Reflection on Anthem Essay Justin Mariner
Application
This assignment was similar to most short-answer assignments in English class and most essay questions
on the SOL because it started with a specific prompt that was to be answered. The structure of this
essay – three major points, each taking up a whole paragraph – is a recurring theme in many writings,
such as the SOL writing prompts. Because of this, this process can be easily adapted to other
assignments that have a possibility for a 3-way breakdown of the answer. But, the format of writing
used in this essay is less applicable to the more open-ended questions that show up outside of the
classroom because of its straightforward organization.
Analysis
The main pattern that I followed in this writing was the three-topic format that did not require an
outline. As far as I can remember, this essay was completed on time with the final deadline, which was
the only deadline. My approach of writing a rough draft instead of an outline proved efficient for this
particular essay and I don’t feel that an outline would’ve improved my writing by any noticeable amount
at all.
Evaluation
At the time of writing this essay, I was learning about individualism in English class, which is very
important in today’s society. But this essay detailed the complete opposite – totalitarianism and
collectivism – which is less helpful to the main idea. Because of this, I demonstrated my learning not
nearly as effectively as I could’ve by writing directly about the topic. The more I read this essay back, the
more awkward sentences I find and the worse organization gets. This was definitely an area to be
improved upon at the time and I believe I have done that by now. I do strongly feel, though, that I was
very consistent in this writing, for better or for worse. This essay, being the longest of my Sophomore
year, was a key stepping stone in excelling as a writer and a great practice for the writing SOL the
following year.
Creation
My strengths in writing consistency will definitely help me improve many other aspects of writing.
Whatever I am taught in the future about writing I am confident will be retained due to this. As stated
above, the environment in which I wrote this essay was very forgiving and lenient. I feel like it would be
beneficial to instate more guidance during a writing project such as this one. My consistency in writing
can be adapted to just about anything, such as how I speak or how I act.