Whiting 1

Nina Whiting
Professor Deadrick
ENGL 102
May 8, 2016
Reflection Paper
Before the beginning of this semester, I had not looked forward to taking English
102 at all. It was not that English was a hard subject for me, just that I really did not want
to have to deal with it. As a student planning to get into Animal Sciences, I did not see the
reason behind having to take another writing intensive class. However, now that we have
reached the end of the semester I am grateful for having taken English 102. At the start of
this course I had wanted to gain better literary analysis skills and I believe I have
accomplished that (Goal Setting Assignment).
One of the goals of this course is to an effective writer. My grades on my paper
have gone up since the beginning of the semester and so has the overall structure of my
essays. My first essay, Rhetorical Analysis Essay, got the job done but had a sloppy
structure and messy grammar. The original draft was too short and did not meet the
requirement of the assignment. These were issues that I was able to resolve in time for the
next paper, which received a B letter grade. I was able to look at rhetorical appeals,
analyze them, and structure my argument better by the second paper and being able to do
this successfully raise my grade.
I have also improved on information literacy, particularly in identifying reputable
sources. In my exploratory paper I was able to identify a valid issue and find reputable
sources to inform the reader on said issue. In fact the only issue with my exploratory

Whiting 2
paper was that I had already begun to make an argument with it, instead of focusing on
the informative aspect of it. However, the sources I used were still very helpful in
creating an argument for my research paper.
As seen in my visual analysis and rhetorical analysis papers I have learned how to
recognize rhetorical appeals such as logos, ethos, and pathos, and identify logical
fallacies. Someone could look at my midterm exam grade and disagree, especially
because the midterm exam was heavily rhetorical analysis based and my grade suggests
that I was not familiar with the subject. However, my failings in the midterm exam had to
do with me not understanding what the questions were asking, not that I did not
accurately understand rhetorical appeals or analysis.
As a future Animal Science major I did not see the point in taking another writing
class. However, especially after having written the research paper, I am happy to have
learned certain research and argumentative skills. I can see how being able to find
reputable sources will help me profoundly in my future, moving on eventually towards
veterinary medicine.

Whiting 3
Work Cited
Whiting, Nina. Why the Dog Breed Restriction List Should Be Demolished.
Unpublished Paper. Rockville, MD. 2016
-----Visual Argument Analysis. Unpublished Paper. Rockville, MD. 2016
-----Hollywoods War on Gender: Rhetorical Analysis Final. Unpublished Paper.
Rockville, MD. 2016
-----Exploratory Paper: Dog Aggressive and Restricted Breeds. Unpublished Paper.
Rockville, MD. 2016.