A12: Self-Reflective Statement

Self-Reflective Statement

Your last assignment is the Self-Reflective Statement required of all students in Composition II. It is a one-draft assignment that you will post directly into your Portfolio without feedback and without a rewrite. Post it before class THU APR 27.

Formal Explanation of the Self-Reflective Statement

Your Guide to the First-Year Writing Program devotes a very large section to a full description of the Self-Reflective Statement, its purpose, its goals, and methods for completing a successful Statement.

Core Values of the FYWP

The first week of class, we read and discussed the Core Values of the First-Year Writing Program, which form the basis for the Self-Reflective Statement. As you craft your Statements, refer to the following descriptions of the Core Values.

GOAL 1:

Understand that writing is a practice which involves a multi-stage, recursive and social process.

Students come to experience writing as a collection of practices and processes that involve multiple, recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development. They also come to understand that these writing practices and processes are social and interactive.

The recursiveness of writing is embodied in non-linear composing activities, which include reading, inventing, collaborating, drafting, reviewing, reflecting, responding to feedback, rereading, rewriting, revising, and editing. While the concept of process is most “visible” in the drafts of students’ final portfolios, the invention stages of writing are equally important and extensive.

GOAL 2:

Understand that close and critical reading/analysis allows writers to understand how and why texts create meaning.

Students come to understand that writing—their own and others’—is a process that creates, shapes, and conveys meaning, and that texts represent conversations between self, other texts, and the world. This recognizes that meaning is generated intertextually; that is, texts build upon and respond to other texts, and texts can be placed in conversation with one another. Students explore and develop ideas by closely and critically reading texts, analyzing and synthesizing ideas so as to enter into new conversations in their writing. Students learn that texts represent meanings in different ways in different settings, disciplines, and discourse communities. Students also come to understand that texts are not limited to alphabetic and print texts, but also include visual and electronic texts.

GOAL 3:

Understand that writing is shaped by audience, purpose, and context.

Students come to understand that all texts are rhetorically situated and can be analyzed using the rhetorical elements of purpose(s), audience(s), and context(s). Students can rhetorically analyze their own texts and those of others to understand how writers shape and create texts and to understand the options available to them as purposeful writers. Students understand writing as a social communicative act which involves the creation of a purposeful message for a perceived audience. Students also understand that audience expectations, such as textual conventions, vary according to situations or genres.

GOAL 4:

Understand the role of information literacy in the practice of writing.

Students come to understand that the informed writing associated with academic discourse expects writers to contextualize their own writing within existing conversations and provide sources and evidence beyond their own personal experiences and opinions. Students learn the importance of illustrations and evidence to support their own ideas and interpretations. Students will develop their information literacy skills in a digital environment and be able to locate, evaluate, select, and incorporate appropriate information to create rhetorically savvy writing.

GOAL 5:

Understand the ethical dimensions of writing.

Students become aware that the practice of writing is personal, public, and social and thus has ethical ramifications for themselves and others. As such, students develop the ability to conscientiously read, analyze, and research topics so as to understand their complexity and ramifications and to ethically represent ideas to others in their own writing. In addition to the rather broad social responsibilities of research and writing, students develop an understanding of their accountability to the intellectual community as a whole, and to the university in particular, which includes the practices associated with academic integrity, such as accurately representing the ideas of others and acknowledging sources of information appropriately through citation.

Cut-and-Paste Formatting

1. You may cut-and-paste the format below (begin below the line) to produce your own version of the Self-Reflective Statement complete with all the necessary question numbers and placeholder text.

2. Post your SRS as a new blog post titled “Reflective—Username.” Place it in the A12: Reflective Statement category and of course in your Username.

___________cut and paste below this line______________

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.

Insert here a 125-word explanation of how you met the goal. For a fuller description of the Goal, read the description of Core Value I above. For each of your five Core Values, provide a link to one of your own class assignment posts in which you demonstrated the value.

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. 

Insert here a 125-word explanation of how you met the goal. For a fuller description of the Goal, read the description of Core Value II above. For each of your five Core Values, provide a link to one of your own class assignment posts in which you demonstrated the value.

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.

Insert here a 125-word explanation of how you met the goal. For a fuller description of the Goal, read the description of Core Value III above. For each of your five Core Values, provide a link to one of your own class assignment posts in which you demonstrated the value.

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.

Insert here a 125-word explanation of how you met the goal. For a fuller description of the Goal, read the description of Core Value IV above. For each of your five Core Values, provide a link to one of your own class assignment posts in which you demonstrated the value.

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. 

Insert here a 125-word explanation of how you met the goal. For a fuller description of the Goal, read the description of Core Value V above. For each of your five Core Values, provide a link to one of your own class assignment posts in which you demonstrated the value.

