Self Reflective Statement

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

I am confident that I have met this core value. The main way that I have met this core value is through the way I used the feedback I received from Professor Hodges and from our conferences. Although some of the feedback was brutal, it was exactly what I needed. This feedback helped me become a better writer because my mistakes were not sugar-coated. Instead, they were pointed out and I was led in the right direction for fixing them. I think that the best example I have of this is through the revision I had to do of my definition/categorical essay. I completely rewrote my definition essay. In a conference, Professor Hodges pointed out that I could use my definition essay for better topics such as distractions, APIs, and the concept of critical driving decisions. Although I felt pretty upset at first from the feedback I received, I realized that he had made a great point, so I took his advice and changed the topics I discussed in my definition essay. 

Definition Original vs Definition Rewrite

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

I am sure that I have met the requirements for this core value. The main piece of work that I can think of that I met this core value in is my Stone Money essay. The new point of view of money was pretty hard to understand at first because it went against everything I thought I knew about the concept of money. Due to how complicated the topic was, I had to be sure to read and listen critically to understand the ideas that each of the writers and contributors were trying to get across. In this non-portfolio task, I had to synthesize the ideas of three different sources into my own writing. Putting together these ideas proved to be difficult, but through this task, I realized that I am fully capable of putting together many sources on one topic, which proved to be a helpful form of practice for when I moved onto my research paper. 

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

I am sure that I have met the criteria for this core value. The best example I have of demonstrating this core value is in my visual rhetoric assignment. I had to fully analyze every element of the video I watched, including questioning whether or not the kids in the video were honestly his children. The directors of the video chose to use each visual to motivate the audience, fathers, to be more involved in the life of their children. I successfully analyzed the directors’ rhetoric. I was able to analyze this work and even was able to conclude that the visuals were not effective. Although I had learned a little about how to analyze rhetoric in his school, I would have never been able to analyze at this level without taking Comp II.

Core Value 4: 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.

The most prominent example I have of the fourth core value in my work is in my research paper and the three smaller papers that built into my research paper. My topic of increasing the speed limit was a tough one to research. There were so many sources going against my idea, but instead of being discouraged, I was happy that my topic was not something that has been as widely discussed as something like the dangers of speeding. I had to do extensive research to find evidence that supported the pieces of my position. To my surprise, a good amount of the evidence that I did find was from academic sources, and as soon as I gathered the evidence that I needed, it was pretty easy to get the ball rolling with my essays.

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

My work that best displays my embodiment of the fifth core value is my annotated bibliography. Due to the fact that my position was very commonly disputed, I had to make sure that I was not pulling bits and pieces of arguments and taking them out of context. Although I was tempted multiple times to take some of the evidence that I found out of context, I knew it was wrong and I figured that if the other source could use it for their opposing argument, it probably would not work too well for mine. Considering that the annotated bibliography included a background section, it was also more or less impossible to sneak a piece of out of context information into my paper. In my bibliography I also made sure to mention the sources that I did not directly cite in my paper because I am sure that they still affected my writing in one way or another and to not cite them would be wrong. Something that was also very helpful to me for learning how to cite properly was the APA citation workshop activity we did in class. It helped me understand how to incorporate an APA citation into my writing, which is something I have never done before.