Blankenbaker !

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Aaron Blankenbaker
ENGL115
Professor Beadle
4 December 2015
Final Portfolio Reflection
Before the semester began, I expected the expected workload to be simple and easy. For
the duration of the course it had been, for the most part simple, but I did get confused and lost
around midterms. Instead of asking the professor for help, I referred to my classmates, some who
knew little and could not help explain it to me. I thought it was going to be like any other English
class I had taken, yet I feel like I was in AP sort of class because it is a 115 class, meaning its the
highest level of English I have to take for my GEs. I wondered how I got in here despite the fact
that writing is not my favorite thing to do in the world, next to public speaking.
What I liked about writing was that for all of the in class assignments and prompts we
completed, they were in a free response form, so I felt very comfortable writing because it was
more like talking to a friend rather than completing a school assignment. This class taught me
how to better translate my thoughts onto paper and better communicate myself. Because I was in
non-AP English courses throughout high school, I thought my writing skills were average, and I
would just progress the same throughout college. It turned out the same writing skills I used
before were ok, but not great. I had earned a grade of 76 on the essay. However, I really
appreciated the comments at the end which said I displayed a strong writing ability. I felt so
relieved that not of all my writing was absolutely bad, but from here I knew I had to put more
thought and explanation in my future papers.

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One of my favorite concepts from this course was gender conformity and gender space.
My favorite aspect from gender conformity was that one of our assigned readings was from a
comic book, something I had never experienced in private school. When it came time to writing
the essay about breaking gender norms, I felt confident in my writing because I found it to be a
more relatable topic and overall an essay that flowed from beginning to end. When it came time
to work on Project Space, I found it interesting that Professor Beadle wanted to allow us to write
more thought provoking essays with a more personal touch. My favorite part of this progression
was writing about what I did for four days and who and where I interacted with people and
comparing it to the four days of my classmates who made me look at them more of as friends
than just another student at CSUN. I was able to relate to their stories and become good friends
with people I wouldnt normally talk to outside of class or out in public. Not only did Professor
Beadle and the essays help me develop my writing and analysis skills but also my classmates,
some of whom Im proud to have as friends now.
What I found difficult about this class was making an outline for every progression and
finding enough content and works cited to back up my thoughts and arguments. Because I dorm
at CSUN, I often found it difficult to focus and write an entire essay in one or two days so I
would often write the introduction and two body paragraphs in a few hours and then come back
to working on it a few days later. I would go to my uncles house and write there to get away
from the distractions of school. It turns out I didnt benefit much from my uncles advice on
writing essays, despite that hes an appraiser and writes reports for a living! That was when I
realized writing at school would allow my skills to grow better than if I was at my uncles house
every weekend because I could get input from people my age that better communicate what did

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and didnt make sense in my papers. I think what I struggled with the most was that I felt
incapable of writing filler sentences. I was just so used to writing my points and examples and
ending it there. I found that throughout every progression it became easier to make a point and
leaving a sort of breathing space between my content, examples and thoughts whether it was my
introduction, body or conclusion paragraphs. I definitely think that I improved this skill
throughout the semester and will continue to use it in my future studies at CSUN.
My advice for future students taking English 115 is that you should always show up to
every class on time, read all of the articles and submit your work on time. Professor Beadle is by
far the best English teacher Ive had, so I highly recommend taking his class because his input is
very helpful and is there to help everyone grow as writers. Lastly, if something doesnt make
sense, do not be afraid to ask for help because it could mean the difference between an A and a
C. Overall, I enjoyed the class and Im sad to leave it, but the show must go on.