___________cut and paste above this line______________

Sample Reflective Statements
(Material Dump from a prior Comp II course)

I have no intention of demonstrating precisely how you should approach each Core Value; the end result of that would be 40 too-similar Reflective Statements. But you will find a range of tones and approaches in the raw material below to inspire you.

Core Value I. What I really established from Comp II is one of the most important parts of writing is the ability to take feedback or criticism and understand how to use that criticism to improve what you have written. looking back on past assignments I realized that I had only gotten feedback on one assignment. The one assignment was my Stone Money Rewrite. I was not custom to the idea of requesting feedback as professors would normally automatically give feedback in my past courses. But from getting feedback on only one assignment substantially changed the way I took on future assignments. For example in my “Causal Argument Rewrite” I attempted to find strong supporting evidence to the points I was making. Citing media interviews of eSport franchise owner Rick Fox that helped support the idea that the media has a very biased outlook on video games. Just one piece of feedback helped me realize that one; asking for feedback would be an optimal decision in a class surrounded by writing and two; having supporting evidence behind my judgments  add to the credibility of my writing.

Core Value I. When I first made the Proposal + 5, I based my article on the concept of millennials. I then found the 5 articles that I was planning to use for my eventual research paper. I analyzed the sources and conceptualized how I would have fit the sources in my essay. However, I eventually switched my thesis completely so I had to repeat the same steps to help for my actual research paper. Repeating the same step showed me how the essays can be constructed and molded by the information and citations that you make and how the more modifications that is added, the more the essay can grow and adapt. I started to appreciate the repeated process of finding more and more information to then add on to a concept of an idea that can easily change.

Core Value I. The style of this course was very new to me. New, but I loved it. The way that we could go back and edit our work after you gave us feedback was more than helpful. Needless to say, your feedback was always harsh and honest. To some I could imagine it to be quite discouraging but to me, I found it helpful. Your honesty made me think about my writing much more. In other classes, you do your work to get a grade, while in here, you do the work to not get torn apart by your grading which makes you put in much more effort. Don’t take this the wrong way, I enjoyed it. Like in my 03 PTSD claim you commented about how I chose the wrong way to write about this. You were rough on me but I took what you said and now I know better.

Core Value I. In this course I learned that writing is more than creating one draft and being done with it, as I am used to. In this course, I found myself constantly revising my work to the point where the original was almost completely different than the final draft. The piece that most displays this value is my Causal Argument. I originally wrote my causal argument about standardized tests causing minority students to be at a disadvantage. However, Professor Hodges left feedback that brought up points that I had not originally considered. One of the points that I had not considered was where I initially contradicted myself. I had stated that minority students were not prepared fully for standardized tests but then later stated that teachers in minority schools teach to much to the test. Even though when I posted it I thought my essay was good, having someone else read it allowed me to rethink my logic. I reworked the entire argument to make a stronger and more clear piece and by the end almost every aspect of it had changed.

Core Value I. The style of this course was very new to me. New, but I loved it. The way that we could go back and edit our work after you gave us feedback was more than helpful. Needless to say, your feedback was always harsh and honest. To some I could imagine it to be quite discouraging but to me, I found it helpful. Your honesty made me think about my writing much more. In other classes, you do your work to get a grade, while in here, you do the work to not get torn apart by your grading which makes you put in much more effort. Don’t take this the wrong way, I enjoyed it. Like in my 03 PTSD claim you commented about how I chose the wrong way to write about this. You were rough on me but I took what you said and now I know better.

Core Value I. What I really established from Comp II is one of the most important parts of writing is the ability to take feedback or criticism and understand how to use that criticism to improve what you have written. looking back on past assignments I realized that I had only gotten feedback on one assignment. The one assignment was my Stone Money Rewrite. I was not custom to the idea of requesting feedback as professors would normally automatically give feedback in my past courses. But from getting feedback on only one assignment substantially changed the way I took on future assignments. For example in my “Causal Argument Rewrite” I attempted to find strong supporting evidence to the points I was making. Citing media interviews of eSport franchise owner Rick Fox that helped support the idea that the media has a very biased outlook on video games. Just one piece of feedback helped me realize that one; asking for feedback would be an optimal decision in a class surrounded by writing and two; having supporting evidence behind my judgments  add to the credibility of my writing.

Core Value II. Early on I was set back by trying to find a singular definition for “The American Dream.” Quite frankly this singular definition does not exist. This led to significant difficulties in the forming of my thesis as well as starting my paper. Only through comparisons of various definitions of the “American Dream,” presented by various authors, and polls and cross referencing them to each other was I able to define what the “American Dream” meant to me and what it meant in terms of my paper.

