Reflection Letter

My name is Melissa Mays and this is my first quarter at Everett Community College. Previously I was attending Edmonds Community College but made the switch because I want to attend the nursing program here at Everett CC. Until recently, English was my favorite subject and I always excelled. English 101D has been the most challenging English course I have ever taken. I feel that I have learned some new information but am glad that it is coming to an end. Although at times I felt frustrated and ready to quit, I learned that through hard work and continuance, work can be completed and the final result is rewarding.


We had three main units this quarter which were identity, community, and tradition My thoughts on identity, and tradition have not changed much, but my ideas on community have changed majorly. Before this class, my idea of community was the town that you lived in. Through the readings and discussion boards, I have learned that any group of people who enjoy the same things are considered a community. I have also learned that traditions are constantly changing and society is challenging traditions because of pop culture.


For an example of my writing that demonstrates my critical thinking skills, I have used our Intermission One timed write. We watched the movie Spanglish and wrote about what it meant to be an outsider. I feel that this was my best score recieved and that these are my true writing skills. For an example of my writing that demonstrates my skills at revision and reseeing my work I have chose my second paper, from the Community Unit. I feel that I did a great job at this paper, but my grade showed otherwise. I will be revising this paper so that I feel that I am still doing a great job while my instructors will see that I can do a good job as well. To illustrate my awareness of audience and voice, I have chosen my discussion board posting from the Tradition Unit, DB2 "Visiting Pop Culture." Another student and I were in discussion about what it means to have the "in" stuff, such as the iphone. We had a great disucussion about what pop culture really means. Finally, for my choice I will be giving the example of my third paper from the tradition unit. I feel that this paper really demonstrated my skills of a writer as a whole and my writing improvements really showed. To conclude, I have carefully chosen each writing from my collection of the quarter. I feel that my writing skills are not done improving, but have made major improvements throughout the quarter.