THE DEPRESSION EPIDEMIC
Reflective Essay
Madison Sparks
Professor Hammett
English 1302
Reflective Essay
April 25, 2023
Word Count:502
Reflective Essay
I started this course at the end of my junior year in high school along with two other classes, and felt less than prepared. Going from a high school level of work to college in a year was a change, but I feel like this class has helped. The theme of my analytical and Rhetorical Analysis essays was the epidemic of depression was one close to home as my family has a history of mental illness, which helped me connect to the topic. However, I found my formatting and grammar needed some work.
Our first essay, the analytical essay, put into perspective the start of this class. In this essay, I discussed the symptoms of depression, the treatment, and what others can do to help someone with depression. I found it easy to stay focused on the impact of depression along with the skills I learned previously, like researching and a writing style, as Professor Hammett said, "Some really good info and research, but still in rough draft status" (Prof. Hammett’s Feedback in Blackboard). But, during this time, I realized my previous English classes did not focus on the writing aspect of their classes and left a lot to be desired. I hope to improve on this in my second essay.
The rhetorical analysis essay about Franz Kafka and his connection to depression was enjoyable. I found it easier to research and write because depression changes from person to person and is a broader subject than focusing on a single person in Kafka. I included his accounts of his life, along with his fiction work, The Metamorphosis. But, I also noticed that I have consistent trouble with my work cited, something we briefly covered in my public school. This essay was also better received by the writing center than the previous project, with only two corrections on a minor spelling error and moving my work cited page down. Along with the writing center, my grade from Professor Hammett was significantly better as I had gotten seventy-five percent on Project 1 and ninety-five percent on Project 2, a 23.5 percent increase, with errors in citations as before with Professor Hammett stating "Excellent content and a good read!" (Prof. Hammett’s Feedback in Blackboard) which gave me quite the confidence boost.
I found that this class was very different from my Composition 1 class, in that in my Composition 1 class we had a weekly short writing assignment that did not give us the time to explore the themes and ideas, with an average of 500 words a week. In this class, I found I had the time to explore and think about our topics. I greatly enjoyed Professor Hammett's assignments and the time given for each and I feel that this class has helped me build the foundation for my goal to become a better writer to convey my thoughts. In reflection, I feel like I have greatly improved over these sixteen weeks and would surely re-take this class if I had the chance.
