Soleil Guirand

FIQWS 10008/10108

11/3/2019

Exploratory Essay Reflection

    The process of writing the exploratory essay was a challenging one that required me to do a lot of revision. Though I was comfortable with both texts, my greatest struggle was understanding the purpose of my essay and the aspects of the exploratory genre. It was through class discussions, going to the writing center, and doing more research that I began to realize and correct my mistakes.

    Prior to these discussions and outside help, my essay didn’t have a clear thesis and had weak evidence that didn’t relate to my thesis or topic sentences. Rather than using Freud’s work to help me explore “Black Cat” and interpret concepts/ideas within the story, I used the lecture solely to prove that Freudian concepts existed in the text. In addition to this, I focused on naming a bunch of concepts I could find in the short story instead of focusing on and analyzing the most relevant ones in relation to the text. Doing this greatly weakened my entire essay and made it incohesive.

   Originally I believed that picking Poe’s work would make exploring the text through a Freudian lens a lot easier, but this didn’t prove to be the case. Even though there were clear psychological issues happening with the narrator, figuring out why he did what he did (I.e. stabbing Pluto in the eye) was hard, especially since he was so erratic. 

    This assignment made me realize how important it is to fully understand the purpose and genre of any paper that you’re writing. Without knowing why you’re writing a piece of text, your argument will be weak and make your essay meaningless. If you have a good understanding of what you need to do before you start writing, your essay is already that much stronger.

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