Reflective Essay
Sailor Moon, also known as Usagi Tsukino is the star of the famous anime, manga, musical, video game, and live action TV series centered on her transformation from a lazy, naive, cry baby to the savior of the universe. Usagi was just fourteen when a mysterious cat with a beautiful brooch explained to her that she was meant to be a hero and defeat the energy-draining forces of evil from overtaking the planet. Usagi's response was to cry, whine and otherwise resist her destiny as a hero. However over time she, and friends who were also destined to help her save the planet, grew into strong mature young women ready to lay down their life for the good of the world. Sailor Moon's journey from childish schoolgirl, to "Pretty Guardian of Love and Justice in a Sailor Suit!" mirrors my own journey as a writer. Just as Usagi transforms using her magical brooch into Sailor Moon, I have transformed my writing from good to great using the techniques, advice and practice from this class! I went from writing ten papers in all my high school career to prewriting, drafting, editing, more editing and finally turning in ten papers in one semester. I have grown much as a writer since September, specifically in the writer’s workshops, the writing process and crafting a more complete voice.
Usagi started her journey alone. She fought her first battle with no help from others and was nearly defeated by her enemy because of it. However, with time she found her fellow Sailor Scouts who would help her grow and save the world. The Sailors are much stronger together than they are alone. They each bring to the fight their own set of skills, strengths and abilities. When working as a team they are nearly unstoppable. The peer-editors are my Sailor Scouts and Writers Workshops are the fierce battles between be verbs, comma splices and sentence fragments. We all bring unique skills and weaknesses to the table when editing essays and can find errors in one another’s essays the writer may not have caught initially. These workshops create discussions that facilitate learning and growth for each writer, they have truly helped me improve and expand my skills. This is evident when comparing an essay I wrote with a writer’s workshop editing session and without. In my causal analysis titled "Feminist Dating" I explored how the feminist movement has made the dating world a healthier, more respectful and positive place. There are many errors in this essay that could have been caught in a writer’s workshop. For example, my repetition in the "Feminist Dating" essay may cause the reader to lose interest. I have highlighted instances of my repetition in pink on the essay link provided. However I improved in my narrative essay, "The Babysitters Shrug". The writer’s workshop we did in class helped catch a lot of errors I would have missed if I was the only one editing. The countless errors in my draft that would have been missed had it not been for the peer editors in my writer’s workshop have been highlighted in blue in the link provided. This helped me flesh out my ideas and stay organized in my paper while still telling the funny story of my first time babysitting. Writer’s workshops are an invaluable tool to writers of all skill levels. Successful and effective writers benefit from peers critiques and opinions in writers workshops.
Successful writers can also benefit from following the writing process. In previous English classes I had never been much of a "prewrite" person. This caused me stress when writing drafts because I wasn't clear on what I wanted to say. This confusion often translated into my essays reflected in my grades. This is not to say I received bad grades, but I could have done better with adequate preparation and pre-writing. It is evident in my SAT Pre Assessment essay that I would have benefited from some extra form of outlining or drafting. We were tasked with arguing weather technology is a positive or negative in our society. In this essay I lack transitions, need to review MLA formatting and need better organization. I have attached photos of the essay to the link provided. Conversely my essay "You Are My Sunshine" benefitted greatly from the proposals, pre writes and editing done over the course of the assignment. I've highlighted areas with better formatting and organization in the essay linked above. The writing process is inherent to successful writing because without an outline or some form or pre writing an essay can become disorganized and lose focus. Sailor moon and I are very alike in that we think we can jump right into battle without a plan and still defeat the bad guys. This would often lead to her and her fellow Sailor Scouts being easily tricked by the enemy. Without a definite game plan the girls became out of sync and lost focus. When the girls began creating game plans for their missions, evil was no match for the powers of love and justice.
Style is one of the most important components of good writing. Style is what turns a so-so piece of writing into a paper you can't put down. A writer's diction moves readers to laughter or tears, their use of figurative language opens up doors to new worlds, but a writer's voice is the true soul that brings the piece to life. Over the years my voice has steadily gotten stronger and more authentic. But until this semester the voice was just a facet of myself, often serious or angry and fighting to prove a point. This semester was when I finally learned I could incorporate other facets of myself into my writing and still get a good grade. My voice is especially prominent in my essay "How to be a lady". This process analysis essay described in very tongue and cheek fashion the answer to the age old question of how one is exactly supposed to fit into this especially dainty box labeled "Lady". In the essay linked above I've highlighted examples I feel illustrate my strong voice. Usagi must also find her passion and voice before she can be a true leader to her team mates. She grew from a scared, whiny girl to a strong, confident and powerful young woman able to stand up for herself and her planet; while still having a super cute hair do. She showed me you can do amazing things while staying true to yourself, and also be funny and sassy while you do it!
Usagi did not become the savior of the world overnight, it took many battles and many learning opportunities to turn her into a hero. She was helped along the way by her friends the Sailor Scouts, thinking before she attacked and finding her strength and passion. Without these moments of growth and hardship she would still be lazy, clumsy Usagi and not powerful, confident Sailor Moon. My writing has undergone many changes this semester and has been helped along the way by writers workshops, following the writing process and finding my true voice. However I know the battle is never over, there are always new essays to write and more ways to improve my skills. I'm excited to see what next semester has in store for me, and the new episodes of Sailor Moon.