Bushra Algamaai 1

Bushra Algamaai
Professor Thomas Trimble
ENG3020
14 December 2016
Reflection Essay
In my ENG3020 course, Ive proficiently met my writing requirements throughout my
essays for each project. As a result of the work accomplished this semester, Ive come to realize
my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Knowing my strengths and weaknesses, and where I
stand in this class as of now, helps motivate me in becoming a better writer in the future; I know
what to work on, or focus on when writing a paper. The work I will present in this paper will
elaborate more on what Ive studied and assessed as a writer about the process of writing.
In my essay, I will demonstrate the knowledge about writing that Ive learned throughout
my work this semester. I will use excerpts from project 1, a family interview assignment, project
2, an analysis and evaluation assignment, and project 3, a research-based assignment, as support
and demonstrations to my principles. I will articulate four principles of writing developed in this
course including: (1) writers using interview data must work to accurately represent the voices of
the people they interview, (2) writers analyzing data must provide an interpretation of the
detailed examination of that certain data, (3) writers evaluating sources can use the CRAAP Test
as a method of evaluation, and (4) writers using survey data must be accurate with representing
their results, as well as justifying why these results matter. These are the four principles that Ive
come across this semester, and have been useful throughout the projects.
Project 1 was the most interesting project that I have conducted this semester. The
assignment originally consisted of writing an essay using interview data from one or two people

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you already know that captures their remembrances of the events that took place in Detroit
during the summer of 1967, but it soon was tweaked into just writing an essay using interview
data from a person that you are familiar with, and then capture their remembrance of an event
that took place in some point of their lives. It was this family-interview assignment in which I
came across the importance of my first principle: writers using interview data must work to
accurately represent the voice of the people they interview. In order to capture the interviewees
voice in your piece, you must include everything the interviewee replied with word for word.
Trying to keep the reasoning or data sound realistically as possible is an important factor in
converting interview data into an essay. For example, if the interviewee used slang words or
profanity, or even paused for a few seconds, you want to insert that in your writing so the
audience is able to evaluate the interviewees perception on specific topics or themes. In this
assignment, I show a demonstration of using my interview data to represents my interviewees
voice by including this following quotation, I used to hear the airplanes from my house, and Id
quickly gather my family and hide in the basementit was terrifying, said Ifrah. This quotation
provides the audience with word for word responses from the interviewee. The three dots
symbolize the interviewee took a short pause or breath before continuing her speech. This
quotation is an example of appropriately representing the interviewees voice in my essay. Note:
It is important in keeping the quotation in first-person because we are representing the
interviewees thoughts, not ours. Keeping the interviewees voice in parallel to the overall essay
topic is extremely crucial.
Project 2 was the most critical assignment in relevance to justifying what exactly was
needed as an outcome of the assignment. The assignment consisted of a 1000-word analysis of
the assigned chapter in the book, Violence in the Model City, which identifies and describes the

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main arguments of the chapter and describes the sources of evidence Fine uses to support his
arguments, and a 1000-word evaluation of Fines arguments using both primary and secondary
sources that will be located through research. While conducting this assignment, I came across
the importance of my second principle: writers analyzing data must provide an accurate
interpretation of the detailed examination of that certain data. When a writer is analyzing data it
is important to portray parallel interpretations of the data being examined. For example, if
youre examining a piece on brands of candy, and the writer says, My grandmother likes Twix
better than Snickers, and then you interpret this sentence by quoting, the writer implies that
her grandmother likes Twix, but doesnt like Snickers, then this is an incorrect interpretation of
what the author is implying. The previous example shows an incorrect interpretation of the data
because the author didnt imply that her grandmother dislikes Snickers, she just implies that she
likes Twix better then Snickers. In this assignment, I show a demonstration of using accurate
interpretation of a detailed examination of data by including this quotation, Fine mentions the
effect the police department had on Detroit, in which he uses quotes from Mayor Cavanaugh,
. And their relationship with the Police Department was one of mutual antagonism and
constant strain (Fine 36). Part of writing an analysis is being able to quote the individual and
then interpreting what the main idea of the quote is, or why it matters. In the previous example, I
chose to foreshadow the main idea of the quote, in which I interpret what the quote is about, and
then inserting that quote to provide the audience with a generalization of both components.
Also, while conducting this assignment, I came across the importance of my third
principle: writers evaluating sources can use the CRAAP Test as a method of evaluation. The
CRAAP Test stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. The CRAAP
Test is a list of questions that help you evaluate the information you find. When writing an

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evaluation of the authors sources, the use of the CRAAP Test is a helpful method of advancing
the process. In this assignment, I show a demonstration of this principle by including, In regards
to currency, the report was published in 1968, developing an adjacent time frame of information
in regards to the race riots of 67, and Detroits period of increased racial tension. In regards to....
In regards to accuracy, the information from the report comes from The African American
Experience database offered by Wayne State Universitys library, under political, government,
and court documents. In the previous shortened excerpt, I provide statements that show support
in context to the evaluation of the source used by answering the list of questions that the CRAAP
Test provides.
Project 3 was the most time consuming assignment that I have conducted this semester.
The assignment consisted of writing a 13 to 15 page research-based essay that uses both primary
and secondary sources to explore a topic relevant to our course activities and themes. While
conducting this assignment, I came across the importance of my fourth principle: writers using
survey data must be accurate with representing their results, as well as justifying why these
results matter. When conducting your own primary data, its important to show consistent,
accurate data in your results in order to obtain credible outcomes. When the results are shown
accurately, the paper flows more logically. For example, if I argue that all of the students at
Wayne State University dislike the sport basketball, and in my survey data it shows that majority
of Wayne State University students like the sport basketball, then this causes a contradictory
between whats being argued and whats being presented. In this essay, I show a demonstration
of this principle by including accurate charts of my survey data as results that are coherent with
my interpretation of data, and what I argue. When an inserting results of primary data, or any
results in general, its important to include a statement of purpose to why those results matter,

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and what they portray. For example, I wrote a statement under my results of survey data that
includes, Figure 1 represents the survey data conducted in relevance to responses from
participants about the top causes that elicit police brutality in the U.S.The graphs results show
that 10 out of the 15 participants answered to racial discrimination as the top cause of police
brutality, 3 out of the 15 participants answered to threat to police as the top cause of police
brutality, and the remaining 2 out of 15 participants answered to abuse of power as the top cause
of police brutality. This shortened statement is a clarification for the audience of what is being
presented to them.
After taking this course, I believe I have improved as a writer in a sense that I am familiar
with my strengths and weaknesses in writing. Through writing in these pieces or projects
throughout the semester, I have found my voice as a writer, and found where I stand as a person
in correlation to my perceptions on different stances.