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AlexFarley
Mrs.Kusinitz
WRT104
31June2016
FinalReflection
Writing104hastaughtmeanumberofvaluableskillswhichhavehelpedmeimprove
mywriting.Ilearnedabouttherhetoricalsituationandtheimportanceofproperlyaddressingit
whenwriting.Ihavecometoappreciatethevalueofcollaboration,andlearnedhowitis
importanttolistentomypeersadviceduringworkshopinordertotrulyrevisesomethingrather
thanjusteditingit.Researchandtheproperuseofsourcesisvitaltomanytypesofwriting,and
throughthiscourse,IhavelearnedhowtosuccessfullyresearchandusethesourcesIfindinmy
writing.Theseskillshaveallowedmetoimprovemyabilityasawriteraswellasmeetthe
learneroutcomesofthiscourse.
Whenwriting,itisimportanttounderstandtherhetoricalsituationsurroundingthepiece
andchoosethecorrecttypeofwritingthatwillmatchitinordertobesuccessful.Ilearnedthis
lessonearlyoninthiscourse,throughthefirstassignment,ourmemoir.Beforethisassignment,I
hadneverwrittenamemoirbefore.So,havingnoexperiencewiththisgenre,Ithoughtitwas
veryreflective,andmyoriginaldraftwas,accordingtoJess,areflection,notamemoir.After
therequirementsofamemoirwereexplainedtome,Irevisedmypiecetobemoreofanarrative
andfocusedonaspecificmomentinsteadofmultiple.Afterworkshoppingthepiece,Iwas
finallyabletomakeitamemoirwhichfullymettheneedsoftherhetoricalsituation.For
example,TylersuggestedthatIcutoutthefinalparagraphofmynarrative,whichwasbothtoo

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reflectiveandrepetitive.JesssuggestedthatIshouldtrytoaddmoredialogue/character
interaction,andMrs.KusinitzrecommendedIshortenorcutoutcompletelythefirstparagraph,
whichwasprimarilyreflectiveasopposedtoapartoftheoverallnarrative.Afterlisteningtothe
feedbackIreceived,Irevised:Icutoutthemorereflectivepartsofmymemoir,namely
significantportionsortheintroductionandconclusionparagraphs,andIaddedmoredialogueat
thebeginningofmymemoirtomakethepiecemoreofanarrative.Byrevisingbasedonthis
feedback,Iwasabletoturnwhatwasoriginallyareflectivepieceintoanarrativeandmemoir,
andmeettherhetoricalneedsofthisgenre.Thisexperiencehastaughtmetheimportanceofthe
relationshipbetweenrhetoricalsituationandgenreofwriting,andthisknowledgehashelpedme
throughoutthiscourseandwillcontinuetohelpmeinfuturepiecesofwriting.
Appropriatelyaddressingtherhetoricalsituationisvitaltocreatingasuccessfulpieceof
writing.Inmyproposal,forexample,Icarefullyconsideredeachaspectoftherhetorical
situationwhenwriting.Thetargetaudiencewasincomingandcurrentcollegestudents,aswell
asothersinvolvedinhighereducation,suchasprofessorsandotherfacultymembers.Icarefully
wordedmyproposalsothatitdidnotsoundchildishorunprofessional,butusedtermsthat
wouldstillbeunderstandablesothatIwouldnotexcludeeitherofthesetwogroupsofpeople
throughthestyleofmywriting.Ialsomadesuretoincludeampleamountsofbothlogos,
throughfactsandstatistics,andethos,bycitingreliablesources,sothatmyproposalislogical
andcontainsreliableinformationwhilealsobeingstraightforwardandhonestaboutthesituation.
Furthermore,Ianticipatedpossiblequestionsandconcernspeoplemighthavetomyproposed
solutions,andaddressedthemwithinmyproposalandexplainedhowtheywouldbedealtwith.

