Reflective-Philly321

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

As I previously learned through my years of writing, Professor Hodges restated that writing requires more than one draft and that there is always room for improvement. The best example of this is my Stone Money Rewrite. While this was not a portfolio assignment, this essay opened my eyes to the expectations that Professor Hodges held for his students. The line of communication between Professor Hodges and I allowed me to see the clear lack of explanation regarding the island of Yap in my essay. Professor Hodges explained that I was assuming to much in my essay and rightfully so. I’ll admit that I was making generalizing statements about the transfer of limestones on Yap and then presuming that my audience would understand. There were various scholarly sources to help support my claim that it was counterintuitive that the transfer of limestone rocks (some of which are never seen) could be physically exchanged in return for tangible goods and services. This feedback strengthened my argument by instilling the right work ethic in my writing.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

Gathering and analyzing information helped me tremendously. I gained astronomical amounts of knowledge by reading various sources (via online, books, journals, etc.) on my topic. The best example of this is my Rebuttal Rewrite. In the beginning, I’ll admit that I was convinced that police officers received zero support regarding their mental health. I received constructive criticism from Professor Hodges on my rough draft which allowed me to see that Employee Assistance Programs provided some effective ways to help police officers cope with their stressors. Once I investigated the money that has been poured into Employee Assistance Programs over the recent years, it was obvious that these systems weren’t as bad as I thought. There were various scholarly sources to support both my original thesis and some alternatives. I nonetheless concluded that the system to help police officers cope with their stress was woefully inadequate, but understanding their support systems strengthened my argument by helping me anticipate objections and refute them.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

Throughout this course I found that my audience played an important role in a well written paper. The best example of this is my Visual Rhetoric. I had to take into consideration that my audience was not able to see the 30 second video that I was assigned.  I had to help my readers understand by using vivid descriptions to paint a picture in their heads of what each frame looked like. Professor Hodges pointed out various points in my paper that may have been unclear or could have been explained more in depth, which allowed me to see certain details such as the kitchen or furniture in the background. I was able to clarify my paper by depicting the kitchen as a representation of family and togetherness. The blend of visual detail and analysis made it easier for my audience to get an idea of what was happening in the 30 second clip.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

I found it rather frustrating to incorporate evidence to support my claims. I felt confined to limited resources such as google or yahoo. Once I realized that there were different places to find my information, I took full advantage of the library resources including ProfSearch, Gale Virtual Reference Library and Academic Search Premier. These resources made it substantially easier to synthesize my own thoughts with the evidence provided. Acquiring sources of information sparked many ideas in my writing and gave me ideas to feed off of as I wrote. This is best shown in my Causal Rewrite. When I first started my paper it mainly consisted of information regarding the negative consequences of stress on police officers. The criticism I received from Professor Hodges allowed me to see that I needed to add additional stressors on top of the ones I had already mentioned to the audience. I was then able to show the importance of synthesizing my own ideas with scholarly evidence to support them.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

This course has reiterated the importance of being honest when it comes to analyzing other sources that involve our arguments. Plagiarizing is not only dishonest, but it takes away from a writer’s ability to develop new ideas. This is best shown in my Definition Rewrite. For this assignment I had to look outside of a dictionary definition to define fear in law enforcement. For the sources I chose to incorporate into my writing, I made sure that they were analyzed in an honest and logical way. I did this by citing the author in my work. Chris Mooney in particular helped me develop the idea that police officers may have developed reflexes that we don’t have, causing them to react faster or with more force than we would in addition to the race of a suspect. Any lazy writer could have easily copy and pasted pieces of different articles into their writing. I chose the more difficult path that required more thoughtful and honest material.