Self-Reflective Statement – rainbow987

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.

Composition II was the first writing course that I took as a college student, as I received credit for Composition I from advanced placement testing. Therefore, I was new to the concept of spending significant time on a piece of writing by revising and editing. I enjoyed being able to communicate with Professor Hodges over the blog whenever I needed feedback. This tool allowed me to receive invaluable information remotely, which made revisions much easier for me. I took advantage of this opportunity in the visual rhetoric assignment. I was unhappy with the result of my submission, so Professor Hodges provided ample feedback and suggestions to improve my work. I then spent the time revising and creating a better draft of the assignment.

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.

Before taking this class, the only resources that I felt comfortable using for an assignment were documents and articles. I did not recognize that there are many other sources of information available, such as podcasts and visuals. When we were assigned the Stone Money assignment, Professor Hodges provided us with a list of possible useful sources. I used many of them, even though I was unsure how to use them initially. For example, there was a significantly long podcast linked to the list of sources that talked about the topic. I was unsure how to incorporate information from such a long conversation into my piece. However, after listening to the whole podcast and writing down the key points that I took from it, I felt much more knowledgeable about my topic, and therefore much more prepared to write about it.

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.

In order to better understand my topic, I used rhetoric language frequently. By using this technique, I was able to narrow my claim and show in common language what I was trying to express. In my causal argument, I created characters and story line to display the thoughts that I was trying to explain. Their actions were helpful in showing the cause and effect side of my argument in a sense that every person would understand. By rhetorically analyzing my argument, I proved that I understand my information completely and would be able to defend it in a real-life situation.

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.

It is important when writing a research paper to give proper credit to the sources used. It is also important to explain to the reader how the sources were used and how they proved valuable. Before taking this course, I always made sure to include a bibliography. However, I rarely was asked to provide an annotated version detailing this additional information. However, I found it helpful in organizing my writing. In addition, the reader will be able to validate my claims easily through my explanations of how I used the sources. My annotated bibliography provides clear and concise descriptions of my sources and how I found them valuable to my argument.

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.

When writing a research paper, it is important to only use sources appropriately and fairly. Credit must be given to the authors and reasoning must be provided as to how it was useful to the argument. I was able to organize my sources in the Proposal +5 assignment, where I detailed how I was going to use each source responsibly. This practice helped me to fulfill my ethical responsibility. Although my thesis changed slightly since the production of this assignment, it still demonstrates the thought behind each source that I used. Therefore, I find it effective in showing that I properly represented the complex ideas discussed by other authors with appropriate citation.