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TheabilitytoaddresstherhetoricalsituationasIdidinmyproposalisanimportantskillforall
writerstohave.
Whenwritingatthecollegelevel,itisimportanttounderstandthedifferencesbetween
simplyeditingsomethingandrevisingit.Duringtheprocessofrevisingmymemoir,Itookpart
inworkshop.Assomeonewhostruggleswithrevisioningeneral,thisexperiencewasinvaluable
toimprovingmyabilitytotrulyrevisemywritingratherthanfixingsimplemistakes.Inthepast
whenIhavedonepeerrevisiononotherpiecesofwriting,Ihaverarelyreceivedortaken
advantageofusefulfeedbackgiventomefrommypeers.However,forthisassignment,my
peersgavemeextensiveadviceonwhatIcouldchange,suchascuttingoutthesectionsofmy
memoirwhichweretooreflective,andthatIshouldchangemytitle.Thegroupalsogavemore
specificsuggestionsonhowIcouldrevise,suchassuggestingIbeginmymemoiratthesecond
paragraphofmyseconddraftJesssuggestedthatIdescribethecarrideinmoredetailsoitwas
clearthatIwasreturninghomefromavacation.Somepeoplealsopointedoutmoreminor
details,suchasTyler,whonotedsomeverbtenseerrors.Whenrevising,Ireferencedthe
suggestionsmypeersgave,suchasthosementionedinthisandthepreviousparagraph,inorder
toimproveboththequalityofmywritingandthestructureofmymemoir.Theuseofthese
suggestionsallowedtotothoroughlyrevisemymemoir.Ordinarily,anyrevisionIdoisjust
editingsimplemistakes,suchasgrammaticalerrors.Throughthisassignment,Ilearnedthe
importanceoftruerevisionversusediting,andusedthisskilltoimprovemyabilityasawriter,
bothinthisassignmentaswellasingeneral.
Collaborationisavaluableresourcewhenwriting.Workshopandpeerreview,thingsI
didnotappreciatethevalueofuntilItookthiscourse,areincrediblehelpfulinimproving

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writing.TheabilitytocollaborateeffectivelywithpeersonagroupassignmentisanotherskillI
havelearnedinthiscourse.Duringagroupassignmentinwhichwehadtowritearhetorical
analysisofpoliticalads,Irealizedtheimportanceofthisskill.Groupcollaborationcanbe
difficult,butIlearnedthatitisimportanttobepatientinordertobesuccessful.Mygroup,which
includedSamandMarissa,haddifficultycompletingourworkduetoabsencesonthedayswe
hadplannedtoworkontheproject.However,despitethis,wewereabletoworktogetherto
completeourproject.SamandIanalyzedtheadsandthenmadethedigitalpartofthisproject,
whileMarissaworkedonthewrittenpieceusingtheanalysisSamandIhaddone.Bycarefully
consideringonhowtoevenlybreakuptheworkloadandcommunicatingwithmygroup
members,wewereabletosuccessfullycompletethisprojectdespitethechallengeswefaced.
Thisabilitytocommunicateandcollaborateeffectivelywithpeersisessentialinwriting,not
onlyforgroupprojects,butalsoforpeerrevisionandworkshop.
Understandingthepropermethodsofresearchingandcitingsourcesisimportantin
writing,especiallywhenwritingresearchbasedpieces.Formyproposal,Itookadvantageofthe
URIlibrarysresourcesinordertocompletemyresearch,andorganizedthesourcesIfoundinto
anannotatedbibliography.Whendoingresearch,itisimportanttousereliablesourcesof
information,andasimplegooglesearchisunlikelytoprovidemanyreliablesources.Usingthe
URIdatabases,Isearchedforkeytermsrelatedtothetopicofmyproposal.Iusedagreatvariety
ofrelatedtermsandtheirsynonymsinordertofindawidevarietyofhelpfulsources.After
findingavarietyofsources,Icarefullyexaminedtheircredibilitybylookingattheauthorsofthe
articlesIfoundandlookedforsignsofbias.Ireadthroughthesearticles,takingnotesonthe
contentofeach,beforeorganizingthisinformationintoanannotatedbibliography.Annotated

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bibliographiesareusefulforkeepingtrackofyoursourcesaswellasprovidingashortsynopsis
ofhowtheywillbeusefulforthepieceofwritingtheyarefor.ThetechniquesIemployedfor
thisassignmenttaughtmetheimportanceofkeepingtrackofmysourcesandavarietyofuseful
researchtechniquesthatIcanuseinthefuture.
Thiscoursehastaughtmemanyusefulskills.Ihavelearnedtheimportanceofthe
rhetoricalsituation,collaborationandrevision,aswellasusefulresearchrelatedskills.Ihave
metthelearneroutcomesofthiscourse,butIhavealsoobservedhowmywritinghasimproved
witheachnewlesson,andIhopetheseskillscanhelpmetocontinuetoimproveasawriter.