Core Value 1

Writing is a practice that involves a multi-stage, recursive and social process.

My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development. Throughout the semester I wrote and rewrote assignments. I received feedback and made changes multiple times until I was happy with the quality of my work. I think this was best shown in the Robust Verbs assignment. Despite the assignment’s small size, I submitted it four different times in order to respond to the feedback I received. Each draft got better and better as I looked at the needs of the short paragraph and how I could meet them. This shows my ability to maintain focus, develop ideas, and respond to feedback. For those reasons I chose this assignment to represent the first core value.

Core Value 2

Close and critical reading/analysis is necessary for listening to and questioning texts, arriving at a thoughtful understanding of those texts, and joining the academic and/or public conversations represented by those texts.

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 did this in multiple assignments but the one that represents the value best is my Rebuttal Rewrite. I looked at multiple different texts that held multiple perspectives on carbon-plated running shoes, and put my own work into the conversation by writing my rebuttal argument. In the argument I dismantled the argument and position that was held by a respected source. I carefully analyzed their claims and used multiple independent studies to show why the position they hold is incorrect. I used scientific studies in order to convince readers that the other argument was only based on anecdotal evidence. My work required careful reading on the subject and the specific position that I was trying to disprove. 

Core Value 3

Writing is shaped by audience, purpose, and context.

My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments. The assignment where I best demonstrated core value 3 was the Visual Rhetoric. During the assignment I carefully analyzed the producer’s intent in an Alzheimers advert. To do this I broke down the video second by second and looked at why each individual choice was made. I used my knowledge of the advertisement’s purpose to make inferences on why the producer made each individual choice. I considered the setting and the cast as well as what they made the viewer think about. In order to truly understand the choices I needed to look into what the likely intended audience was and pair this information with the purpose of the advertisement.

Core Value 4

Information literacy is essential to the practice of writing.

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 assignment where I best demonstrated this core value was my Causal Rewrite. I needed sources and studies to back up my argument that carbon-plated shoes increase injury risk over time and so I looked for scholarly sources. In the end I had 15 different sources for this part of my essay alone. This need to be able to differentiate between credible and unreliable sources as well as helpful and unhelpful studies was essential to the structure and reliability of my essay as a whole. I needed to find studies that looked at the right things and pair them with other studies in order to create the correct causal chain and direct my reader to the conclusion I wanted them to make.

Core Value 5

Writing has power and comes with ethical responsibilities.

My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. The assignment that best represents this core value is my Annotated Bibliography. I used many different sources in my entire research paper on running shoes so I cited all of them in the appropriate APA format in this assignment. I also explained a little bit about the background of the source as well as how I used it. I did not leave any sources out of this even if I did not end up directly quoting them in my final research paper. This assignment shows that I am very careful and considerate when it comes to making sure I give credit to the correct people for their work.