My reflection on Comp I and Comp review is an important part of a research project and essays, that reflect have been reflective throughout the semester. There are tools, that will help me along the way, especially during graduate school. This handout helped me focus on defining what a Comp I and Comp review is, how to organize and synthesize information, and what the different parts of a Comp I and Comp review are. The purpose of a Comp I and Comp review is to demonstrate my ability to research and showcase my expertise on a chosen topic. By including a Comp I and Comp review in a project or thesis, one provides the reader with the most prevalent theories and studies on their topic, evaluations, and comparisons of these studies, and gaps in the literature. This helps my audience understand my project/thesis better and makes them more credible and reliable. 

Project 3, Exploratory Essay of Fixed and Growth Mindsets

My project is based on different summaries and authors. Each author wrote their perspective on many topics and provided evidence for each resource that needed a research analysis. My percolating question is, "How might developing a growth mindset affect my success?" I summarize the author's summary and respond to what I read in my own words. In my thesis, I wrote about different strategies and procedures to succeed in certain circumstances. I utilize my percolating question to respond to each summary. My exploratory question was, how might developing a growth mindset affect my success? I am confident in my ability to learn new skills and use feedback from outside professionals to help improve each task that I challenge. Also, I have paid attention to others to learn new things. 

Learning Outcomes for Comp I

Use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating. 

Overall, my writing, reading for inquiry, learning, and communication helped me gain more critical thinking skills, etc. I have learned to begin with strong inquiry questions and find the best sources of evidence to answer them. It is important for me to be polite and professional, patient, and do research before writing any letter, essay, or summary. It’s okay to get feedback from others to summarize your writing. I have learned to make sure to get feedback from someone who will not give you misleading or false information. After receiving a response, it is important to thank the individual and edit and proofread the letter, essay, or summary before submitting it. Practicing critical reading skills is essential to becoming a better writer. My instructor taught me that careful and skilled readers develop a stronger understanding of topics, learn to better anticipate the needs of the audience, and pick up writing "maneuvers" and strategies from professional writing. The reliable resources that guide me with my essays and summary are my peers, who taught me how to engage with the readers and give the most important details that will interest them, including helping me feel comfortable with my communication skills and writing. 

"Integrate original ideas with those of others."

I know more about utilizing the citation format. It helps me provide the correct resources and information needed for the title, Author, page number, etc. Also, give credit to the Author while utilizing quotes. Integrating original ideas with those of others my instructor provided numerous formats throughout the semester. The formats that were provided became my safe haven due to the structure of my writing. I began to be in my comfort zone on how to structure my essay and citations. The peer review helped me a lot because my peers noticed things that I did not notice to better my writing. I am confident in my ability to learn new skills and use feedback from outside professionals to help improve the task I am challenging. Also, I have Paid attention to the ability of others to learn new things.

Develop flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading.

My instructor taught me that instead of just adding or removing sentences, revising is a continuous review of the work that takes into account bigger issues like focus, organization, and audience. I have my revising tips that helped me along the way throughout the semester, which are to get my thoughts straight before writing, put my writing away for a few days or hours if I procrastinate, and approach my work with new eyes as a result. Including emphasizing the overall substance, emphasis, and structure when I get back to work, considering the big picture, and thinking about what information about my topic I want the readers to know. And do the topic phrases support the main idea? I also consider the following: who will read this, what are their expectations and needs, and am I effectively expressing my ideas? An effective technique for analyzing the structure and focus of a draft is a reverse outline. I’ve learned that enhancing style, transitions, consistency, paragraph coherence, and documentation is the process of editing. It involves more than simply a few word changes; it also requires a commitment of time and focus. The editing tips that help me are to avoid editing too soon, wait until I am comfortable with the organization and focus of my paper, go over my work sentence by phrase, look at word choice and sentence structure, then create a paragraph utilizing solely my thesis and theme sentences. To ensure that my ideas are expressed properly and to identify any other minor problems, I will read my work aloud. Proofreading is another important factor that was taught in class. The act of proofreading involves finding and fixing obvious mistakes, including typos, misspellings, and formatting issues. A thorough proofreading job should wait until revision and editing. The proofreading tips that I utilize are to become familiar with English grammatical rules and use top-notch grammar references, identify the same errors again by checking for one type of problem at a time, and sometimes depend on my word processor to fix errors. If I become overwhelmed, I will read or show my writing to a friend or classmate to recap it. If I start to overthink and become overwhelmed, I will choose a few errors to concentrate on and schedule an appointment with the Writers' Center. I have not yet had to schedule an appointment with a writers’ center or tutor. 

Use collaborative writing processes.

Before I started writing, I had to decide what I wanted to write about, which consisted of coming up with a topic for all the essays that were instructed for the semester. I created an essay outline with bullet points. I mainly focused on the main body of the text, saving the introduction for later once I had a clearer idea of the text I was introducing. I evaluated my writing to mainly look at the larger issue, such as making changes and how to structure it, including checking grammar. 

Demonstrate knowledge of structure, paragraphing, tone, mechanics, syntax, grammar, and documentation.

I have learned a lot about demonstrating knowledge of structure, paragraphing, tone, mechanics, syntax, grammar, and documentation. It helped me learn a lot about transitioning between continuous paragraphs. I had to utilize phrases to help my exploration continue into the next paragraph, such as using the words begin, continue, and "I wanted to learn more that relates to the summary, etc.

Learning Outcomes for Composition Review

        Strengths and Challenges

My strengths include the ability to maintain focus, which is one of the most valuable skills I can possess. This allows me to enter a state of creative flow and craft a story, report, or another piece of work that will immerse readers in what I have to say. I understand the importance of putting away distractions when it is time to write and establishing a routine if I struggle to maintain focus. My mind adapts to routines, so the more structure I can bring to my writing process, the easier it will be to do what I need to do when I need to do it.

 My weakness is sometimes a lack of clarity in my writing. Sometimes my essays can be wordy, use unnecessary words and phrases, have ambiguity due to the wrong word order, and make unclear references to pronoun antecedents. In class, my instructor taught me that it’s important to be economical with words, say more with less, and have a logical flow in sentences, paragraphs, and sections or chapters.

       Overall Benefit

My confidence and ownership are fulfilling the overall benefits. In fulfilling the above outcome, I take ownership of my work and recognize myself as a writer who has a growing understanding of their own voice, style, and strengths. I can demonstrate confidence in my writing through frequent drafts and can articulate my own positions relative to those of others. When I become overwhelmed when writing, I can break down my greater goal into smaller, more manageable tasks that will make it much easier for me to get the job done. No matter where I am right now with my writing skills, I am a strong believer that I will continuously improve.