Reflective Essay

            As with the end of most exercises, it is time for reflection. My view of writing before this term began was that writing should be done for assignments. It is an amazing way to communicate thoughts and ideas from one person to another. My idea of writing was based on the five paragraph method that every child was taught in high school, and I was stubbornly attached to this idea throughout a majority of this course. It came as a huge shock to me when I was told my papers were no longer bound to the conformity of the five paragraph rubric. The break though became most evident in my research paper. Before I made the final revisions, Professor Harmon told us that we needed more paragraphs in our papers. It was shocking, but it clicked inside my head. That research paper was by far my most accomplished paper of my entire career as a writer.

            My view of writing progressed throughout this course. I began to see writing as a method of expression. I saw the blog entries as tasks to be completed, but then I began to analyze the real meaning of the project. I began to use the journals to express myself and my ideas about environment, nature, and wilderness. I began to see myself alongside the greatest movers and thinkers history had to offer. I passed my ideas through Emerson and Thoreau, and I reveled in the thought that they may approve of my thought processes. I doubt that they would agree with a modernist such as me, but their ideas and thoughts heavily influenced my journal and field experience writings throughout this class. I felt as though my writing style and skill progressed with the class. The previous skills that I possessed provided a building block for the natural and forced progression I experienced in English 1920.  

            I felt that my best and most accomplished paper was my research paper “Eroding Away the Future”. This pride is reflected in both the grade and inner skill of the paper. I typed a majority of this paper over a snowy weekend, and I sacrificed time frolicking in the wintery goodness in order to complete this paper. I was very passionate about the topic, and therefore I was willing to put in the long hours required to accomplish such a flawless paper. The grade reflects the effort, and this paper is one of my favorites.

            Sadly not all of my writings can be strong and well compiled. I feel that my weakest paper was my remembered event. I feel that this paper was my weakest because of my inexperience in collegiate level writing. This paper was largely based on a high school level idea, and it reflected high school level writing. I feel that this inexperience led to my poor grade. Even though I made a mid-level “B”, I feel that I could produce a higher quality paper with the information that I now possess. I do not regret any aspects of this paper, other than the fact that I made such careless mistakes such as comma splices and run on sentences.

            I believe that my strengths as a writer outweigh my weaknesses. My strengths include my ability to synthesize and create ideas. This is a valuable skill when complicated topics and tasks are at hand. I also believe another strength is my ability to create longer, more complex sentences out of short, choppy sentences. I also tend to avoid careless grammatical and spelling mistakes; however, this has been a weakness at times, for catching every mistake requires many drafts and hours of proofing. The only other weakness I succumb to is the fact that, lack of interest leads to lack of effort; however, this rarely happens.

            I can trace my development as a writer this term in English 1920. I can see a very obvious progression from my earlier papers to the latter. My first journal and field experience entries are nowhere as detailed or intricate as my final entries. As mentioned earlier, I can attribute this vast improvement to my base level of high school writing. The most obvious progression is between my remembered event paper and my research paper. Though it is obvious in grade alone, the inner parts of the paper also reflect an amazing progression as a writer.

            The most important lesson I learned in this class was to never give up on myself or sell myself short. I was not always confident in my writing ability, but this class has made sure that there was no room for unsure sentiments. There simply was not time to doubt myself or my writing. I will take the lessons learned from the class and apply them to everyday life. I can say with ultimate confidence that this class, and the lessons taught in it, have altered the way I approach monumental and seemingly overwhelming tasks. I will not doubt the outcome, and I surely will not waste time with procrastination. Procrastination is the enemy of success, and English 1920 has taught me that any serious task cannot be put off to the last minute. Serious academic ventures demand serious time and effort, and this class has been an amazing example of that fact. The word “challenge” does not begin to cover the amount of dedication and effort I put forth in this class. The entire class was a challenge, but keeping up to date with the small tasks, such as reading journals and field experience logs, proved the most challenging. They were not difficult tasks, but they proved to be some of the most thought provoking of any assignment given. At first glance, the homework seems trivial and able to be swiftly completed. I quickly found that these were some of the most difficult and crucial assignments. They challenged my ability as a writer, and they made me think about my preconceptions about many aspects of nature and the wilderness that ultimately surrounds us all. I think that the course would have been lacking a certain home thought aspect if these had been omitted or lessened. Though often a source of complaint, I can see their importance to the course and I believe they serve as a key aspect of the entire English 1920 experience that we are all better people for going through. I think that if I had not elected to take this course, I would have been cheating myself and my education. Even though I am not at Johnson and Wales University for an English based degree, I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and I would have deeply regretted not taking this course. As with any difficult and seemingly impossible task, the end is filled with a climactic and euphoric feeling of accomplishment.

            In the beginning of the class, I defined nature, environment, and wilderness by a cut and dry definition. After experiencing all of this class, I can no longer define these with such sure meanings. These are more existential words that cannot be confined to such strict interpretations. With words that cover such a wide area, people are really up to their own interpretations. I would define nature as anything natural or unharmed by man’s brutal touch. My definition has remained unchanged throughout this class and its rigors.  Nature is a pure entity, and it is sad when man destroys and pillages it for his own benefit. What many do not realize is that nature provides everything man could ever want, but it its raw state, many do not recognize. Environment’s definition to me was man’s immediate surroundings. It altered due to some of the readings we discovered. I can now change my definition to everything’s surroundings. Environment is made up of every natural and unnatural thing that encompasses our world.  We are constantly changing environments and settings, and this fact makes individual environments so unique and special.  Finally, my definition of wilderness has altered from the first day of class. I had originally defined wilderness as untamed nature. I now would define wilderness as the total lack of civilization and man’s brutal touch.  I believe that if man can experience total wilderness and absolute nature without the grasps of other men and their dastardly development, he can become truly at peace with himself and his transgressions. Wilderness can serve as catharsis to the human soul and spirit. It possesses the unique contradicting power to both cleanse and destroy the human body. The wild fury of true wilderness can both intimidate and inspire man to no end.