Blake Forrest Ms.

Camargo English 111 12/8/13 Final Reflection Throughout high school I never found writing papers to be a difficult thing to do but I felt like I could still do better. In this class I learned new prewriting and revision strategies to strengthen my papers. Peer review, HOCs, MOCs, and LOCs, as well as writing shitty first drafts help me to write higher quality papers. In the past I would write one draft of a paper and turn it in. I have learned the importance of drafting and revision in my papers and they are now a part of my writing process. The HOCs, MOCs, and LOCs method has helped me to revise all of my papers in all of my classes since I have leaned it this semester. This helped the most in my analytical essay. After I had the essay written I realized it was too long. I first looked at the HOCs. I realized that there were a few paragraphs that were not crucial to the paper. After cutting out what I didnt need I focused on the MOCs. I made sure the sentences were well organized within my paragraphs. I made several changes that made the paper easier to read and more understandable. Lastly I looked at the LOCs of the paper. I did a final proofreading and made sure that words were spelled correctly and punctuations were in the correct spot. Before I was taught this revision method, I did not know where to start with revising but now I have a process that I understand and that works well for me.

This semester, I found that peer review can be very helpful. In high school peer review periods were used as social hour instead of constructive review time. When I found out the class was having a peer review session on our second essay, I was a little skeptical. Thankfully it was a great review session. The peer review group pointed out many areas in my paper that could use work such as having a clear thesis, sticking to my argument, and having a rebuttal paragraph. I took into account all of the comments and suggestions by my group and revised my paper. The outcome was a better written paper than if I had not had the session. Having others read and respond to my papers before I write my final draft is something that I plan to do with my papers in the future. The most helpful strategy I learned this semester was writing a shitty first draft. I am not a very creative writer so this exercise was very helpful in my personal literacy essay. It is hard for me to get my wheels turning to write a paper and this exercise helps get ideas flowing. When I started writing my literacy narrative I was not sure what I wanted to write about. After doing a little brainstorming I started my shitty first draft. Before I knew it I had written over a page and a half. I was able to take what I had written and turn it into a presentable narrative. I have been able to use this method on every paper I have written since I learned it. In conclusion, this English 111 class has molded me into a well rounded writer. I now have process for writing; something that I did not have before. I take the time to plan, draft, and revise all of my papers. I never turn in the first draft of a paper like I did in high school. The emphasis used to be put on writing a certain amount of paragraphs or having a certain amount of sources. This class focused on writing quality papers. I plan to use the skills I learned in this class in my future writings to help me become a better writer than I am today.