Reflective Essay

Joshua Steele

November 26, 2012

English 115

Professor Macklin

    In August of 2012, I began attending English 115, which is my first English class at CSUN in my first semester of college. I did not know what to expect at first, and I felt that the class requirements were confusing. In high school, my English classes were smaller than this class and focused on a specific discipline, such as American Literature. In this class, I have improved my writing and learned more about rhetorical analysis, in addition to learning new concepts, such as exigency and ethnography.  Before writing this essay, I wrote three other essays in this class.
    My first essay focused on the universal themes that are present in Bernard Pomerance’s play The Elephant Man, which is a fictionalized retelling of the life of Joseph Merrick, a physically disabled man in 19th century England who resembled an elephant in the eyes of many people. In this essay, I talked about the history of the disability rights movement in the United States and analyzed how society has become more accepting toward disabled people. I was also able to compare The Elephant Man with my own life, since I have Asperger’s and attended a school for students with Asperger’s and high functioning autism. When I completed this essay, I received a grade of ‘Credit,’ since the essays in this class were graded on a ‘Credit/No Credit’ grading scale. However, I went through a slump when writing my second essay, despite the fact that it is about a topic that is near and dear to my heart.
    In my second essay, I analyzed a video of a teenage son coming out as straight to his fathers. This video ended with a disclaimer that stated, “Children raised by homosexuals do not necessarily become homosexuals.”  I originally wrote about the history of same-sex couples adopting children, which did not directly relate to the video that I analyzed. In addition, my original essay was too short. Due to the weaknesses in my second essay, I received a grade of ‘No Credit’ and was given an opportunity to revise my essay and receive a grade of ‘Credit.’ In my revised essay, I defined the coming out process and discussed the positive and negative reactions that occur when a person comes out of the closet. I wrote about how some prominent Americans are perceived to be closeted and “self-hating,” while many other people who came out of the closet have been successful in life. When I submitted this revised essay, I received a grade of ‘Credit.’ Luckily, I did well on my third essay.
    In my third essay, I wrote about how technological advances such as the railroad, radio, television, and the Internet have reshaped politics in a positive manner.  I wrote about the history of these technological advances in politics and how they have impacted and reshaped politics in a positive manner by making it more accessible to the people. When I submitted this essay, I received a grade of  ‘Credit.’ However, I will be revising all of my essays before submitting them into the final portfolio. In addition to the three essays, I enjoyed the Progressions assignments and the assigned reading in this class. Last but not least, I hope that I can use the skills I have learned in this class to my advantage in the future.



Works Cited
1. Steele, Joshua. “Coming Out of the Closet.” November 2, 2012. Print.
2. Steele, Joshua. “The Role of Technology in Politics.” November 13, 2012. Print.
3. Steele, Joshua. “Universal Themes in The Elephant Man.” September 24, 2012. Print.