• About me: Hello, my name is Sarah Griffis. I am 18 years old and a freshman at GCC. I am here for track and field while working on my secondary education degree. I really want to transfer to Texas or ASU for track, but who knows where I will end up.
  

• My Assessments:

  • Assessment #1: Rhetorical Analysis
  • Assessment #2: Essay
    
  • Assessment #3: Essay
    
  • Assessment #4: Argumentative Research Paper
  • Assessment #5: Essay #3
  • Assessment #6: Personal Reflection (Posted Below)
    

• Personal Reflection (Assessment #6)

Throughout this semester I have written four different essays about four different topics. There was a good one or two in there, but also a bad one or two. In the beginning I wasn’t really good at writing and appealing to ethos, well, I still may not be, but I don’t know for sure until I get these last two essays back. But I do know for sure that in the beginning I just could not get the ethos thing. I also had some problems with run on sentences a few times, a couple comma splices here and there, and problems with my introductions being too weak. I did, however, seem to wrap my essays up pretty well, I didn’t have too many problems with supporting my claims, or using the proper diction. From essay 1 to 4, I also grew in several ways. I learned more about what ethos is and how to use/establish it, I learned how to better use my commas, and I learned how to get rid of the run on sentences.

Throughout this writing experience, I did do some things well. My conclusion paragraphs never got any marks about them not being right, so that’s a good thing. I feel like I know how to sum things up pretty well most of the time. All of my essays that needed support for its claims, got it. In essay #2, there was a lot of support needed in order to compare/contrast that topic. I added that support very well; nowhere in the editing remarks did the editor make comments towards a lack of support. The last thing I can think of that I did well is that I used the appropriate diction in each essay. In each essay I used a language that my intended audience could understand. When I was writing about how to become a millionaire in essay #1, my audience was people my age who also wanted to know how to become a millionaire. If I had started talking a whole lot about stocks and bonds and 401k’s, I would have lost them. Instead I kept it simple.

There were also a few things I did consistently bad in my writing. In all four of my essays, I had comments about my introduction being too weak. I think it is just because I never really learned how to write a proper introduction. Well, I thought I did, until I took this class. Another thing I guess I never really did right was use the commas correctly. There were a couple comments in a couple of my essays that said I had used the commas wrong. And the last thing that I did consistently wrong was use run on sentences. In 3 out of the 4 essays I had a run on sentence. I just didn’t use conjunctions and commas correctly. If I had more time, I would like to go back and learn these things. Maybe that’s what I’ll do during the winter break.

Though I had those things consistently wrong, I did learn a few things. I think I finally kind of got the hang of what ethos is all about. Though, in the last essay I probably still didn’t use/establish it correctly. I think I finally have it down though, and hopefully it will help me in my next class. In essay #1 I definitely needed some work in the ethos area, but in essay #4 I think I established decently. I also think I finally got how to use commas properly. But, someone reading this may disagree as I just realized I have used lots of commas.

Overall, after taking this class I think I will be a better writer for my future classes. I think that I will have a better chance of getting better grades on upcoming writing assignments. I have found that I still need work on my ethos, comma use, and making my introductions stronger. Maybe throughout the winter I will continue to practice these things and get better before my next class. I think that my writing deserves at least a B. I definitely don’t think that it is less than that, but I’m not quite sure if it is worth an A. I guess we will see.