Feedback for Final Reflection Essay The primary changes made to my essay were making sure I reviewed the formatting for the assignment, making sure it’s not italicized, and ensuring it’s capitalized. When stating my evidence, I also made sure to clarify my claim and argument for paragraph five. Furthermore, I reorganized some body paragraphs to fit a better transition between one another when using “I” in them, and reread my essay to fix grammatical errors and futility. Final Reflection Essay When coming into college, I expected my English class to be a lot like my high school class, reading and analyzing excerpts, followed by an essay revolving around a question. Throughout my college semester, there was a shift from my high school writing; I did a lot of unlearning, relearning, and peer review. When looking back at previous drafts of my essays and assignments completed, I was able to see ways in which my writing has improved from before. This class has helped me push myself to write an essay that I felt proud of and see English from a different perspective on what it should look like in terms of audience and evidence. This reflection examines some of the many key learning experiences that helped me grow my abilities as a writer by referring to previous assignments and highlighting specific key moments from them. Learning about linguistic standards, which help some languages but are also oppressed, was a central idea that followed the semester. Close readings that we annotated and analyzed were Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue, Vershawn Ashanti Young’s Should Writers Use They Own English and Nate Marshall’s Finna. Through these close readings, I was able to understand how language works in an academic setting and what “correct” English is. These readings influenced my LLN as I was able to incorporate Spanish dialogue even when it may not be seen as “correct” or at all English in an academic setting. Relearning about writing, in which it’s not only about standard English, it’s also who your audience is and the identity that comes with the writer. The first major assignment I was introduced to in the semester was a Literary and Language Narrative (LLN). This is where I noticed one of the major shifts that happened to my writing. In high school, I was mostly focused on writing informative essays. One of the rules for these informative essays was avoiding the word “I” in the essay and ensuring facts were present. My first draft focused on that informative essay style since I have gotten accustomed to writing that way. My first draft of my LLN was written as follows: “Would having more knowledge in English get you farther in the United States? Some people may argue that English is the standard language in the United States, and everyone should learn it once they step foot into this country.” Once I reviewed feedback from peer review, I was able to realize what a narrative is. When revising my second draft, I referred to personal experience: “My brother sadly wasn’t fluent enough for the job, so we continued trying to find a job opportunity for him.” Instead of using general statements, I used grounded statements for my narrative to prove the argument I was trying to make. Peer review and a series of drafts helped me realize that English isn’t always informative and rigid, it can be freeflowing and contain personal experience. Building on different techniques I learned when writing for my LLN, I was able to similarly strengthen my argument with sources. Research based writing that followed helped me unlearn and relearn how to integrate sources into my essay efficiently with reliability. In specific lessons such as Integrating Sources into Your Writing Handout 2-Sentence Summary assisted in reshaping how I introduced an author and allowed me to strengthen my argument and enforce credible sources. In my Synthesis Essay, I was able to apply this newly learned technique when I wrote, “Donald Trump, the President of the United States as of 2025, known for his extensive policies on immigration, argues on White House Website—Presidential Actions that having one national language will provide unity in the United States. Trump supports his argument by describing his foresight of how the United States can undergo processes of shared culture and by claiming English is the historically governing language.” When learning about an author’s background, I was referring to allowing me to present to the reader why their perspective was important for my essay. Furthermore, it helped me be more intentional, credible, and purposeful with my evidence selection and writing. When developing my Synthesis Essay and LLN, I learned that writing isn’t limited to traditional text but is more of different forms of communication, such as multimodal translations tailored to specific audiences. These translations allowed me to expand my knowledge on how there can be multiple forms of how writing can be interpreted. My Translation 1 revolved around acting out my LLN and creating a visual interpretation of what that situation looked like. Having the ability to have full creative control allowed me to align my translation to what I would like the watcher to feel, interpret, and the impact of the overall message. It also incorporated elements that illustrated who my audience was by including actors who spoke Spanish with real-time translations. After my Translation 1, we moved on to the Synthesis Essay and Translation 2. My Translation 2 focused on a poster design which had South American flags, American colors (red, white, and blue), and both English and Spanish text, as shown in the image on the left. Both these assignments allowed me to develop a greater understanding of design choices, intended audiences, and purpose. Importantly, I was able to think outside traditional and rigid writing to develop an argument through different multimodal media. Recalling previous to present work from the semester, I am able to see areas in which I have evolved and strengthened as a writer. More importantly, topics surrounding language and identity. Major assignments such as my LLN and Synthesis Essay and their translations pushed me to incorporate my intended audience and support for my argument. Close readings and peer review also closely followed and helped me back up my learning for major assignments and relearn about writing techniques. I learned to write with authenticity, clarity, and purpose. Furthermore, I was able to strengthen previous skills and learned more about my identity throughout the course with the assignments provided.