Smith 1
Smith
English 101
10 December 2008

My Literacy Background Reflection Paper
When I think of revising a paper I usually think of making minor changes to grammar, spelling, and other more rudimentary changes. This time though I am challenged to not only make those type of familiar changes but now I need to make a more in depth analysis into the thesis and content, development, and expression of my literacy background paper. For me this is a real challenge because of my past struggles with literacy. For my literacy background paper the most important changes that needed to be made was to content and development. My instructor requested that I make some grammatical changes, shorten and summarize long quotes, and expand on main points and provide more examples.
First, in reference to grammar and other rules of writing I did not make many errors. The first two pages were pretty clean. On page three I used the word “to” instead of “on”, as the instructor suggested, when referring to an effect on me from others. I find that I tend to make this mistake a lot. I need to focus more on areas I tend to need the most work on so I do not continue to make the same mistakes. If I don’t my readers will only continue to get the wrong message from my writing. Also, my usage of quoting words used in speech was left out. I should have correctly quoted the words Bruddah and brother, like “Bruddah” and “brother”. It is apparent that I need to work harder to make sure I improve in these areas, as well as others,
Smith 2 because I still have a long way to go in college and I need a solid foundation to build upon. I need to make sure grammar is used properly so my message to the readers of my work comes across clear and concise. The remainder of the paper was pretty clean in regards to grammar and other rules of writing.
Next, in regards to using quotes. My quote on the explanation of the origin, development, and usage of the Hawaiian Pidgin language was too long. This quote was three paragraphs long and after reviewing the comments made by my instructor I have to agree it was too long. My task was to shorten this quote and summarize the information using my own words. My justification for using such a long quote was “I thought the usage of the language and the way Wikipedia explained the origin and development of the Hawaiian Pidgin language was too hard to condense”. Again I relied on my teacher’s insight and dove right in and was able to shorten the quote by summarizing a major portion of it. Also, I added another example to help with the development of my paper so the reader would get a clearer message of what I was trying to say or to get my point across.
Last, I needed to expand on some of my main points that I was trying to get across so my readers really would get a clearer picture of what a particular event in my life meant to me. To help me do this I added more of my life’s experiences as examples. One particular event in my literacy background paper that needed more clarification was on page three and had to do with a lesson I had learned from a past teacher in high school. This teacher told me to never settle for less. I was a little vague in fully explain what this event really meant to me in my original version of my paper so I expanded on this main point to make sure it’s true meaning was
Smith 3 apparent. While the addition to this part of the paper was not much I believe that my addition or explanation would satisfy the question, from my instructor, of why did my high school instructor say this to me specific to language?
In conclusion, rather the revisions made to my original literacy background paper was suggested by my teacher or by my own intervention, I believe they helped immensely to make my paper much stronger in regards to grammar, correct usage of quotes, and expansion of main ideas. These changes really helped to reinforce my original ideas and strengthen them so my reader would get a clearer picture and better understanding of what I was really trying to get across. This reflection paper assignment really helped to broaden my horizons in editing and analyzing papers. By trying to find ways to strengthen my paper I learned to write a more focused, developed, and cohesive paper. I found that using examples of my life’s experiences to strengthen my paper worked best, because I felt if I could get my message across to my readers by having them learn from my past experiences then it was worth the effort.