To: Deborah Wager
From: Shy-La Smith
Date: March 11, 2013
Subject: English
Sequence #1 Reflective Essay
"Sequence 1 has helped me to improve my ability to __________________ because I
_______________."
Student Learning Outcomes
A. Analyze rhetorical situations in terms of audience, context, purpose, and medium in
order to improve my reading and writing.
a.
Sequence 1 has helped me to improve my ability to analyze rhetorical situations
using terms regarding audience, context, purpose and medium to improve my
compositional skills. I am now able to look at my writing, and the writing of
others, with an objective view and dissect the manuscripts in a way that helps me
better understand the meaning behind the words.
B. Compose arguments in a variety of genres, using rhetorical strategies, claims, and
evidence that are appropriate to the rhetorical situation.
a. Sequence 1 has helped me to improve my composition of arguments in different
genres by allowing me to separate what I think I know with what I am assuming,
therefore allowing me to give factual information in relation to my point of view
as well as adequately portraying the other side of the argument.
C. Use research and writing as a means of discovery, to examine my personal beliefs in the
context of multiple perspectives, and to explore focused research questions.
a. Sequence 1 has helped me to improve my research and writing skills as tools of
discovery in my writing, and in myself in general because I was able to analyze
my own beliefs and use what I found to make my writing as unbiased as possible,
while keeping my style clear. This objective helped me to narrow and redefine
my possible questions, or widen them depending on what I am wanting to learn.
D. Describe the social nature of writing, particularly the role of discourse communities at
the local, national, and international level.
a. Sequence 1 helped me to improve my ability to describe the roles of writing on
different levels of communities because I am able to notice little differences that
could lead to different interpretations in different levels. Knowing the differences
in the levels, gives me a better perspective that I can use depending on the level
my audience will be in.
E. Integrate others' positions and perspectives into their writing ethically, appropriately, and
effectively.
a. Sequence 1 has helped me to improve my ability to explain the opinions of other
people in a way that adequately explains their view. Using this technique I am
able to give credit to my opponent’s view, therefore gaining credibility with
readers because they would know that I did the necessary research and am not
writing purely for emotional reasons.
F. Use multiple approaches for planning, researching, prewriting, composing, assessing,
revising, editing, proofreading, collaborating, and incorporating feedback in order to
make my writing stronger.
a. Sequence 1 has helped me to improve my ability to use different writing strategies
to make my writing stronger because I know that different strategies can be used
in different areas in more effective ways. I can interpret what I would like to have
my readers understand the script and go from there.
G. Evaluate how the things I've learned about writing in this course can be applied in other
contexts and can advance my goals and the goals of my communities.
a. Sequence 1 has helped me to improve my evaluation of writing in how it would
affect my writing in my future profession. Writing in ways that can be applied to
situations that are affecting my community will come in handy in a profession
where I am working for the good of the children of the community.
H. Characterize my improvement in the dialect of Standardized Written American English at
the level of the sentence, paragraph, and document.
a. Sequence 1 has helped me to improve my use of the Standard Written American
English within sentences, paragraphs and documents as a whole, because I notice
more of the little things that make written texts harder to understand. When I
make changes in something as small as the flow of the sentence, it can make a big
difference in the way the paper is read and understood.
I.
Recognize and describe the value of different languages, dialects, and registers in my
own and others' texts.
a. Sequence 1 has helped me to recognize the value of differences in cultures, and in
my own, and be able to describe the value that they can create. In recognizing
these differences, I can better my understanding of the different cultures that
could possibly be reading my writing, and therefore help me to eliminate any
potentially offensive language or phrases from my text.
J. Describe the differences between writing and argumentation for academic audiences vs.
other professional and/or public audiences.
a. Sequence 1 has helped me to differentiate between writing for academic,
professional, or public audiences. This understanding of the different language
and level of understanding that different audiences would need in order to
understand my writing allows me to write at a level that they would understand.
K. Analyze the writing and research conventions of an academic field in order to describe
different ways of creating and communicating knowledge.
a. Sequence 1 has helped me to figure out how using different describing strategies
can be used in different ways to communicate information in a variety of forms,
therefore making it easier for people to understand.
Analyzing the differences in
language used by these different levels lets me use language that will be easily
understood by people of that level.
L. Compose a research-based academic text by identifying, evaluating, analyzing, and
synthesizing sources, which must include but is not limited to secondary sources.
a. Sequence 1 has helped me to improve compositional research-based skills that
allow me to broaden my research sources, to include more than just the research
of other sources. Being able to research my own information as well as using the
information that others have found and put together.