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Patricia Mendoza

Final Reflection
UWRT 1101-1104
05/04/2017

Final Reflection

1). Rhetorical Knowledge


Go through your daybook and other assignments and find two different examples which show
different ways rhetorical knowledge changes the way the writing was done.

Rhetorical knowledge is how a writer adjusts the way they write according to a particular
situation, such as a certain topic or target audience. The first example I decided to choose
for my rhetorical knowledge understanding was a piece from my literacy paper that I wrote
earlier in the semester. I decided to include this as one of my examples because to me, the
literacy assignment was one that was more personal. I was able to speak more about me and
the things that influenced my life and the person that I am. While I was writing my literacy
narrative, I felt as if I was just giving a lot of background about myself, it was definitely an
assignment that was more about me than anything else. Here is a screenshot from my literary
narrative to show the kind of writing style I chose:
Clearly, here you can see how I am describing my own memories and speaking about things that
are personal to me. I am not using much formal language but I am using many descriptive words
to be as detailed as possible to try and paint a picture in the reader's mind.

The second example I chose that shows the contrast between my first example of my literacy
narrative is an excerpt from my actual inquiry paper. I chose this because it is evident that the
way I write in my inquiry paper is much different than that of my literacy narrative. Here is a
screenshot from my inquiry thesis:

Here, I am writing more formally and focusing on a single topic and providing information on it.
Although I do include my own voice throughout the paper, it is not in the same manner as I did
on my literacy narrative. The two papers had two completely different purposes and this is why
they are very different.
2). Critical Reading
Choose two examples that demonstrate your critical reading skills

Critical reading means to be able to deeply understand the context of a written work. Having
critical reading skills helps one be able to write well and this is why it is important to have
these skills. The first example I chose to demonstrate my critical reading skills is Dr. Martin
Luther Kings Letter From Birmingham Jail. I believe that this demonstrates my critical reading
skills because in his letter, Dr. King uses a lot of complex language and examples or references
(such as Socrates) in order to make his point clear. Reading the letter was actually very engaging
and interesting as the words used and how they were used conveyed such a powerful feeling as
one could tell the level of frustration Dr. King felt just by reading his words. At first, I did not
want to read the letter just because I was lazy and the letter was long but I am honestly glad that I
did because it was an amazing work and with it I have expanded my knowledge.
The second example I chose to demonstrate my critical reading skills was a website that showed
statistics on police brutality. The website provides lots of statistics and although they have
articles that support the information, I did not choose to include it because as I did my research I
often found a lot of different websites showing different statistics so it was hard to know which
could be the most accurate. Here is a screenshot from the website.
3). Knowledge of Conventions

Choose and take screenshots of three different examples of you using conventions
appropriately and skillfully to communicate an idea clearly.

Knowledge of conventions means that one knows and understand how to use proper grammar
and specific writing rules within their works in order for them to be grammatically correct and
up to par. The first example I chose to show my knowledge of conventions is from a sentence in
my inquiry thesis. In the highlighted sentence I used quotations marks to quote Michael Garner
at the time of his death. Quotation marks are used when one is quoting something word-for-word
that was said by another person. I think this was a good addition to the paragraph in my inquiry
thesis because when a reader reads it, they will know that this is what was actually said word-for-
word.
The second example I chose to show my knowledge of conventions also come from my inquiry
thesis. In the highlighted sentence I use commas in between the names of police brutality
victims. Commas are always supposed to be used when listing names or other things related to
the topic. I think this was effectively done in my sentence as it all flows well together with the
sentence before it and smoothly leads to the next sentence.

The final example I chose to show my knowledge of conventions comes from my first annotated
bibliography that was included in my thesis paper. The highlighted sentence is listing works by
the author Edwin Delattre. The names of the works are italicized and have specific information
about each of them in parenthesis. This was an effective use of conventions because it was
properly formatted and shows that it is a credible source to add to my thesis paper.
4). Composing Processes

Zero in on three particular passages, paragraphs, or pages where you revised based on
responses by teacher, peer, or your own changing approach to the writing.

The composing process of any work requires multiple drafts and constant editing in order to
improve one's work and make it the best it can be. Throughout the class I have done many
drafts of a work and edited each time I got feedback. The first passage I chose to write about
was my literacy narrative. I received a lot of feedback from my classmates and my teacher and I
was able to go make and make changes to it and I could see the difference that making these little
additions did to the paper as a whole.

In my paper I speak about my life back in Honduras and how it all changed when I came to the
United States. My classmate suggests that I include more about the differences between my life
here and my life back in Honduras as well as including the new opportunities I was given when I
came here.

The second screenshot I provided is when I actually went back and added more details like my
classmate suggested. At first, I was shy to share my work with others because I never felt like the
strongest writer so I felt like my work wasnt going to be good enough but soon I learned that
getting feedback from my classmates and teacher was very helpful because they provided me
with new ideas and new way to take approaches in my writing and for that, I am thankful.

The second example I chose to show is some of the feedback that I got from my inquiry
proposal. When I was first writing my inquiry proposal I had an idea of where I wanted to go
with my paper but I was still very stuck and felt like I definitely had a lot to add and at the same
time, I had a lot of changes to make. Receiving feedback helped me shape my inquiry proposal a
lot better and even gave me a more clearer vision of how I wanted to structure my actual thesis
paper.

Here, you can see that I was able to correct even simple grammar mistakes with the help of my
teacher. These are only some of the details that I had to go back and fix on my drafts in order to
make the paper to be correct and.
The final example I chose was the first draft from my actual thesis paper. I believe this is the
paper that I got the most feedback on and it was all definitely helpful. The feedback ranged from
little things such as grammar errors to starting new paragraphs and adding appositives to better
explain some of the sources that I decided to include.

In this second screenshot I show how I read over the feedback given to me by my teacher and
how I went back and made the proper changes.
5). Critical Reflection

Look through your daybook or your Studio reflections, or reflections on other work and find
two passages or paragraphs where you demonstrate advanced thinking and reflection where
you gained insight or expressed the advancement of an idea through reflecting.

Critical reflection is when a writer is able to go back and look over their works or others works
and be able to reflect on what they learned from it and how this new understanding has
affected or will impact any other works. The first example that I chose to show my progress in
critical reflection was the work that I submitted for studio 3. For this studio we asked to analyze
different commercials and explain whether ethos, logos, or pathos was shown in the commercial
and we also had to explain how. After that, we were asked to search for our own commercial and
analyze it as well and show how it contained ethos, logos, or pathos. Finally, we were what
difference does attention to the rhetorical situation make? This is where my critical reflection
skills came to play because I said that this studio was helpful to me in that I learned techniques
that I would need when writing my inquiry thesis such as the use of ethos, logos, and pathos.
The second example I chose was the reflection that we had to write for studio 5, which was
reading Letter from Birmingham Jail and then critically answering the questions that came along
with it. I chose this reflection because this studio was one that I enjoyed because of the actual
text. In my reflection I mention how taken back I was by it as to me it sounded like MLK
couldve written an entire book just stemming from this letter. I think I wouldve liked to further
extend my reflection and say that I will always keep in mind this text if I ever have to come
across a writing assignment that is more opinion based and relates to something that I strongly
believe in, just like MLK believed in his movement.

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