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Veronica Diaz
Professor Azeem
Writing 114B
April 30, 2015
Reflective Essay
Writing 114B is primarily an English class that focuses on the students ability to write
based on information from research and readings done in class. In this classroom the
environment is mostly focused on the ability to organize your ideas well enough for the reader to
understand the reading without having to read an actual book. Over the period of two semesters I
have grown as a writer, because I now understand the basics of writing a paper and know how to
clearly state my ideas.

While focusing on the point of reading and research we have read books that mainly talk
about panopticism. The first book we read this semester is (E) dentity by Stephanie Vie. This
book is a series of articles focusing on the way that technology has affected our world today. Our
second reading is a book titled Feed written by M.T Anderson. This book also focused on
technology but it was more of a dystopian novel. It is a novel that talks about a world so

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advanced that the human population has chips implanted into their brain to have absolutely all
information just a thought away. The last reading was Never Let Me Go written by Kazuo
Ishiguro. This novel focuses much more on the dystopian world compared to the other two
readings. It is a novel focused on a world where some individuals are created but have no
freedom to live their lives. After reading these three novels it has made a big difference in the
way I understand readings. The novels all focused on the way that Panopticism plays a huge role
in the way we act because of being watched or the feeling of being watched. I got a lot from
these novels because I was able to take this idea of panopticism and connect it to our world
today.

After doing these readings I was able to write several papers and even a presentation on
the way that panopticism affects our world. This proves a main point in the way I have grown as
a writer because each paper was different however it all focused on one main idea. I think this
shows the way I have grown as both a reader and writer because I am now able to take out many
different views from just one main focus. I was able to write different papers on the way that
technology affects our world today and why it is important to have more technology. In the
presentation I delivered I was able to put points together based off on my papers are present the

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connection between our novels and the way they connect with how we act today on social
networks.

The essays I have chosen to show in this portfolio are important because they focus on
the main ideas I talked about, technology and panopticism in our world today. The first essay
mainly focuses on the way that technology has helped the world progress more by having so
many advancement. The second essay focuses more on the way that people act because of having
technology. These two essays are important in showing my growth as a writer because before
this semester I would not have been able to write so much about one idea. I was able to take the
main idea of technology and panopticism and explain it in two main forms. I was able to explain
it in the way that it affects us, for example the way we act because of it and why panopticism
may or may not be a good thing in our world. Overall the course was very helpful in the way that
it help me understand what I read and write much better. Although I was able to read and
understand, I am now able to analyze more into detail. I am able to take different perspectives
and make them all into one big idea.