Lily Yates

English 1213

Professor Hammet

Reflective Essay

April 17, 2023

Word Count: 945

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            The transformation of my writing now compared to before I took this class has been immensely improved. This class taught me to correctly analyze, interpret, and evaluate an author’s texts and relay the author’s meaning in my own works. Secondly, it has offered peer workshops, which has greatly improved my ability to collaborate with others on writing projects. Lastly, the teaching methods and the professor themselves (Prof. Hammett) made this class encouraging yet challenging, which is desirable in a college-level course.

            Correctly analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating an author’s work is a crucial skill for entering any workforce, and this class has helped me greatly improve on this skill. This can be demonstrated by comparing one of my first works on this course with a recent one. “According to Drum, routine tasks, such as driving and sales, will be the first job areas fully incorporated by AI (Drum 5).” Comes from one of my first works and evaluates the understanding of the author’s work weakly. However, this excerpt from my work, “Symbolism of Death and the Meaning of Life”:

Throughout Part 1, the disregard a living being has for those they consider inferior is seemingly nonexistent. When, and only when, the death of what they believe is inferior, starts to affect their own being, is when they become concerned. This concern also only extends to those they believe to be of the same standing, still disregarding “inferior” beings. (Albert Camus, The Plague)

Demonstrates a solid understanding of both evaluation and communication of the author’s work. There is a clear difference in the evaluation of the author’s work between these two excerpts, with the first simply paraphrasing the author’s words, while the second offers a detailed analysis of the author’s words.

            The peer workshops within this course have been very useful for both analyzing others’ writing and my own. Constructively analyzing and critiquing another’s work has given me valuable information on how to not only critique others in a positive and encouraging way but to also identify issues in my own writing. Without these peer workshops, I would not know how to effectively analyze my own writings and correct them. One example of this is when I had multiple outside peers (who have taken COMP 1) check and review my P.1 Essay. Through their reviews and critiques, I have been able to identify areas that need improvement. This has also helped me assess which questions I need to ask others when they critique works.

            I have learned a great deal about understanding an author’s ideals and writing about said ideals. This, I believe, has greatly enhanced my understanding of literature, which was a topic I struggled to understand. There have been many assignments about an author’s meaning through their work, and in said assignments, I have written an analysis of the author’s work, which I have not previously done before. Throughout this class, my ability to effectively communicate an author’s idea has also improved.

            The writing assignments and Prof. Hammett have helped hone my writing skills through steady practice. As the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect”, and while I may not be a master of the English language and its literature, this course has certainly improved my overall understanding of literature and grammar. This course has taught me a very important literature concept, the PEE format, which I was unaware of before this course. With the PEE format, I can clearly visualize each paragraph, and even the whole essay itself. An example of the PEE format from my work:

Secondly, providing a stable support system for children is important in preventing mental issues in which a child could wish to run away. Parents, teachers, and other influences in a child’s life should remain educated and aware of any factors in which a child could wish to run away, such as bullying, abuse, struggling mental health, etc. (NCMEC). Out of all missing children’s cases in 2020 that NCMEC received, 91% were runaways, and 87% had at least one major risk factor, with 67% having two or more risk factors (NCMEC). These risk factors oftentimes lead to suicidal tendencies, which need to be addressed immediately (NCMEC). Identifying potential risk factors in a child’s environment and presenting solutions to these issues can decrease the child’s desire to run away (The University of Kansas: KU). One possible solution is for schools to offer free counseling for children struggling with suicidal tendencies, bullying, abuse, etc. Providing a safe place to talk with a good counselor gives the child the resources to understand their emotions and act in a safe way regarding those emotions (KU). Some could argue that this would be an economically unwise decision, however, the well-being and safety of children should be put first to prevent runaways. (Lily Yates, P.1 Essay)

This example starts with a clear point, evidence to prove the point, and an explanation as to why the evidence supports the point. Using PEE formatting has given me a solid understanding of basic paragraph structure, which has greatly improved my writing.

            My thoughts on this course are extremely positive, and the skills I have acquired through the assignments will assist my future career. Overall, this course has given me a broad outlook on how to interpret another’s words, which is an important skill in almost all fields. While I am not pursuing a degree in English, I believe this class has given me a solid basic education on the composition skills needed to enter any workforce and exceed in English-related areas. I would recommend other co-concurrent and college students to take this particular course with Prof. Hammett, as they will surely benefit from all it has to offer.