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.

What I have taken away from this Composition II course is to take constructive criticism and apply those comments and modify my paper to a higher quality. Our first paper, Stone Money, I received many comments especially on my citation. I was not use to doing in-text citations the way the professor wanted it. I was able to apply this criticism to future papers while writing my first draft. Using a blog format for this class allowed us to have unlimited access to ask for revisions and feedback. I was able to adjust my paper accordingly to the strength and evaluations of the sources. I have learned that writing is a cycle of discussing, writing and revising.

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. 

Throughout this composition course I learned to use correct grammar and language that would attract readers and not offended anyone. I was able to look at topics from many different perspectives and not go in with a “tunnel vision” mindset. I took multiple authors perspectives that had generally the same opinion and made one main point and then elaborated using each individual authors claim. For our Visual Rhetoric assignment we had to take every few seconds of a video and analyze what was occurring. This helped me understand why people do what they do. I was able to  apply what I learned from the visual assignment to all my future papers.

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.

Analyzing different types of texts and how they were interpreted was common in this class; I gained the ability to sufficiently examine many types of writing and break down the meaning behind it. I wrote an Causal Argument about the Dangers of Social Predators on Facebook. I had to discover the consequences of not protecting your social media accounts and putting the correct types of privacy settings. I found many real life stories and used those to give my readers a visual argument as well.

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.

Where and how you obtain your sources are vital to achieving a well-graded paper, in this composition class I mainly used sources that were from articles or journals. In  class we did multiple exercises talking about weather a source meets the criteria to be credible, reliable, and accurate. In all three papers, I have taken sources done from studies and journals to justify my topic. I understand how critical information is when writing, identifying and choosing the right information and sources are the hardest part. Sometimes the first articles and websites you are attracted to might not be the most reliable and should be left behind. Your sources can be the deciding factor between receiving a average grade and a superb grade.

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. 

With any piece of writing comes ethical responsibility and power, one must be well aware of what they’re expressing because there can be consequences. College level courses address serious topics that were controversial in many ways. I had to write with an open mind and from many different opinions and perspectives. For our Rebuttal Argument I had to come up with a counterintuitive topic, and refute it. This was tough because I have never heard of the word counterintuitive before this class. Exploring the ethics of writing and its consequences was done through the process of writing all my papers for this class.