WRITING REFLECTION
SCORE POINT 4
This essay demonstrates serious reflection about the student’s writing processes. The writer
synthesizes information from at least three of her writings, referring to specific aspects of them
to support her claims. The introductory paragraph establishes a personal voice and predicts the
organizational pattern that is to follow. Mastery of the mechanical conventions of writing is
evident; a few errors do not detract from the meaning of the prose.
Writing essays has always been challenging for me. I think I have good thoughts and ideas
about issues, but translating them into essays has always been hard for me to do. Because
writing is so hard for me, I don’t have the confidence in my writing that I believe I should have
at this point in my education. I know I have to be able to write in school but I don’t think I am
very good at is so I just don’t like lit. Even though writing is discouraging for me, I believe that
I have come a long way over the last few years. I remember my English teacher in 5 th grade, Ms.
Bredice, had no idea what to do with my writing because it was just so bad. When I look back at
the papers I have written this year, the comments on them give me a better idea of my strengths
and weaknesses and areas I need to improve on as a writer.
When looking at several papers I have written during this school year, my strengths and
weaknesses fall into two basic areas. My most common writing strength is my thesis statement
and my most common weakness is my grammar. For example, in my analytical paper titled, the
Last House Standing, my thesis statements was, “The house continued to function as designed
without human interaction because it was unaware, meticulous, and life like.” The teacher
comment on this portion of the paper was “Strong Thesis.” Likewise, my thesis statement for
my essay on Of Mice & Men, was, “John Steinbeck uses certain vocabulary and language to
show how people acted and went about in the 1930’s which makes us think of Lennie differently
from the rest of the characters, and furthers our understanding of Lennies intelligence and
memory.” Again, the teacher comment on this portion of the paper was “Strong Thesis.” Unlike
my thesis statements, my grammar is a writing weakness. My challenges in grammar are mostly
punctuation, run-on sentences, and general attention to detail. In my analytical paper titled, The
Last House Standing, I wrote “…after the nuclear war, the house, continued to function” when it
should have read, “…after the nuclear war, the house continued to function…” On this paper, I
had seven punctuation and vocabulary errors. In the body, of my Of Mice & Men analytical
paper, I wrote”…the anger was diffused also George stops being…” when it should have read,
“…the anger was diffused. George stops being…” the teacher comment on this portion of the
paper was “one huge run-on sentence makes it hard to follow.” My Grammar & Mechanics
grade was 6 out of 10 points with 19 mistakes that were punctuation, vocabulary, or run-on
Comment [WU1]: Engaging introduction
demonstrates effective creation of tone and voice.
Comment [WU2]: Reflection refers to specific
aspects of writing growth
Comment [WU3]: Minor errors do not detract
from meaning
sentences. While my writing this year has had both strengths and weaknesses, I do believe I
have had growth in areas outside of those mentioned so far.
This year, the growth in my writing has been mostly in my ability to write an accurate
analysis of a paper, as well as being able to vary my sentence structure, and to include higher
level vocabulary in my essays. When I compare my analysis of There Will Come Soft Rains and
Stereo Hearts Poetry, I can clearly see where my analysis of Stereo Hears Poetry is twice as long
as and more detailed than my analysis of There Will Come Soft Rains. Looking at my analysis
of There Will Come Soft Rains and The Donkey Poetry, the sentence structures I used in my
analysis of The Donkey Poetry varies much more than that in my analysis of There Will Come
Soft Rains, making it much more enjoyable to read. Last but not least, I compared my analysis
of two papers, one written earlier in the year and the other written later in the year. In my
analysis of Of Mice & Men, written later in the year, I used much more descriptive terms and a
larger vocabulary than in my analysis of There Will Come Soft Rains, which I wrote earlier in
the year.
My future goals as a writer are to focus on punctuation and sentence structure. Punctuation
because it is key to sentence flow and reader interpretation and sentence structure because I want
the papers I write to hold the readers interest. In my analytical paper for The Last House
Standing I had five punctuation errors and in my analysis of Of Mice & Men I had 15
punctuation errors. When I looked at the sentence structure I used in my analysis of Of Mice &
Men, there were too many run on sentences and the general tone was too monotone.
As I look back on the my freshman year journey as a writer, I can see where I have come
quite a distance, yet still have a long way to go before I am going to be satisfied with my writing
skills. The strengths I have today were weaknesses not too long ago. The weaknesses I have
today are areas for improvement that I expect to work on this summer as well as next school
year.
Comment [WU4]: Consistent and engaging tone
Comment [WU5]: Specific and appropriate
support
Comment [WU6]: Reflection demonstrates
awareness of how mechanical aspects of writing
affect more important aspects