Eliezer Gonzalez

Freshman Composition  
Final Reflection 

 
 
Throughout the Composition for First-Year Students 11000 course at CCNY, I developed essential academic skills that strengthened my ability to read, write, and think critically. By learning to analyze texts rhetorically, give and receive meaningful feedback, and use reliable research sources, I gained confidence and precision in my academic writing. These lessons not only improved my performance in this class but also prepared me for future courses and professional settings where analysis, research, and clear communication are essential. 

One of the first thing I learned was how analyze a text by a rhetorical situation worksheet, in this assignments’ I learn how understand better a text by founded the topic or main idea, search in the past of the author story to see what trying to say exactly and what audience want to reach. This helps me with my future analysis where I must understand the context of the text, who wrote it, and what they were trying to say to be more precise in my analysis and have a better score.  An example class I can give was the rhetorical situation of Mother Tongue by Amy Tan, where we had to analyze the text, research who Amy Tan was, and what the purpose of the text was.  The class went like this: 

Other Important lesson I learn the importance of gives and receive feedback from my classmates and professor. Because it helps me to recognize my strengths and weaknesses in areas that I need to improve. Classmate feedback offers fresh perspectives, while professors provide guidance based on experience and academic standards. Together, this feedback helps us grow, think critically, and produce stronger work. Meanwhile I saw that they could improve or that I could improve from what I saw of their work and how I could tell them. This will be a great help in our future, since at work we will receive and give a lot of criticism and feedback about our own work and that of our colleagues, and it will be good to already know how to analyze your work and how receive and give feedback. Some feedback I receive from my LLN:

Another great lesson was how to locate research sources. This was of great importance because they provided credible information that supports my ideas and arguments. Research helps me to understand a topic more deeply and shows that my work is based on facts, not just personal opinions. It also strengthens my academic writing by adding reliability and encouraging critical thinking. This is of great importance because any intelligent, knowledgeable, or professional reader who reads one of my arguments will check the sources to see if I know what I am talking about and that I am not simply lying or manipulating information to support my argument. Where else did we have to research and use sources from sites like Google Scholar to create our synthesis essay.  One example of a research source I used was JSORT.ORG. I used it for my synthesis essay.

One of the last and most important lessons I learned from the entire class is related to sources and was the systematic application of citation conventions. I had to use it and learned how to use one of them for my synthesis essay because it keeps academic writing organized and consistent. I use MLA format because it gives proper credit to original authors and helps prevent plagiarism. It also makes it easier for readers and instructors to locate and verify sources. As I said when talking about sources, a knowledgeable reader who reads an argument based on information will look at the source, and if interested, will want to investigate the source for themselves. There is nothing better than making life easier for the reader by specifying who wrote what they quoted, when they did so, and where exactly it appears in the text. One example extracted from my synthesis essay:

In conclusion, the Composition for First-Year Students 11000 course at CCNY played a significant role in shaping my academic development as a writer and thinker. Through learning how to analyze texts using rhetorical situations, exchange constructive feedback, conduct reliable research, and apply proper citation formats such as MLA, I gained skills that extend beyond this class. These lessons strengthened my critical thinking, improved the clarity and credibility of my writing, and prepared me for future academic and professional challenges. Overall, this course provided me with a strong foundation that I will continue to build on throughout my college journey and beyond.