Projects and Their Processes
During this semester I learned many new things while attending my Composition 1 w Review. We had three main projects throughout the semester which included a narrative essay, an exploratory essay, and a rhetorical analysis. My first project was a narrative essay in which I had to read several “This I Believe” articles to get an idea of what I would be writing about. All of the articles included a belief that they wholeheartedly believed in and gave insight into why they had this belief. My article was titled “Family is Everything” because growing up I took family for granted until I got older and realized just how important family is.
My second project was a rhetorical analysis and required me to choose an ad that I liked and to do an analysis of it. We could choose a campaign ad that was either video or a poster ad. To better understand the assignment, we were asked to read “Advertisements R Us” by Melissa Rubin. Melissa Rubin took an old Coca-Cola poster ad and did an analysis of the contents it showed on the poster. The ad that I chose was from Budweiser and it was an ad that aired during the Super Bowl in 2014. It shows a bond between a Clydesdale horse and a puppy who became the best of friends.
My third project was an exploratory essay in which I was asked to read many different articles and watch videos that all had the same topic. The topic of this assignment was fixed and growth mindsets. The topic of this assignment was very interesting and took me by surprise at what I found after my exploration. I learned that it is possible to grow your brain and it all just depends on how much effort and practice you want to put in. I took a mindset quiz while doing this assignment and came to the realization that I have a growth mindset. The concept of growing your brain sounded crazy to me until I did this exploratory essay and now, I’m a firm believer.
In composition review I had to write three different reading responses which were all very much different. I was asked to read articles in which I then had to summarize the article and then give my response. Of the three reading responses that I did, my favorite was Madeline Urabaszewski’s article “Treating Everyone as Family”. Reading her article made me think about past memories and what beliefs I had too. I enjoyed reminiscing on my childhood and the belief that my mother taught me as a young child.
Learning outcomes for Comp I
After this semester, I now know how to respond to different audiences and their purposes. I learned this task while working on my rhetorical analysis. I had to choose an ad and analyze what was shown and then provide the purpose of the video and the audience it was trying to reach. To help learn this task I was asked to read an article in which the author had analyzed a Coca-Cola ad and she gave her opinion of what audience the ad was trying to reach and the reason for the ad itself.
I have now achieved the ability to use reading and writing for inquiry, learning, and thinking. While doing my exploratory essay I was asked to use a summary and response packet in which I had to take previous sources that I had read to help build and organize my essay. I had to summarize each source and then respond to what the author wrote. I used they say/I say techniques in which helped me combine what my sources had to say as well as my response to the articles.
I learned how to integrate others’ ideas with my own throughout this semester as well. I especially learned this technique when I was doing my exploratory essay. I took what my sources had to say about their articles and research and integrated my response of the ideas as well.
I learned how to use flexible processes to generate, revise, edit, and proofread throughout this semester. For my rhetorical analysis is used an outline in which I created and summarized how I was going to build my essay. I explained what I would talk about in each paragraph and gave the main topics that were to be discussed in my essay. This was not the first time I had created an outline, but it definitely helped me to further help the organization of my essay.
I learned how to use collaborative processes by having many peer reviews in which gave me feedback on my work. Having feedback from my peers and instructor helped me to see things wrong with my essay from a different point of view. Things that I had not noticed as I was writing my essays. This semester was my first experience with peer reviews, and I am so grateful for the feedback that has helped me grow throughout the semester.
I learned how to develop the knowledge of conventions by my instructor teaching me about the higher order of concerns (HOCS) and lower order of concerns (LOCS). These things include grammar and punctuation errors which I used in peer review of my essays. I had never heard of HOC’s and LOC’s before taking this class, but I am not glad to have the knowledge and to be able to further better my understanding of these errors in the future.
Learning outcomes for Composition Review
Throughout this course I learned to generate text through several of my assignments. While doing my narrative essay I learned to generate text and to take what I learned from an article similar to my essay.
Throughout this course I learned to demonstrate the purpose and audiences of different assignments. In particular my rhetorical analysis and my reading response for “Advertisements R Us” taught me to think about my audience and the purpose behind it.
Strengths and Challenges
After taking this course I feel that I have overcome many challenges that I previously had in my writing. I learned many things about punctuation and even grammar that I had never heard of before. I feel that my writing has become stronger and more professional. My formatting, grammar, punctuation, and organization have become stronger this semester.
Overall Benefit
This course has made me become a better overall writer and strengthened my writing. I feel that my writing has taken the next level and I am so much more confident that my writing is professional. There were many times I felt overwhelmed and challenged but I pushed through and am very proud of all the progress in my writing skills.