Paper 4: Reflection Essay
For your final writing project in this course, you will compose a self-evaluation in the form of an essay. Today, professionals working in most fields are required to write self-evaluations (I’ll be writing my annual self-evaluation soon), so you will probably find yourself writing something similar to this in your future career. This project also gives you a chance to think seriously about how you have developed as a writer this semester.
Your Purpose: In this project, your purpose is to reflect upon and evaluate how your work this semester demonstrates that you have achieved the learning outcomes for the course. Your essay will refer to the major writing projects you have completed this semester as evidence to support your self-evaluation. The learning outcomes statement for this course says that by the end of English Composition I, students should:
Develop knowledge of essential rhetorical concepts, including purpose, audience, and context.
Apply rhetorical knowledge by composing and analyzing a variety of texts.
Learn flexible composing processes for prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing.
Use composing processes to develop writing projects through multiple drafts.
Experience the social aspects of composition by learning to give and respond to constructive feedback.
Use multiple strategies to write original compositions that effectively incorporate and acknowledge information and ideas drawn from appropriate sources.
Develop knowledge of the conventions of Standard Written
English by revising and editing their own writing.
Minimum Requirements
A clear thesis and purpose.
Organize your paper around a concise thesis statement that presents a claim about how you have grown as a writer and met the learning outcomes for the course. (You do not have to discuss every outcome listed;
choose the ones that you think make the best case for your self-evaluation.)
An introduction that introduces the idea of outcomes and self-evaluation in a composition course.
Reasons and evidence to support your self-evaluation
Use of source material to fully explain your supporting evidence (no outside sources are required, but should be documented if used).
Topic sentences that help organize and focus body paragraphs.
A strong concluding paragraph that sums up the essay without being repetitive.
A descriptive and appropriate title (titles like “Paper #2” and
“reflection essay” are neither descriptive nor appropriate).
Your paper must use MLA formatting, including a 4-line header.
MLA documented sources: in-text citations and a Works Cited page if you use sources other than your own writing.
Proofread carefully before you submit your assignment. Your paper should be written in standard, edited American English.
Required Length: 750-900 words typed, double-spaced (not including the “Works Cited” pages), in a standard, 12-point font.
Participate in all stages of the writing process and the the assignments related to the paper project.
