DearReader,

ThroughoutthissemesterinEnglish114Bwehavewrittenmanyassignmentsthat

havehelpedusimproveourwritingskillsovertime.InthisportfolioIhaveincludedmyessay

two:FamilyAffairs:MarriageinFlux,whichregardstohowthemediadepictsfamiliesthatare

nontraditionalandhowthataffectsourwayoftreatingthesefamiliesandessaythree:Project

Text:ResearchPaper,whichdiscussesthetopicofRapeandhowitisasocietalissueandwhat

wecandotostopthis.IbelievethesetwoworksbestshowhowIhavematuredinmywriting.

TostartoffwiththestrengthsofbothmyessaysitisshownthatIamstronginmaking

claimsandhavingagoodargument.Ialsoknowhowtousespecificexamplesinorderto

supportmyarguments.Forexample,InmyessaynumbertwoFiltersMakeeverythingMore

BeautifulIspeakabouthowthemediafiltersnontraditionalmarriagesinordertomakeiteasier

forsocietytoacceptratherthanshowingnontraditionalmarriagesinitstrueform.Inorderto

supportthisclaimIincludedaquotefromGuillermoAvilaSaavedra,anAssistantProfessorof

CommunicationsatSalemStateCollegewhoexplainshowandwhythisisso.Additionallyin

essaytwoSlutshameOrShameonSociety?Ialsoincludedmanydifferentsourcesinorderto

supportmythesisonhowvictimblamingisunjustandshouldbestoppedbecauseitcreates

greaterissuesinthelongrunforboththevictimandsociety.Iincludeoneofthequotesfrom

MaxineHongKingstonsstoryNoNameWomaninordertodepictthenegativeeffectsof

victimblamingbasedonthevictim'sperspective.Iwouldhavetosaythatmyanalysisisstilla

weaknessbutmanyaspectfromthissemesterhelpedmeimprovedrasticallyitisstillaworkin

progress.

WhilereadingthevarioustextsfromthisclassIlearnedthatitisveryimportantto

questiontheauthorofthetextandnotaccepteverythingthatissaid.Thiswasoneofmy

weaknesseslastsemesterandnowIhaveimproved.Thispushedmeintothinkingbeyondthe

textandincorporateotheraspectsthatrelate.Additionallythishelpedmeinmyanalysisformy

essays.AlthoughitstillneedsworkIhaveimprovedmuchfromlastsemester.Ireallyenjoyed

readingAnzalduas"Borderlands,Baldwins"Sonny'sBlues"andSaroyans"ThePomegranate

Trees"becauseagain,ithelpedmeanalyzethetextandalsobecauseitincorporatedmessages

fromdifferentracesandethnicities.Thediversitywasenjoyableandkeptitinteresting.Ididnot

likereadingMaxineHongKingstonsTheWomanWarriorbecauseIhadalreadyreaditin

highschoolandIstruggledwiththelanguageofthetextandhowitwasuptothereaderto

determineofthestorywasactuallytrueorfantasy.Ifeltasifitwasallovertheplacebutwhen

discussingitandanalyzingitasaclasswithProfessorMakarosyanitwasmuchmoreclearwhat

theauthorwasdiscussingsamewithalltheothertexts.

IfitwerenotforEnglish114Iwouldstillprobablybeturningindraftsasfinalessays

andnotreceivingthegradesIhavebeenreceivingonmywork.Thisclasstaughtmethe

importanceofrevisingandanalyzing.InowenjoygoingtotheLRCforrevisingandgetting

feedbacktoimprovemypapers.BeforeIwouldhatecriticismonmyworkbutIlearnedto

acceptitandenjoyit.TheessayIlikedwritingthemostwasessaynumbertwowhichwas

FamilyAffairs:MarriageinFlux.ThereasonwhyIenjoyedwritingthisessaysomuchwas

becauseitbroughtmeintoamindsetthatIhadnotyetexperiencedwhenwritingwhichiswhyI

choseitforoneofmypiecestoinclude.Ilearnedsomuchwhilewritingthisessay.Ididnot

thinkthisessaywasgoingtobeasenjoyableasitcameouttobe.Althoughthisessaychallenged

mebecauseofhowcomplexthistopicwas,organizingthematerialhelpedmewithmy

organizationanditallowedmetogrowasawriter.Themostdifficultessaywasessaynumber

onewhichwasProjectSpace.ThereasonwhyIfounditthemostdifficultisbecauseitgaveusa

lotoffreedomandIwasnotusedtothatbutitwasstillgoodtoexperiencethatfreedom.

SomeadviceIwouldgiveincomingEnglish114studentswouldbetorevise,revise,

revise!Revisionwasreallyimportantformethroughoutthissemesterbecauseitallowedmeto

raisemygradesandimproveasawriter,aspreviouslymentioned.Althoughitmayfeellikea

longandtediousprocessrevisinghelpsonebecomeastrongerwriterbyviewingone'smistakes

andlearninghowtofixthem.