences using transition words
and sentences to make my sentences sound interesting. For example in progression two I had to
write an essay based on an advertisement that I have strong claims for. I wrote about the Always
#LikeAGirl Commercial but titled it Always Positive. This message of this advertisement was
to let young girls know that they should not feel insecure because they have to face feminine
changes. This advertisement also focuses on the term like a girl being used a lot as a way of
discriminating girls to feel like they are weak and hopeless (Rodriguez, Always Positive 2).
My claim towards this advertisement is that once girls hit an early stage of puberty they start to
feel insecure and struggle with self-esteem. I also mentioned how when girls get called like a
girl towards them, they should not feel insecure they should indeed be proud of who they are
and feel motivated to prove to people that they are strong individuals. In this essay I used logos.
Logos is an example of statistics and data. For instance I mentioned that 72% of girls feel
discouraged due to society (Rodriguez, Always Positive 3). Revising my essay I noticed that I
was strong about this advertisement. Furthermore, girls should not let the feminine changes bring
them down. I used a lot of sources and a lot of skills such as logos for this essay, and realized
that writing about a topic that has my attention is what pushes me to become a stronger writer.
In order to receive a good grade, I dedicated a lot of my time and put in a lot of effort for the
essays in this class. I started by writing down all the information that I had. By the time that I am
half way close to being finished I take a look at my word count and realize that I have more
words then what the assignment wants to us have. In fact, not looking at my word count as I type

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makes me a stronger writer because I type everything that I know and do research on instead of
stopping when I reach my word limit.
The progressions that I have previously completed are based upon my interest and
opinion and that has made me a stronger critical thinker. Although I used online sources to help
me finish my paper, I would write about how I felt towards the subject. I believe that a writer
must be fully dedicated when writing a paper. So, I would be sure that I was interested in the
free-writes whenever Professor Jackie would assign them. For example, in progression three I
was able to feel free to write about any topic that I have strong arguments about. My essay for
progression three is titled Women Deserve Respect. My arguments for this essay are strong. I
mentioned on how much women are discriminated and judged my society. I have always felt
strongly about this topic because I am a female and I hate being discriminated and not taken
serious due to my gender. Womens voices are silenced because of many reasons, their beliefs,
religion, etc. Most religions dont allow women to have any right to do anything such as work,
go to school, or be successful (Rodriguez, Women Deserve Respect 1). This topic has always
caught my attention because women arent ever treated with the same equal respect and support
like men do. Revising this essay I cited my paragraphs. I was really dedicated when typing this
essay. I used a lot of online sources that helped a lot when it matched with my opinions. I was
taught and did an outline first. I outlined my introduction, paragraphs, conclusion and topics
together. Before starting my paper I made sure that I tried to find my topic on the web first. I
luckily did find the information I needed and started typing up my paper. The skills this class has
taught me has brought a lot of positive outcomes in my papers when it comes to me citing my
information. As a result of picking my own topic for a paper and writing about a topic that I feel
very strong and dedicated has caused me to become a strong writer because I feel really

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dedicated to using all my skills to making sure my opinions make sense and sound professional.
This class has taught me the difference of speaking from first person to third person, as
well as ethos, pathos, and logos. I do remember learning these steps in high school but never did
I think that it was going to use them till I came to this class. My previous essays have pathos and
logos. Pathos is the appeal of an emotional text. Logos can be statistics, facts and data. I usually
tend to use the two previous options. Furthermore, because of these options my essays sound
more reasonable and make the reader understand what I am saying in my essay.
I never knew that there was a particular format people should follow when writing a letter
or email to somebody. I use to just send an email based on what I want my message was. This
class taught me how to write a proper letter and email following the steps to the letter format. It
is very important to sound professional when sending an email to someone especially a
professor. It is important to sound professional when sending an email to somebody because it
presents that you are being straight forward with your message and familiar with the text. To
conclude, this format has become useful to me because I have sent my professors emails and
now know the proper way on how to make my email sound professional when it has to be. To
add on, this format has also become useful to me because for future references when I have a job
I know how to send a proper email.
In conclusion I have gained so much knowledge from this class. I feel like I can now
write an essay feeling confident. This class has taught me a lot of steps, tips, formats, and
vocabulary that I did not know before. My professor made me feel comfortable when I had to ask
questions on how to do something properly. As a result of this class I feel like I have grown and
now am a strong English writer and thinker because of all the steps and solutions I have used in
my essays to making them sound professional and receiving positive feedback as time went by.

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Work Cited:
Rodriguez, Cynthia. Always Positive. 19 October 2015.
Rodriguez, Cynthia. Women Deserve Respect. 24 November 2015.