Self-Reflection: My Journey in ENGL&236.
03/10/2025
Section One: Reflecting on Your Portfolio's Content
Journal Entries: To be honest I decided to include the journal entries I did, simply because they looked the most "readable" in photos (my camera isn't the best either). Also, when thinking of all the entries I could include in this portfolio I had multiple ideas! Oddly enough one of the most prevalent thoughts were the entries I didn't want to share with my class. Some of the entries included other parts or was simply a draft of ideas. Both of which wouldn't have made sense if read alone. So I tried to look for the ones that were more "standalone" reads.
Poems/fiction pieces: I wanted to share the pieces that surprised me. I don't particularly like poetry going into this class. I still don't particularly love it though. So in the end I wound up with many poems that I simply hated. But, I also had ones I really really liked. The ones that I did like were drafted over and over again. The same goes for the stories. In the end, before this portfolio assignment I had revised pieces that I actually liked. The short stories that I chose were the ones that either made me smile or ones that I spent the most time on! That makes enough sense to add them. If you worked on it for an extended period of time you might as well share them!
What makes these pieces your best work of the term? I think what makes these pieces my best work has to do with genuinely liking the concepts they talk about. IN one of my stories I was able to talk about my pets past and present and how much they mean to me. In another I was able to talk about health issues such as anxiety, in not just one but two of my writings! I think what truly makes these pieces the best is the fact that there is always a meaning found behind the words!
Section Two: Reflecting on Your Writing Process
When it came to feedback I would follow a pattern. Look at what I didn't like with my writing then compare it to what others commented on my work. Then I would reread my writing, the feedback I would receive from my peers was a lot easier to see where they were coming from. Most of the feedback I received was regarding both grammar and asking for more clarity. Sometimes I would rush an ending, leave things out. Making the reader, fellow students, have so many questions. Like in my work "The Commission"! Originally I didn't say what the artist's medium was, or give any idea of what they were commissioned to make. So I made it a bit clearer with a brainstorming session. In the end it was comments like "This almost reads more like a poem than a short story" that really made me write up something different with this story. In fact it changed dramatically! I thought about how I could make the poem a little more poetic, it's not what I was leaning towards originally but, I decided to lean into and see where it could lead. I don't believe I received any feedback that challenged my vision for a piece though! I never really knew where I was going with each piece. I knew that I would stress more if I did. So my fingers would just glide across the paper and I would see what my peers would have to say. Whether it was different from what I was thinking or not did not exactly challenge me. In fact I think it inspired my writing more!
Section Three: Deep Dive Into a Specific Piece
One piece I wanted to talk about and share more than anything was a story for our "small delights" assignment and I loved making it. My goal with this story was to pick up a comedic yet reflective narrative, similar to the writer Ross Gay. I had no doubt that I could do this, since his stories often involved short and sweet themes which my bird Nigel is full of! I believe I was able to achieve these goals. My classmates made many comments on the similes or odd comments I made about this tiny parakeet. I especially liked these comments:
"It is beautifully written and hilarious. I found myself smiling and chuckling all throughout it. I love the way you do not expose what you are talking about immediately. I thought you were speaking of a child but was amused to learn it was a bird. Your story is so sweet and I love the comparison between a sibling relationship and your relationship with Nigel." - Acacia Montgomery , Feb 10 at 3:03pm
"There is so much warmth in your writing. I've never thought I would want a bird but you made me really decide I don't ever want one. I think you did a really good job with this." - Chey Case , Feb 11 at 5:25pm