Monday, December 10, 2018

 

Dear Journal,

In the Writing Section of my FIQWS class I was asked to reflect on whether or not I had fulfilled the learning outcomes in the class. I will mainly focus on my improvement of my writing out throughout the semester and how I will continue to improve my writing. The writing pieces that I will be referring to are my literacy narrative, exploratory essay, critical research paper, and reference to any readings discussion boards that I’ve done in the class.

The first learning outcome is to Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations. I believe that I had successfully filled this learning outcome by analyzing the significance of two political cartoons. One pertaining to the segregation in public schools, specifically Ruby Bridges. And the other was of education secretary Betsy DeVos. Here’s an example from my Rhetorical Situation paper:

    “My views on the Ruby Bridges painting was that it explicitly displayed the core values of many Americans during its time. Simply the fact that the races were to be separated and not intermix. My view on the DeVos painting is that education and economy shouldn’t directly categorize under one another. I believe  that education is free and it should always remain that way.”

The second learning outcome is to Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing. I fulfilled this writing outcome towards the end of the semester with my critical research paper. I spent almost a month drafting multiple thesis and ideas. Initially when I began developing ideas for the essay I wanted to do my own prompt but found it to be more  difficult than expected, so I ended up choosing one that was provided by my instructor. It took me about three weeks to get a firm thesis to get a firm thesis that I could make into five pages. Here’s an example of my initial thesis and the thesis I ended up writing with:

Draft Thesis: Hysterical people as seen in “The Black Cat” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, display their individual desires and societal influences based on their open actions conflicting with their inner thoughts

Final Draft Thesis:The titles of “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Black Cat, represent mnemonic symbols to the narrator’s memory or trigger of their “hysterical” episodes. Also, refuting that these patients were hysterical when in fact they were repressing their desires to fulfill or gain an outcome that conflicted to the standards of their society.

The third learning outcome is Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations. Unfortunately I can not recall nor provide evidence for fulfilling this learning outcome during this semester.

The fourth learning outcome is Engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes. I believe that I fulfilled this learning outcome through in and out of class workshops, peer revision in class and on blackboard. Here is an example of peer revision on blackboard:

Quote:“For Pluto however, I still refrained sufficient regard to restrain me from maltreating him..”(Allan Poe,Edgar. “The Black Cat” 1843)

Peer Revision:  Direct quote.

The fifth learning outcome is to Understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences. I believe that I have fulfilled this learning outcome through this reflection as this assignment is to be posted on my own website. Also being that the website is public and open to anyone for viewing if they have the link.

The sixth learning outcome is to Locate research sources (Including academic journal, articles, magazine, and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timelines, and bias. I believe I fulfilled this outcome through my ability to determine the credibility of a source and the citations and work cited pages in my writing. For example here is my work cited page from my critical research paper:

Work Cited Page:

 

1. Freud, Sigmund, “Five Lectures of Psycho-analysis,” 1955. PDF File.
2. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins  “The Yellow Wallpaper,” 1892 PDF File.
3. Poe, Edgar Allan “The Black Cat” 1843. The Literature Network, Online Literature, http://www.online-literature.com/poe/24/
4. Strachey, J “The Uncanny” 1917-1919. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XVII , An Infantile Neurosis and other works, 217-256.
5. Dern, John A. “‘A Problem in Detection’: The Rhetoric of Murder in Poe’s ‘The Black Cat.’” The Edgar Allan Poe Review, vol. 18, no. 2, 2017, pp. 163–182. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/edgallpoerev.18.2.0163.
6. DELAMOTTE, EUGENIA C. “MALE AND FEMALE MYSTERIES IN ‘THE YELLOW WALLPAPER.’” Legacy, vol. 5, no. 1, 1988, pp. 3–14. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25679011.

The final learning outcome is to Compose texts that integrate the students stance and language with appropriate sources, using strategies such as summary, critical analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and argumentation. I believe that I had fulfilled this learning outcome through every paper and discussion board I was assigned to write in this class. I believe that this was the most important learning outcome and that I had fulfilled it therefore causing me to have gotten the most out of this class.