Topic: Write a reflective essay in which you explore your evolving attitude toward writing. Examine your writing process by describing what your own process consisted of prior to entering college and what changes you have seen in your writing process as a result of taking this class and, perhaps, the previous writing class (ENGL121 or the equivalent). Do you find yourself spending more time in the invention stage of the writing process, for instance? Have you discovered that drafting allows you to write more freely because you are not yet concerned with the intended audience? What changes do you make in your writing as you start to consider the needs and expectations of your intended audience? Do you now use the read aloud function in Office 365 to find errors in your writing as you move through the revising and editing stages of the writing process? What will you see yourself doing differently when you are tasked with writing an essay for another class in an upcoming semester? These questions provide suggestions for you to consider as you describe your own writing process. Provide examples of your writing process, too, by describing specific writing tasks that have proven troublesome or that have become easier once you have realized that you can make the writing process work for you. Address an audience of writing teachers and incoming students as you explore what you have learned about the writing process and how that process has helped to make you a stronger and more confident writer.
Length: Your reflection essay needs to be at least 750 words long. Longer essays are acceptable.
Format: Set up the essay in MLA Style, with your name, the instructor’s name, the class number, and the date appearing on the upper left of the first page, and with the title centered on the first page.
Date Due: Your reflection essay needs to be uploaded in the assignment drop box by 11:59 p.m., Tuesday, May 7.
Grading Criteria for Reflection Essay:
1) Does the essay explore the writer’s attitude toward the writing process? Does the writer remain focused on the subject or has the writer drifted into unrelated topics? Does the writer fulfill the needs and expectations of his/her intended audience? Focus—15 points possible.
2) Has the writer provided evidence drawn from his/her own experience? Does the writer maintain attention on his/her own experience? Has the writer avoided generalizations? Development—15 points possible.
3) Does the introduction set up the audience’s expectations? Does the conclusion cause the audience to continue thinking about the topic? Has the writer avoided the five-paragraph organizational strategy? Has the writer achieved mastery of paragraph development? Has the writer included transitions to help the audience move easily from one paragraph to another? Organization—15 points possible
4) Has the writer avoided such errors as sentence fragments, fused sentences, and comma splices? Has the writer achieved sentence variety by employing both participial phrases and appositives? Has the writer avoided addressing the audience directly? Style—15 points possible.
5) Is the essay free of mechanical and typographical errors? Editing—15 points possible.
Total—75 points possible
