Reflective Essay

Growing Words In high school my essays were about summarizing a chapter from a book or writing a short story. There was no set length it had to be and there were not any specifics to focus on such as to focus on a strong introduction or to focus on being organized when writing. The essays that I wrote in high school were just for a quick grade or to help out our grade. I did not really have that much experience in writing essays. In the past semester I have grown more as a writer than I have in the past years. My essays have been becoming more detailed and less vague. They are maturing to the standard set for my level of English. Thus far, in English 101, my writing has improved by composing different types of essays, using a variety of techniques, and carefully revising my essays, nevertheless, I plan to continue to improve my writing in the future by taking higher English courses that will tech me how to write other kinds of essays and to grow as a writer. My first semester has taught me how to write various types of essays. The first kind of essay I learned to write was a critical reading essay. It taught me how to summarize an essay. Summarizing involves making sure to state the author’s main ideas, not making the text persuasive or misrepresent the author’s ideas, and to inform the reader about what the text summarized is about. The second kind of paper was a response essay; it made me examine and relate a piece of artwork to a time in my life. Next was a self-critique essay and the main point was for me to look at how I write my papers. I was to see what I needed to work harder at and to focus more on in my essays, such as the thesis and introduction paragraph. I also found what works for me when writing an essay, such as writing it during the morning and writing after a meal. Another type of essay I learned how to write was a rhetorical analysis essay. I had to look for ethos, pathos, and logos and see how the author wrote and if it was effective. The