Haas 1

To: Professor McKeever

From: Jenna Haas
Date: 12 December 2015
Subject: Honors English 101H Course Reflection
My writing, I believe, has greatly improved as a result of my experience in Honors
English 101H. I have learned how to write a profile essay and how to effectively develop an
argument essay. My growth, as a writer, is demonstrated by my use of more refined and complex
words. Also, I have developed better sentence structure and flow. Finally, I am so happy that I
have been making fewer grammar and usage errors than I have in the past.
The focus of the first essay was why we think the best city in the world is the one that we
call home. I chose this out of the other options because, in many ways, Bay Village is a
wonderful place to live as it is relatively safety and the people who live here are generally very
supportive and kind. Within that essay, I reflected on the time I swam the 500 yard freestyle and
the support I received as I raced to the finish. The essay allowed me to explore and transition in
my writing. It was with this essay, I believe, that I started to focus on actually having structure
within and flow between my sentences. Furthermore, the assignment gave me an opportunity to
express my thoughts on world peace and how I hope that someday it will be achieved. The
second essay allowed me to share a personal experience that of how I dealt with my sisters
depression. I chose to disclose that information because I felt that it could help others understand
the effect depression has on family members of those who suffer from it. This essay prompted
me to examine my vocabulary for opportunities to incorporate new words into my writings. The
new words have helped me more accurately present my thoughts. The third essay introduced me
to the concept of a profile essay. The reason I wrote it on Donald Trump was because, with him
running for president, I knew there would be many articles and opinions on him. In addition,
when I was younger, I enjoyed watching both Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice at which time
he was someone I admired. The profile essay introduced me to this type of essay and
demonstrates my effort to develop enhanced flow and specificity by utilizing more complex and
nuanced words.
The fourth essay was a stand-alone summary of How to Say Nothing in 500 Words.
The essay showcased how I could write an effective summary without injecting my opinion
which, up to this point, I had struggled to do. The fifth essay was concerned with analyzing ten
allusions. I enjoyed this one because, as I learned the writing format, I studied some fascinating
allusions. The sixth essay revealed my thoughts on the ways allusions can help people learn both
hidden and obvious life lessons from a story. This essay in particular helped me develop into a
better writer by demonstrating the power literature has to teach. It reinforced how writing can be
used to teach, entertain and connect peoples of all cultures.
The seventh essay was focused on evaluating the Tiger Mom method of parenting. I liked
the subject matter and surprisingly I loved reading about the Tiger Mom method however, do not
believe that I would try that approach with my kids. My work on the essay reveals my
development in being able to adequately explore and balance both sides of an argument in an

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unbiased manner. It also given me insight into propaganda techniques authors uses to convey
their point of view. The eighth essay was an argument essay on a subject of our choice. I chose to
argue that authorities should ban cigarette smoking because I believe it causes major health
problems for individuals, as well as, society at large. I exhibited further development of my
writing abilities by incorporating, and properly citing, quotes to a further degree than I had
previously done. The ninth essay was a review of the science fiction novel The Postmortal by
Drew Magary. This essay demonstrates how much I have learned I over the semester. I tried to
incorporate everything I had learned and developed throughout this semester into the essay.
In conclusion, I believe that with each new essay, I either improved on my writing ability
or learned a new skill to enhance my ability to communicate by the written word. The knowledge
provided me with a roadmap to better writing and has driven me to be a better writer in the future
for which, I am grateful. Finally, each essay has stimulated me to dig deeper to obtain and
provide thoughtful insight when my perspective is called on.