Self-Reflection

For some reason, Blackboard isn't letting me upload content today, so I am posting here the information that is contained on the Self-Reflection handout:

Self-Reflective/Assessment Letter

This letter doesn’t have rigid design or content requirements. This is intentional as I want you to see the letter as your opportunity to say what may not be apparent in your Classical Argument and Genre Translation assignments. That is, I want you to feel comfortable discussing issues about your writing and your progress that you feel will help build the rhetorical appeal (logos, pathos, ethos) of your final project. It is, in the end, what the title indicates: a self assessment of your final assignments and, more generally, your progress in the course.

Again, there are no content requirements for this letter, but you might consider the following: What issues have you wrestled with in your writing? How did you work to clarify them through peer review, reading the text, class discussion/lectures and your own writing process? Would you now define “good” writing in the same way that you did at the beginning of the course? How have the writing assignments, peer reviews, and discussions of the text impacted your view of good writing? How has the concept of visual rhetoric impacted your research and/or your writing? How have you worked through the peer feedback you have received? Have you received contradictory advice? If so how did you handle it? How has research impacted the way you write? How have the ideas of others impacted how you have made your argument in your Classical Argument and your Genre Translation? What else do you want me (your reader and the person assigning you a grade) to know about you as a writer? You might think about this in terms of logos, ethos, and pathos; that is what do you want me to know in order to strengthen the logos, pathos, and ethos of your final project and your performance this semester? Note that merely asserting that you are a much better writer will NOT build your ethos or credibility or grade. I do NOT want a bunch of empty statements like “I’ve learned so much about writing this semester” and “I’ve really improved my writing” and “you are the best English teacher in the universe” (actually, this last one is okay :P). In all seriousness, though, as with the claims in your essays you will need to demonstrate/prove what you have learned. Also, note that it is not required that you have made massive improvements—one can write well for this class and engage with the process and text without necessarily making huge improvements as a writer.

Thanks.