This is my final reflection for my Comp II class. I am so grateful and blessed to have had such an amazing experience. I will never forget this time in my life.
Brandi Lambright
Mrs. Nall
Comp II
30 April 2025
Final Reflection
The first assignment we were asked to complete was an Academic success Proposal. This assignment was a fun one for me. We had to pick a subject matter where we could see a problem and then tell how we would solve it using credible sources. Being able to have a subject matter that hit close to home made it easy for me to find sources I needed to back my solutions. The subject matter I chose to write about was “Love and College.” With this assignment I started by making a list of all the problems one can have with being in a relationship and going to college. I then narrowed them down to the top three I felt would be universal to most. Once I narrowed my choices down, I then went on a hunt to gather good credible sources to back up my solutions. I also thought It may be helpful if I added ways me and my husband implement the solutions provided. This made the paper personable while also showing that the solutions were simply obtainable as well.
The second major writing assignment we were asked to do was an Annotated Bibliography. For this assignment we were asked to gather eight sources from our college library database about a short story we chose. This helped by making sure the sources we cited were authentic and credible. This assignment was more on the difficult side for me. I first went to the database provided to me through my university. I Then typed in the name of the short story I picked which was “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. I was blessed to see there were many sources to pick from. I started at the top of the list. I skimmed through their critical writings and decided if the source offered good details and information. Once I found a thorough source I jotted down on regular paper just a few sentences that stood out to me. I also copied the URL and pasted it into the Purdue Owel sight that Mrs. Nall showed me in Comp I. This ensured that my MLA citations were correctly formatted. The biggest obstacle I overcame with this assignment was the formatting. Every time I would paste my citation in, Word wanted to change my paragraph formatting. This assignment taught me how to do an Annotated Bibliography and how to effectively use Word in Microsoft.
Our third assignment was by far the most complicated and yet simple assignment. We were asked to design a book cover relating to the short stories we chose earlier in the semester. My book cover design was, again, on the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. With this assignment we used Power Point rather than Word. What made this assignment feel easy was that most of the work was done earlier in the semester. I already had eight credible sources to pull a book quote from. I also enjoyed reading about my author Alice Walker. One thing I did that was not asked of me was to provide a picture of my author in the section labeled “about the author.” Being an avid reader myself, I always enjoyed being able to put a face to the author of my books. What made this assignment feel difficult was the medium we had to use to create it. This assignment was the first time I had ever used power point. I wanted to make sure that my cover would draw in the potential reader. I also wanted the colors used to give a worn or aged look because my short story was about finding the true meaning behind one's heritage. This was also the first assignment I had ever submitted without letting someone else criticize it for corrections. In the end, this assignment I feel was my best work this semester earning me my first ever perfect grade.
Learning outcomes Comp II:
*I learned to use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating. When getting the book quotes needed for the book cover on assignment three, I was able to use my sources in our previous assignment called the Annotated Bibliography. This provided validity to the quotes used. Thus, it also provides credibility to my work. An example of one of those credible sources looks as follows.
“In a sense, Walker's life as a writer has been devoted to preserving a proximate past in the form of its language (or, as will be seen, languages).”
Cowart, David. "Heritage and deracination in Walker's "Everyday Use"." Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 33, no. 2, 1996, pp. 171-184. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/heritage-deracination-walkers-everyday-use/docview/195681019/se-2.
*I learned to integrate original ideas with those of others. This again I feel was best represented in my book art. Having the proper credible sources gave me the foundation for the things I needed to also back me up in my work. Also, being able to responsibly source my work with the use of the college library helped me eliminate any potential false information.
*I learned to develop flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading. This semester I had many rough drafts. I used the spit screen option on my computer to view the instructional videos provided by Mrs. Nall while making my drafts. This also came in handy when double checking my final work. I also was able to use the editor option to help me simplify run on sentences. Of course, my most effective approach is always good old pen and paper. When writing it on paper I can scribble out anything I may think I do not want to use without fully eliminating it. This gives me somewhat of a grace in case I want to bring it back out later.
*I learned to use collaborative writing processes. Throughout this semester I used many forms and sources to ensure my final submission of all assignments were up to par. With the Academic Sucess Proposal, for example, I printed off my first draft. With a pen, I then made corrections as I read it aloud to myself. Once that was done, I then corrected my seen mistakes and forwarded an email containing my paper to my sisters. This allowed someone to look over it a second time, finding the unseen mistakes I may have missed. I also benefited by having the corrections of my instructor listed next to my final work. This allows me to make proper corrections when submitting a revision to earn a better grade. This allows me to see how I can better improve my work with the help of others.
*I learned to demonstrate Knowledge of structure, paragraphing, tone, mechanics, syntax, grammar, and documentation. I feel Learning how to properly format an Annotated Bibliography was huge for me. The format was one I had never done before. Listing cites first and then the detailed information was hard to figure out using MLA. An example of my own work shows me now how to properly achieve this type of work. I know now it should look something like this....
Ala, Eddin S., and Mohammed Al-Badawi. "Epiphanic Awakenings in Raymond Carver’s Cathedral and Alice Walker’s Everyday Use." Advances in Language and Literary Studies, vol. 7, no. 3, 2016, pp. 157-160. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/epiphanic-awakenings-raymond-carver-s-cathedral/docview/2188087525/se-2.
In this text, the authors discuss the mother in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. The authors point out how the mother experiences an “awakening” to the fact that her daughter truly does not appreciate the real meaning of heritage. This is a credible source because it was published in a peer-reviewed academic journal. I can use this source to go discuss the viewpoints on heritage between characters.
Strengths and Challanges
I believe learning how to responsibly source credible resources for a paper was a big strength I earned this year. I learned how to give support to my own work based off the information provided by my fellow peers. Making one's own opinion credible based off solid evidence is a major strength. A weakness of mine is self-doubt. This year, I doubted whether every assignment was good enough. I do think that my second guessing causes me to make corrections or changes that sometimes hurt my work more than it benefits me. With the help and encouragement of my professor and peers, I do feel myself gaining growth in this area regardless of weakness.
Overall Benefit
This class has benefited me more than I knew it was going to. I found out this year that I would use Annotated Bibliographies more than I anticipated. In nursing school, we will be doing a great deal of these papers. I am grateful to have received the opportunity to learn it now. I also feel a benefit of going through Comp II was the challenges it made me overcome. Pushing me out of my comfort zone and expanding my abilities beyond my own knowledge. I feel better equipped to continue my learning journey because of this class.
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