Core Value II. On the assignments that required me to do so, I was able to see that close and critical reading/analysis allows me to understand how and why texts create meaning. The first assignment that comes to mind is my work on Safer Saws. I synthesized ideas from multiple articles into the same assignment effectively. I assessed multiple claims from different people on the same saw, from various readings, and did it in a cohesive, comprehendible way. Also, this was not from a text, but my writing on the Visual Rewrite assignment showed that I am capable of critically analyzing a piece of work and understand the meaning it creates. Breaking down the specifics of what people did every second helped me to get a better understanding of why they did it. Regardless of the fact that it was a video rather than text, I feel the same concept can be applied in the fact that I was able to take complex material and make it mesh together.

Core Value II. While preparing for my research paper, it was important to read many different texts from a range of sources in order to get a full grasp on my topic. While analyzing different sources it was clear to see that, although some were more similar than others, all the sources in one way or another contained similar ideas and worked off of each other. Therefore, in my work it was important to show all of the ideas that I had learned  and highlight the differences between different sources. The work that most shows Core Value II is my Definition Argument. In that piece, where I attempt to define “test equity,” I cited three sources to make my case. All three pieces shared similar ideas about the fundamentals of standardized testing but all came to unique conclusions. Therefore, I used the conclusions that each of the sources used in order to create a conversation about test equity.

Core Value II. The design of this class was helpful in implementing conversation and ideas into my writing. My thesis for my Research Paper began being too broad and unclear. Through conversations we had in class as well as conversations with the Professor, I was able to narrow my thesis a bit. After the lecture we had on Research Tips, I began to think more about my topic and after discussing my ideas with classmates I decided to want to relate my topic to another topic. I did this by relating the age limit on tobacco and the positive affects it had on society to how we could prevent childhood obesity from getting worse. Throughout the entire semester the conversations and lectures that happened in class were extremely helpful. Also I found that the bouncing ideas off other students and classmates help to improve our ideas and writing. I feel I was able to fulfill this core value.

Core Value III. In terms of this value I demonstrated it with my Rebuttal Rewrite, however I believe I didn’t fully achieve the core value. I believe my Rebuttal Rewrite could’ve had more revisions, replaced some content, added some more information and take out some words in order to fully achieve this goal. My Rebuttal Rewrite did display enough to show that I was able to demonstrate this goal by capturing the audience of those who opposed my thesis and gave a good amount of contexts that help shape my writing.

Core Value III. Throughout this course, I have learned that every work has a purpose and intended audience. In my Visual Rewrite, I displayed this core value by analyzing the purpose of the 30 second ad “How Much Would You Like to Lose?” The purpose of the assignment was to show that every aspect of the ad was placed there for a particular purpose. In this ad, even the man and woman’s clothes were placed for a purpose. First, the man and women were dressed elegantly which indicate that they were on a date. Later, the man’s clothing began to change into raggedy garments. Then, the couple’s body language change where the woman began to shift away from the man as if she was no longer interested in him and the man begun to display looks of shame.  For this ad, the intended audience was those who drink and it showed the audience the dangers of buzzed driving. Without thoroughly analyzing the piece, I would not have been able to fully understand the purpose of the ad. I was able to incorporate this concept into my other pieces during the semester.

Core Value III. I would like to believe that I was able to analyze the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments rather well. Most specifically, I think that I took the purpose and audience into consideration when it comes to my research paper on discrimination by police while driving. My opinions may have gotten in my way when trying to write a non-biased paper, but nevertheless, my purpose was to make whoever may read the paper socially aware of my topic. Also, taking my audience’s opinions into consideration is what made me look deeper in research to understand and respect both sides of the argument. In the end of my Rebuttal Rewrite, I actually addressed the audience by saying that regardless of what side they may take, this is really happening and to neglect that fact will only make the problem worse.

Core Value III. I believe that understanding the context of one’s writing writing and the way in which it will be perceived is absolutely vital to the composition of any piece. It doesn’t matter what the intentions are if the reader’s perception is completely different because once they form an idea about they piece it will be very difficult to convince them of anything different. It will be far easier to predict the perception of a piece if the context is well defined in addition to knowing the audience well. In the same way that one should speak differently to a toddler than they  would to a congressman, the writing style and vernacular should change according to who is being addressed. I believe I best demonstrated this skill in my “Visual Rewrite.” I used a simplistic vernacular and described each scene as clearly as I could think to do.

Core Value IV. Many of the assignments gave me a chance to really express what I had on my mind. My favorite thing about this class is that I get to write about things that are in my mind but never get the chance to express. Sometimes other students’ blog posts’ give me some structure on how I should write the things that I am thinking about. I love how if I’m not sure how to structure a certain assignment, I can get some ideas from others. Then I can put my ideas into that structure to make the process much easier. It also helps me learn new writing styles other than my own. For example, the Visual Rewrite assignment, at first I formatted the assignment incorrectly. After I completed my writing, I noticed that my formatting was wrong so I was able to go back and format it properly.

