Reflective Essay

               There are times that saying what you feel about something is not enough and your soul would not be put to rest unless you do something. One way to do that is to write and let your voice be heard by millions. Though when people are writing they tend to have an “angry” (aggressive) tone since they usually write when there is a pressing issue around or they don’t agree with something that is circling around the world.
Admit it or not a good number (read: majority) would rather shut their mouths rather than say anything that might harm them, well that is from my experience. Things might change if the chance of anonymity is presented then the individual might consider speaking up, either speaking (verbally) or writing but it is most likely the latter, and express his thoughts and opinions. Though through academic people can learn to control their “tone” and do it in a more formal yet still convincing way. Aside from that this kind of writing style helps writers develop their critical thinking since it lets them analyse data that is imbued within the paragraph, though that is not the only things that academic writing offer and I myself have learned quite a number of things from the duration of this academic writing class.

               When this class started I had this mind-set that I will have a hard time since I know that I am not a good writer especially in formal (or academic) writing. Back in my High School days I used to get usually what the lowest possible passing score is only or about three points higher than the passing score. Though as this class continued for days I realized that I may not really have a hard time writing formal essays since I should have learned from my mistakes from before. It might be safe to say that that assumption came out to be somewhat true, before I can barely construct a thesis statement but now I can at least construct something, even though it is not “good”, that can be passable as somewhat a thesis statement. There were times that I thought that formal writing is just used for speeches and declamations though in just the first weeks of class this was refuted since I was enlightened that it can be also used in various ways such as news reporting and blog making, that is right blog making. As our professor was discussing the requirements for this course there was this one requirement that caught my attention and that was constructing our own blog.

               The class was tasked to make random blog posts every other week; this blog would be part of our online portfolio that can be viewed by the class and random people (it is a blog on the internet anyway). Honestly though these random blog entries were harder to make rather than those topic specific essays that I and the class made (topic specific would be Problem-Solution essay etc.). There would also be topic specific essays that would be posted in our respective blogs such as the extended definition essay. Speaking of which that essay might have been the “best” one I have ever made in my years of existence here in earth. Aside from that I am not really a big fan of writing. I think that was the first time that I did not have to edit my introduction and conclusion, the body is understandable since it usually needs polishing. Though in making that essay I realized that these things are not always made in one sitting (even though I did that way back…) and it needs tons of reliable sources. Aside from those citing sources is a need thus it is an additional weight (read: hassle) in the essay itself. The same problems occurred when I was writing my problem solution essay as I tried to “format” it with my extended definition essay. Though I believe that I was able to address those problems that I have encountered back in my High School days and give some remedies, be it temporary or permanent, to the specific problems.

               Maybe this class did not just teach me to appreciate writing in general but it made me realize the power of writing in general. It can be so powerful that it can shape different readers and writers themselves. An individual can become so engrossed in his writing that he can start seeing things in a different light, though that may be just an “extreme” case. I suppose that is has yet to happen to me as I am just starting to appreciate writing, formally or informally (though I am more inclined in the latter since well it is just blurting out of thought with almost no censor at all).