Self-Reflection Essay starter questions

• Writing History
• Rhetorical Analysis
• Synthesis
• Proposal
• Annotated Bibliography
• Researched Argument

1. Brainstorm (on board) all the possible skills we have covered over the course of the semester.

• Library
• Reading skills
• Analysis
• Computer skills
• Comparative skills
• Synthesis skills
• Citation skills
• Reflection skills
• Revision skills
• Reviewing skills (peer edits)
• Research skills
• Writing skills
• Evaluation skills: both sources and self
• Rhetorical skills
• Skimming skills

2.  Pick 2 skills you have developed over the course of the semester and write how they have developed from the first day of class to now. 

What assignments did you use them in? 

What helped you to feel you were really utilizing this skill well? 

What was challenging about the skill? (4 minute free write)

3.  Now pick 2 skills that you are still unsure of, write about the value of these skills and how you plan to develop them in the future. 

4. Consider Drafting process. 

What sort of habits do you follow pre-writing? 

How do your habits differ from previous semesters? 

How did you write your major drafts? 

Before peer-review how did you edit or revise your work? 

What was useful in this process?

5.  Consider addressing the peer-review process. 

How did you prepare for the peer review? 

Consider a peer-review that you felt was successful, what made it so? 

Were you more prepared? 

Were your peers more prepared? 

How did you implement the changes that people suggested from peer review? 

Were they useful? 

What would you change? 

What was missing that could have helped?

6. Select an assignment that was particularly challenging. 

What made it difficult? 

What could you have done differently to make it easier? 

How did you work through the challenge of the assignment? 

What did you learn from the assignment?

7.  Now select an assignment that was easy. 

What made it easy? 

How did this experience differ from the challenging assignment? 

What did you do differently? 

What did you learn from this assignment? 

8. Read over your Writing History.  Identify the things you wanted to learn in this semester.  Now compare those goals to the skills and habits you have developed over the course of the semester.  Consider what you still would like to learn.  Consider what skills you have that will prepare you for future classes. 

9. What is applicable about this class for the future?