Susana Sosa
Dr. Myers
ENG 1302-06
5/12/2014
Reflective Memo
Section One:
In my English 1302 class, I have found ways to make my writing more
sophisticated. At least sophisticated enough to reflect my age and experience as a writer.
Four outcomes have helped me succeed in this course: rhetorical knowledge, processes,
composing in electronic environments, and critical thinking, reading, and writing.
For rhetorical knowledge, I had to keep focus on what I knew the purpose was of
my papers. Rhetorical knowledge is where you have a basic knowledge of what is
influential to your paper, and what is not. In my second pdf file on this website for
English 1302 projects, I demonstrated that I had rhetorical knowledge about the subject
that I had written about. Technology is one of the few things that spark my interest, and I
could write forever about it. I of course had to have a little knowledge about technology
and the software that certain devices use, because my knowledge had to be influential to
those who read my paper who also know a lot about technology.
I absolutely love processes in finding the answer to your own question while
writing. Processes is where you have to take things step by step when doing research. I
loved the process I took when writing my exploratory essay that I posted on my eportfolio. To me, this was a very helpful way to learn about certain subjects that interest
me. I answered my own question while writing, and I was shocked to see that after
researching about what interests you, you get so much knowledge out of what you’ve
been studying and writing about. This helped me understand what I was researching more
than ever. Maybe it was because I wrote about something that interests me, or maybe it
was because the learning process was actually quite fun. In my exploratory essay, I write
about technology and why it interests me, but I also asked a question to myself that I’ve
been wondering for a long time. Throughout the process of trying to find my answer, I
researched in databases more than on regular old websites, and I found out that there is so
much more you get out of information than when you are searching on the simple
websites for an answer. Scholarly articles and journals about what I like! I couldn’t
believe it, I was so excited! This is my favorite type of writing!
Composing in electronic environments was difficult at first, but then it got easier.
This is where you are doing all of your works on the computer or another type of
electronic device. Submitting, writing, logging into, as well as using all sorts of elements
to make a paper look incredible with pictures counts as composing in electronic
environments. I believe in practice makes perfect, so the more Dr. Myers got us to upload
documents, the more practice we got for uploading assignments. I felt more confident
every time I logged onto the writing.colostate.edu website and things ran smoothly. It is a
process of trial and error to me, because typing up a word document can be easy, as well
as submitting it, but it’s not the same when you have to make a proposal. For my writing
project number 4, I had a little more trouble working my way around adding pictures, as
well as different templates for headings and cover pages. It took a long time trying to
figure out what works for your proposal and what does not work for your proposal.
Trying to find the right colors for your headings and cover page is probably what took the
longest. Uploading photographs onto the proposal was difficult for me, because I have a
Mac Book, and to me, it is difficult because it is different from regular windows software.
Towards the end of my paper, everything started to fall into place, so I became more
comfortable using electronic environments.
Critical thinking, reading, and writing have become my best friends. Students
must learn to think in a scholarly manner, read “big words,” as well as write very well.
All of these outcomes help when trying to come up with the best paper in the world. I
pick the first writing project that is displayed in my portfolio section for English 1302 to
back me up on this one, because this paper did not involve any pictures, or headings. It
was only based on the way I thought, wrote, and understood the moral of my paper. I like
to write without pictures and headings the most, because it seems much easier for me to
do. I believe that in the first document that is posted in my English 1302 page, I did a
very good job in, because I felt like I really understood what I was talking about. I was so
sure of every single point that I made, and I was so sure that somebody out there would
have taken my side on this paper if they were against what I believed in about celebrities
being role models no matter what they say or think.
Section Two:
1. One interesting thing that I learned about writing this semester is that you
can find so much more information about your subject that you are writing
about if you use databases more than regular websites.
2. This course was what I expected. I actually took it last year, and I did not
know what to expect, so I failed it. But this semester I believe that I was
totally ready to put as much effort into my work than last time.
3. I feel that my writing has improved this semester when compared to other
semesters, because I see that there are many more ways to rite than what I
had known.
4. My favorite assignment of the semester was the exploratory essay,
because it taught me new ways to come to a conclusion. It was a process,
and I loved it.
5. We placed a lot of emphasis in writing in electronic environments this
semester. It was for the most part, pretty easy, but some of it was a little
bit difficult to get used to. For example, I had trouble with the writing
project 4, because there had to be headings as well as pictures. I thought
that our textbook helped a lot in the process of learning how to write in
new ways. It made life easier for me when I was working on the proposal
assignment.
6. I feel like my writing improved a little. Not too much, but what I do know
that improved was my knowledge of the types of writing that there are.
There are so many, and the can involve any type of anything. For example,
pictures, headings, all of the difficult elements to add to your paper.
7. I really enjoyed our class, because it was such a small size. I like having
the one-on-one help. It also boosted my confidence to speak in front of
people of my ideas and opinions. I do not like to talk in large groups. This
class was very fun, because we had a variety of ethnicities in it, which
made class fun.