Core Value IV. This semester was one of the more challenging semesters. With this being my first semester back in over a year due to training, the adjustment was tough. In my opinion, my work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations. I believe that I have met this expectation in the majority of my papers, but more specifically in the Proposal +5. In this assignment, we were required to find five trustworthy sources, but it did not end there. What made this assignment differ from other assignments in the past was the fact that we were required to analyze each source and apply the material that relates to my research topic. This forced me to pre-read my sources to solidify that it would be reliable and applicable to my topic. This significantly helped support my own ideas and interpretations.

Core Value IV. In my work, it has been important to evaluate many pieces from a variety of different sources. The assignment that most reflects Core Value IV is my Bibliography where I cited the twelve sources I used in my Research Paper. I clearly did not have enough research or experience to write an entire research paper on standardized testing so I had to find sources to support my ideas to persuade my audience. Some of my sources were research studies, such as Kenneth Wodtke’s “Exploratory Observational Study of Standardized Group Testing in Kindergarten,” which allowed me to use real-life observations to relate to my general thesis. Other sources were surveys or statistics, such as NAEP’s data on the achievement gap, which I was able to incorporate to further persuade my readers. I naturally incorporated all of the sources from my bibliography to create solid evidence to support my argument about standardized testing.

Core Value IV. I am not a credible source. I have no grounds to make claims or insist that my opinions are the right ones. Evidentiary support is an absolute must in all of my papers. I try my best to at least provide some kind of justification to any statements I make in my writing unless I believe that the statement itself is justified by general knowledge of the circumstances surrounding my thesis. Specifically in my “Visual Rewrite,” I do my best to justify every assumption I made about the video and its context. Rather than simply stating that the room looked like that of a young teenage boy I explained that the room was decorated in stereotypically male shades of blue and grey as well as plenty of athletic trophies and posters.

Core Value V. In my “Definition Argument,” I’m very confident in the way I supplied information and how I worded my opinions and statements in their context. I believe I wrote clearly and concisely in a way that was factual and simple. A decent amount of the text was rewritten from several sources in a more concentrated way that filtered out any content that wasn’t entirely central to my central argument in this paper. I did my best make distinctions between facts that I found in my research and statements I made pertaining to my own opinions as well as deliver both in a a way that would contribute to an effective and well rounded argument rather than in a way that would be simply pushing my own beliefs.

Core Value V. “My worthy opponent is wrong.” This quote told to us in class sticks out in my head with every argumentative paper I write. In class I learned the importance to be civil in our Rebuttal Arguments, and to respect our opponent, but to crush them in our knowledge and compositional skills. My work demonstrates this by showing that general knowledge is generally wrong, respectfully. My work also politely attempts to prove that our perceptions are not to be trusted, and that observational data is our key to advancement as a society. Further, I learned the ethical responsibility of providing accurate citation to show respect for the sources that made my writing what it is. Without proper citation, the advancement of knowledge is halted because the validity of the information will be questionable.

Core Value V. In my research paper, I expressed the complex and controversial debate that surrounds standardized testing in American public schools. As with anything controversial, it was important to express my ideas as fairly as possible. It was also important to acknowledge opinions that differ from mine and refute them respectfully and fairly. In my Rebuttal Rewrite, I was able to accomplish that. The source that I chose to refute, Latasha Gandy’s “Don’t Believe the Hype, Standardized Testing is Good for Children, Families, and Schools,” the author conveyed a set of beliefs that were completely different than the ones that I was conveying in my research paper. She believed that standardized testing was the most important tool in fighting educational justice in America. Although I did not agree with her argument, it was still important to acknowledge her points and clearly state the basis of her argument. By showing my readers this point, I was able to respectfully refute her argument by using the sources I had gathered in order to support my own points.

Core Value V. I did my best to uphold this value by properly citing my sources and trying to interpret their content in the clearest way possible. This skill came from learning how to Purposefully Summarize, in which I summarized and interpreted three articles in order to fit three arguments. I was mostly successful in my summaries, but improved as the semester progressed. As for citations, I started weak but finished strong. Professor Hodges corrected my MLA-style citations in my original Stone Money post, which were corrected in my Stone Money Rewrite. I always gave proper credit to my sources. This may have been my strongest value of all.

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

1. Create a new post titled “Reflective—Username”
2. Cut and paste the template from this post into yours.
3. Select the A12: Self-Reflective category and your own Username.
4. Publish. Then update with actual text to replace the boilerplate text in the template.
5. Link your self-reflective comments to your own essays when you cite them specifically to prove your case that you achieved the course goals.
6. DEADLINE. Post directly into your Portfolio before class THU APR 27.