Today in class you will compose a final reflective essay that documents your work in the second half of the semester, focusing on what you consider some of your most significant work and the feature or features of the course that have benefited your development as a writer and a student. Since you have already written a reflective essay on your final essay and annotated bibliography, your final reflection should focus on other assignments and features, including one, two, or three of the following:
- Studying one of the texts we have examined in the second half of the semester, including “The Case for Writing Longhand,” The Competition, “Scrabble is a Lousy Game,” Seedlings, “Skim Reading is the New Normal,” “Strawberry Spring,” or the sample final essay and annotated bibliography (“Scrabble as a Game Changer in the College Classroom”)
- Writing for an online audience beyond the classroom/creating and maintaining a WordPress blog
- Delivering your group presentation on the first four lessons of the Check, Please! course
- Collaborating with your classmates on in-class writing assignments
- Playing Scrabble/Collaborating with your teammates on Wordplay Day
- Writing longhand
- Limiting screen time
- Keeping a journal
Focus on one, two, or three assignments or features of the course.
Include in your reflective essay the following elements:
- A title that offers a window into your reflection
- An opening paragraph that introduces your focus and presents your thesis
- Body paragraphs that offer concrete details from your work to support your thesis.
- A relevant quotation from Writing Analytically or a relevant quotation from one of the texts that we have studied in the second half of the semester. Introduce your quotation with a signal phrase and follow it with a parenthetical citation. Refer to your citation handout for models.
- A conclusion that revisits the thesis without restating it verbatim
- An MLA-style works cited entry for your source
Sample MLA Works Cited Entries
Aubrey, Allison. “A Break from Your Smartphone Can Reboot Your Mood: Here’s How Long You Need.” NPR, 24 Fb. 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/02/24/nx-s1-5304417/smartphone-break-digital-detox-screen-addiction#:~:text=Researchers%20studied%20what%20happened%20when,felt%20better%20after%20the%20break.
Bahr, Sarah. “The Case for Writing Longhand.” New York Times, Jan 21, 2022. ProQuest, https://libproxy.highpoint.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/case-writing-longhand/docview/2621453011/se-2.
Falconer, Ian. “The Competition.” Writing Analytically by David Rosenwasser and Jill Stephen, 9th edition, Wadsorth/Cengage, 2024. p. 108.
Ishida, Tetsuya. “Seedlings.” Artjouer, https://artjouer.wordpress.com/ 2015/10/29/tetsuya-ishida-paintings/recalled-detail-painting-by-tetsuya-ishida.
Kay, Jonathan. “Scrabble is a Lousy Game.” The Wall Street Journal, 4 Oct. 2018. ProQuest, https://libproxy.highpoint.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com /newspapers/scrabble-is-lousy-game-why-would-anyone-play/docview/2116081665/se-2?accountid=11411.
King, Stephen. “Strawberry Spring.” Night Shift. 1978. Anchor, 2011. pp. 268-82.
Lucas, Jane. “Ian Falconer’s “The Competition and . . .” Jane Lucas, 7 Apr. 2025, https://janelucas.com/2025/04/07/eng-1103-ian-falconers-the-competition-and/.
Rosenwasser, David and Jill Stephen. “Arriving at an Interpretive Conclusion: Making Choices.” Writing Analytically, 9th edition. Wadsworth/Cengage, 2024. pp.111-12.
—. “Integrating Quotations into Your Paper.” Writing Analytically, 9th edition. Wadsworth/Cengage, 2024. pp. 343-46.
—. “The Idea of the Paragraph.” Writing Analytically, 9th edition. Wadsworth/Cengage, 2024. pp. 307-313.
—. “Two Methods for Conversing with Sources.” Writing Analytically, 9th edition. Wadsworth/Cengage, 2024. p. 325.
—. “Ways to use a Source as a Point of Departure.” Writing Analytically, 9th edition. Wadsworth/Cengage, 2024. p. 326.
Next Up
In class on Wednesday, you will plan and prepare for the individual oral presentation that you will deliver during the exam period, Tuesday, April 29, at 8 a.m. You will receive a copy of the assignment in class, and it will be featured in Wednesday’s blog post.
Jane Lucas 