Ashly Oehler English 1102 May 1 2012

Dear Ms. Caruso, English 1102 has been both challenging and beneficial to me as both a writer and a student. I looked back to both my intro and midterm reflective letters. In each I listed numerous areas that I would like to have improved on in English 1102. My intro letter contained hopeful improvements such as better conclusions and transitions, and more interesting papers. My midterm letter was focused on more of a professional tone, better flow and appeal of overall paper, improve revision skills and up my participation in the class. I believe I have really worked on this list of improvements over the course of this semester. I have tried to really step up my writing skills and my participation in this class. I still have a difficult time holding a professional tone throughout a paper but I have been improving at this. Since the midterm conference, I have given my best effort to raise my hand and participate in class despite my shyness. I have worked on each of these aspects of improvement yet still need more work in some areas. Throughout this semester, I believe my peer reviews have improved. During midterm conferences I was told I needed to improve on elaborating my comments and really engaging in my peers papers. With the last peer review I really tried to do just such. I focused on giving my peers as much helpful advice as I could conjure up and attempted to be as specific as possible. I wanted to be able to really help my peers and that was the attitude I approached each review with.

When examining each of the major parts of the project (historical inquiry, concept board and final proposal), I began to see myself thinking more critically and really piecing things together. My creativity began to come into play when we worked with our concept board. I began to take history and facts and let my imagination run wild. I approached each of these projects with very much interest. I was very engaged in them. I really enjoyed and took interest in my historical event and believed that interest showed in each part of this project. I took risks in each of the main papers at least on my first drafts. I was so focused on telling the facts and my ideas in an interesting way that I began to lose my professionalism in both papers. This hindered my work and left more revision to complete. I am so focused on writing things that sound interesting to me and that really grab attention that I forget the audience I am writing for and add in all sorts of fluff. I didnt really play it safe this semester, I tried to really become engaged with each aspect of the project and focus on my writing. The main weaknesses I notice in myself would be my lack of professionalism even now. That is one weakness that I am having the hardest time overcoming. I feel that when a paper is professional that it is boring so my mind and fingers instantly resort to adding in words and a tone that I would love to read. My strength would be my creativity and passion even though they can contribute to my previously stated weakness. When given creative freedom, such as when dealing with the concept board, I can really excel and put my talents forward. In my opinion, peer review was the most helpful. I was able to engage with other students papers, which helped me to feed off of their writing and also help them improve

theirs. They also gave me a new perspective on my own writing and helped list suggestions of areas in which I could improve. In the beginning of the semester, I had no idea what to expect from this class. Each English class I have taken over the years has been drastically different from the next and I assumed this would also be a new experience for me. This class was far different from my English 1101 class. This class had a large amount of work all focused on a single project. My 1101 class had many separate projects throughout the semester. The focus on one project over the course of the semester was very beneficial because it helped my to deeply engage in the project and my ideas. The most challenging assignments for me personally were the reflection letters and the two main papers, which were the main assignments in the class. Each presented different challenges but the main challenge was the same. I was challenged in the tone/professionalism aspect of each of these writings. I wanted each to be interesting yet they needed to contain little fluff and be for a specific audience. The Historical Inquiry paper challenged me because I thought just presenting and listing the facts would be extremely boring so I wanted to introduce them in a new way but by doing so, I lost the tone I needed and confused some readers. The proposal posed the same obstacles. I was speaking to a group of executives yet had a difficult time using the appropriate tone for this audience. In trying to grasp the readers attention, I added fluff and phrases that were empty. In writing the reflection letters I tend to feel as though I am rambling and jumping from subject to subject. I try to address each item I am supposed to yet feel that it is unorganized and spacy. I need to continue to work on each of these weaknesses. Over the course of this semester, I have taken a critical eye to myself and took

note on what I need to work on most to improve. I believe I have advanced a writer and as a student. I am able to look at myself like looking into the mirror that one day in class. I see what I need to work on and can devote myself to working on those things. I have begun to participate more and notice the importance of having a role in a classroom and not just sitting quietly. I have also critically looked at myself as a writer. I know the areas that need improvement still and will continue to work on them as time goes by. This class was very beneficial to my learning experience and I will take the knowledge that I gained with me throughout my educational journey. Sincerely, Ashly Oehler