Reflective Writing Assignment

Words: 779
Pages: 4

As a student at California State University Northridge I have grown, specifically as a writer, with the help of freshman composition. Entering English 115 I was a scattered novelist and it has molded me into an attentive writer. This first semester of English has pushed me more than ever to form my own opinions and create arguments to defend my thoughts. I was constantly pushed to strengthen my argument by always being asked, “So what?” The meaning of writing has even changed for me. I now know that writing is not simply a task assigned or a thing that is to be read later. Every time myself or anyone writes they are contributing to an academic conversation and possibly influencing others opinions. The essays in this portfolio are not my best work, but demonstrate my willingness and yearn for improvement. …show more content…
This unconventional essay was harder to write about for me, because I did not fully understand the prompt. I used my gained skills of annotating from this class to interpret the prompt so I knew what was expected and could begin the essay. Additionally, I used a proposal to guide my essay and to ensure all my points correlated with the thesis. The outline was extremely helpful for me because I was able to distinguish parts of my planned essay which would useless. I chose to write about Instagram and how it has been transformed into a space which is a negative attribution to society and is controlled by power. One of the requirements for this paper was to include a quote from Michel Foucault Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. In the first draft I had no idea where to fit the quote in. I thought there were no quotes which could possibly relate to Instagram. I was looking at the surface of Foucault’s work. Once I annotated and reread the piece I discovered plenty of connections between the panoptic on description and Instagram relating to