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.

When I first began my research project I had no prior knowledge on the topic. I stumbled upon it while watching TED Talks and found the topic of fetal origins  intriguing. I took the studies discussed in the TED Talk and researched them further to get more insight on what exactly the fetal origins hypothesis is and why it is counterintuitive. I explored many sources to see what people think about the hypothesis and to find evidence that fetuses are learning. While writing my causal and definition argument I first had different ideas on my topic but with further academic sources I changed my mind and showed that by doing a definition rewrite. All of my sources throughout the semester have helped me discover and conceptualize new ideas in my research and develop my own thesis. 

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. 

My definition argument was very vague because I did not have the correct academic sources but once I acquired the right sources to use in my causal argument. After further reading those non-academic articles that I originally received the ideas from, I went to the Rowan Campbell library and found the studies talked about in the articles in scholarly textbooks. With those academic sources I was able to create meaningful conversation in my casual and rebuttal arguments. I also used non-academic sources in my research so I was able to mix the two together and synthesize my own arguments using important conversation in the media and textbooks regarding learning in utero showing that I read all of my sources critically in order to get the best outcome in my causal and rebuttal arguments. 

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.

In my rebuttal essay I recognized that my audience may not initially agree with my statement that babies begin learning in the womb. I realized that my purpose is to change those minds and show them through my collected evidence and rigorous research that my proposal is true. I shaped my argument around what I believe my readers would identify with. In this essay I demonstrated flexibility in my arguments by being open to different sources such as articles, textbooks, and videos. With these sources at my hand I used them to exceed my audience expectation of my paper and change their minds to believe in my thesis. 

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.

In my research paper I used many sources to provide evidence to support my claims. For all of my claims I backed them up with studies that have been conducted to prove that learning is happening in the womb. I found a particularly great study in an academic text on JSTOR library that showed me exactly where the study was done on pregnant moms, carrot juice, and their babies originated from. This study was very important in supporting my own ideas and proving that babies learn their food preferences in utero. After taking a closer look at some of my sources I found early on I evaluated that I did not need to include them in my final research paper. I found all the evidence I needed in my academic sources and TED Talk and put them to great use in my final research essay. 

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. 

In my research paper, Learning Begins in the Womb, I demonstrated ethically that I could share my complex ideas in a fair way. In my rebuttal I made sure to not disrespect anyones ideals but rather show them the opposing side through properly cited published works that provide evidence that babies are in fact learning in the womb. Appropriate citations were very important in all of my essays, I did informal in text citations to show the author, the website or textbook, and where it originated from to give the author the credit they deserve to further my own opinion. When writing a research paper I understand the responsibility I have to represent my ideas fairly through citing my credible sources.