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.

One of the key things I felt I learned this semester is how important it is to explore when you are writing.  I have never research a topic as much in my entire life as I did for my paper on Planned Parenthood.  Not only did I find that doing research on my topic was important, but I also discovered that to be successful in your writing you need to study other people’s writing.  That is why I am so glad that everything was online this semester because it gave me a chance to look at what my fellow peers were doing, and if there was anything I could learn from their writing to help mine.

My favorite short essay that we wrote this semester was the visual rhetoric.  This assignment was one that really made me observe and look at fine details, which in the long run helped my writing.  I really enjoyed this assignment because it made me think.  I was forced to look at the minute details in the video I chose, and use these details to infer what people were thinking.  It made me think more in depth than I really had about any of my writing beforehand, and I feel my writing improved after this assignment.

https://rowancomp2.com/2017/02/13/visual-rhetoric-chancetoremember/

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. 

This semester, I truly enjoyed doing research on the topic that I chose to do my research analysis on.  I chose to write about Planned Parenthood, which was an organization that I thought I knew a lot about.  After reading many articles and visiting the Planned Parenthood website, I discovered so much vital information about Planned Parenthood, which really made me enjoy writing about it.  By doing so much research this semester I was able to really create a strong thesis and argument for my research paper.  I felt that I came out with a very strong thesis, and I was able to provide a lot of backbone for my thesis.  This was the first time I have ever written a research paper where I felt that I really covered all points of focus in my thesis in a descriptive and successful way.  If you look at my thesis I truly believe it gets my point across.  I used all internet sources, including videos, articles, and websites to gather my information, which is the main reason I believe I was able to develop a strong thesis. https://rowancomp2.com/2017/04/19/research-argument-chancetoremember

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.

One of my main goals this semester was to try not to make my opinion come off as too abrasive in my work.  The main thing that I took away from this class was that you cannot force other people to have the same feelings and opinions as you.  The only way to persuade someone through writing is to be respectful of other arguments, but disprove them in the long run.  In my research paper I felt that in my rebuttal I was able to take down the opposing argument in a factual and respectful manner, proving my point in a successful way.  In order to have someone see your point of view, you must see theirs as well.  It is important to look at an issue from all sides, and to make sure to be respectful of all parties involved.  If you offend your audience, your work is basically a failure because the reader already wrote off your opinion.  https://rowancomp2.com/2017/04/19/research-argument-chancetoremember

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.

Overall, I discovered that knowledge really is power when it comes to writing.  The more informed you are on a subject, the better your writing will be.  Also, the more informed you are on something means there is a better chance of you proving your point and gaining the reader’s approval or agreement.  At first in the semester I did a lot of my writing without doing enough research.  With my Stone Money paper, I pretty much failed on the research aspect, which caused me to get a bad grade.  Then when we started to focus on our research paper I decided it was time to do more research and back up my arguments.  I started to get B’s and C’s instead of a D like I got on Stone Money.

https://rowancomp2.com/2017/01/23/stone-money-chancetoremember-2/

https://rowancomp2.com/2017/03/27/chancetoremember-casual-argument/

Incorporating research into my writing was key for my success in this course.  I felt much more confident about my writing after I did research on a topic, and it overall made it easier to write if I really had a good grasp on a subject.  Reading clearly and taking in all different types of opinions is extremely important in being a good writer.  I found reading my research clearly instead of just trying to skim an article for key words was much more helpful than just looking for certain points.  It is better to expand your knowledge then to just keep it limited to what you personally want to hear.

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 semester for me started off slow, with me not caring as much about my writing.  I thought it was okay to just do the bare minimum to get by, and I really did not care about learning more about topics I had to write on.  Choosing to write about Planned Parenthood was the best decision I could have ever made this semester to help my writing and ethical thinking.  I chose to write about a topic that I did not realize I would become so passionate about, which in turn would make me appreciate other people’s research and writing on it.

For such a sensitive topic as Planned Parenthood, it was essential to make sure that I fact checked everything I was reading.  There is so much false information out there, especially on Planned Parenthood, that it became very important for me as a writer to cite and source everything.  This way when I cited articles and videos, I could go back and double check my resources with one another.  For instance, when I wrote about Stone Money, I did not do a good job of reading the Stone Money article, which in turn led to bad writing.  I did not grasp the subject nearly as well as I thought I did, so my writing suffered.  I should have fact checked the things I was saying in my writing and looking at other sources, instead of being so quick to jump the gun.  Also, I learned how crucial it is to cite your sources.  At first I did not do the best job of doing proper citations, but now by the end of the semester I finally feel that I have grasped it.  I want to be able to give all of the sources and authors that helped me write my research paper to get credit for their work, which is very important in the code of conduct as a writer.

https://rowancomp2.com/2017/01/23/stone-money-chancetoremember-2/

https://rowancomp2.com/2017/04/19/research-argument-chancetoremember