Semester Reflection 

    At the beginning of this semester, I was nervous about the project prompts. I was suffering from burnout and doubted my ability to complete them. I soon discovered how rewarding these essays were, not only to my writing skills but also to my newfound knowledge of absurd fiction that came with the projects as well. 

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    Both essays taught me how to create in-text citations in APA format. Before English Composition II, I was awful at structuring my reference page and formatting my citations correctly. Now, Thanks to Project 1, I'm sure I could do it with my eyes

closed. For instance, I used to label my reference page “Work Cited”

due to habit. However, now that I've been corrected, I will be sure to

consciously correct myself every time. I was also not aware that

in-text citations when in APA format, required the year of publication

included. I would format all of my citations in MLA format and only

include the author's last name and the page number. It was a simple

fix and I picked up on it very quickly.

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    Additionally, I'd like to include how grateful I am to have learned

the proper way to compose a rhetorical analysis essay. While it was the more difficult assignment to write, it was also my favorite. Before I started writing, I was looking at the prompt confused as to how I could possibly relate it to my social epidemic project. Despite my inhibitions, once I got writing it all started to click and I was extremely satisfied with the outcome. The epidemic I chose for Project 1 was depression. I soon learned that most of the absurd fiction authors that we discussed in class did suffer from mental illness and depression. This discovery made my job of finding an author to fit a lot easier. I eventually chose Albert Camus as my author and began to try and sketch out ways to tie him in with the depression epidemic. I'll admit, it was a bit difficult but I read some of his work, watched some interviews, and it helped me get an idea of who he was and his ideologies. The better I got to know him the easier the project was to complete.

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    When you take an English class you don't typically expect to learn about philosophy and social issues. This semester I was shown the full potential of my writing abilities and I even learned a bit more about my own mental health. I'm grateful for the creative freedoms we were given and the topics we discussed. I'm relieved to say that the skills I've learned in this course have proven to be useful for my other classes and I'm sure they will continue to serve me well in the future.