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Brendon Yoshino
English 115
Professor Beadle
8 December 2015

Reflective Essay
Looking back the beginning of the semester I cannot say that I expected myself to be too
challenged with this class. Aside from procrastination I never would have seen an English class
in college as being too much harder than the advanced English courses I have taken throughout
high school. I am both tired and happy to say that I was very wrong about that idea. This course
has challenged be both as a thinker and as a writer. When I received my first grade on
progression one, it was the lowest grade I believe I have ever gotten on a written report. At first I
did not understand why or how I could have gotten that low of a score. Re reviewing progression
one, and revising it, it is no longer a question why I got such a low grade.
The biggest challenge for me, and it shows in my writing is backing my argument. I prefer
to paraphrase what an author is saying, but citing specific examples is something I really do not
like to do I am still not sure why. The tough grading has really pushed me to take a deeper
look at my papers while writing them, and focus on being more concise when developing an
argument.
While reading my most recent essay, I can tell that I have improved in connecting my
points to a more specific argument. I think even now that is the hardest thing for me to do. I
know that getting into upper graduate courses I will be expected to develop a stronger thesis and
back up that statement. So that is where I will focus most of my attention when writing my

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papers going forward. When I wrote my progression two paper about Ms. Marvel, I found it
extremely difficult to develop a solid argument. The reason being, it could probable have been
proven either way. Kamala in certain portions of the book seemed as if she was becoming more
and more a helpless victim to gender discrimination. While at the same time she had moments
that made it seem like she was outside of social culture all together. My tutor at the LRC showed
me a method in which to gather all my thoughts on the subject, as a means to develop a stable
argument. By gathering my thoughts I found that not only was it becoming a culmination of what
I had already gathered from reading the book, but I was analyzing further, to get the true
message the authors are trying to convey. For example, although her parents tried to hold her
back at home, she was still reshaping the way society saw her. When Bruno had her dress
waiting for her at the store, and she had been out fighting crime. This is something that would
have never happened in a society which she was not surpassing gender lines. (Wilson and
Alphona)
Students who take this course in the future should definitely consider having their papers
proof ready more than two times, before submitting them. In hind sight I realize that I could have
done a lot better on my essays if I had someone else take a look at them, mark it up, and make
the necessary corrections, then repeat. This I learned from the LRC, even though they are
English graduate students, they still miss a lot of things, and it takes other eyes to catch mistakes
or better sentence structure.
Overall this class has developed me as a thinker and as a detailed writer. The different
material we have looked at has given me a new understanding of how our society functions on a
deeper level. I would have never noticed, before this class, that I too display so many gender

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expectations that are ingrained in us, as early as birth. As stated in, Becoming Members of
Society: The Social Meanings of Gender, by Aaron Devor, Children begin to settle into a
gender identity between the ages of eighteen months and two years. By the age of two, children
usually understand that they are members of gender grouping and can correctly identify other
members of their gender. (Devor) This topic is something that we do not even realize we are
experts in. By writing on a topic so ingrained in our thought process, it has forced me to think
deeper on material and develop an argument, which in most cases I would not have otherwise
thought about. I know that the tougher grading has truly made the difference, and the material is
relevant to many of the situations we are facing in todays society. I know that going forward
into the rest of my college years, I am ready to develop strong arguments and cite them properly!

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Works Cited

Groner, Rachel, and John F. O'Hara. Composing Gender: A Bedford Spotlight Reader. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. Print.

Wilson, G. Willow, and Adrian Alphona. Ms.Marvel. Vol. 1. New York: Marvel Worldwide,
2015. Print. No Normal.