Guerrero-Toledo |1

Paola Guerrero-Toledo Professor Raleigh Honors 100- Section 104 26 November, 2013 Reflective Essay Before taking this course, Honors 100 rhetoric and critical inquiry, I felt like I was a decent writer. Previous to Honors 100, I learned many of my writing strategies in high school which I have incorporated and used in my essays that I have written for this course. My English classes in high school mainly consisted of reading and analyzing literature, however, junior year was when I started to gain some writing skills. During my junior year of high school, we were assigned to develop a research question and use the resources available to do research and write a paper. This assignment most definitely allowed me to gain some knowledge regarding research and writing styles and I have brought to college the knowledge that I have gained when working on this assignment. However, although I did gain some useful skills in high school, my writing style and tactics were still flawed; my weaknesses included being able to establish a concrete tense in a paper, grammar, and developing support for an argument. As a result of taking this Honors 100 course, I believe that my writing style has improved; I have learned to argue more effectively, to generate a connection with the audience, and to make sure that I keep everything in the proper tense. In this reflection, I will explain how each of the course outcomes were met in this class. The Honors 100 course has specific course outcomes that I truly benefitted from. The first course outcome is that students will demonstrate a conception of writing as an interaction

Guerrero-Toledo |2 between writer and reader and will be able to analyze their audiences knowledge, assumptions, and disposition. This course outcome was reflected in every single one of the essays that we have written, from our first Dracula response to our final research paper. Most importantly, in our final research paper, analyzing the audiences knowledge, assumptions, and character was very crucial in creating a valid argument. During my research, I had to keep in mind the different views and arguments that dealt with my topic. In order to establish an effective argument, I needed to research every valid point and support or oppose what is being stated with evidence. This allows the reader to think and create a concrete conclusion using all the evidence that was presented. Its important to let your reader know that you are not a biased writer and by demonstrating the arguments pertaining to the topic, it allows the reader to establish an opinion. Being able to understand your reader and develop concrete evidence to support an argument fulfills the fourth course outcome as well which is being able to develop and support convincing arguments using research. The second course outcome is that students will demonstrate an ability to read and evaluate the writing of others with accuracy and insight. From the beginning of the course, we were given articles to dissect and analyze and talked about the credibility of the writing. For example, we read much of Patrick Buchanans work and discussed the bias. We discussed where his articles would be an appropriate source to use and when and why not to use them due to the bias involved. We read and analyzed the work of Patrick Buchanan and other writers and evaluated its content; reading these articles and evaluating the writing, allowed me to categorize sources into what is a valid source with a credible and unbiased writing versus what is an extremely biased source. These reading assignments helped me determine what is a well- written and reliable source for me to use in my papers.

Guerrero-Toledo |3

The third course outcome is that students will demonstrate strategies of effective research, including locating material, note taking, summarizing, and paraphrasing. I believe that this class spent a reasonable amount of time on summarizing and paraphrasing activities. These activities have certainly helped me gain skills on how to summarize and paraphrase effectively. Due to these activities, the fifth course outcome was also fulfilled which is that students will be able to incorporate quotations and paraphrase passages into their writing and to document the material using the standard scholarly apparatus. Although I used MLA style in high school, having a review of it in class and having The Little Seagull Handbook gave me a better understanding and allowed me to learn how to cite appropriately. Furthermore, the demonstration of effective research strategies in the third course outcome was shown to be completed when going to the library and having Christopher Parker, the reference and instruction librarian, talk to the class. He talked about resources that the library has available for us and showed us how to accurately research a topic or argument on database. This allowed me to gain some research skills. Not only did librarian Parkers presentation help me with my research but so did the library workshop that we had to complete; it gave me a very useful step by step instruction. The sixth and final course outcome is that students will increase their skill in using the language of academic writing, including an accurate, versatile vocabulary and correct syntax and usage. This is the area where I struggle the most and still do as it is not my strongest skill; however, I do believe that I have improved as a result of this course. I have gained some knowledge on how to transition better and create solid and precise sentences and paragraphs and how to make my paper flow better in order to keep the audience wanting to read. Although, I

Guerrero-Toledo |4

still may need to work on using the proper tense, I feel that I have improved and I certainly will with time. Overall, this course has most definitely improved my writing and has made me become more aware of what I need to improve and change; the constructive criticism given to me by my professor and peers have helped me become a better writer. This course has taught me how to argue more effectively, to generate a connection with the audience, and to make sure that I keep everything in the same past, present, or future tense. This class has provided me with the necessary tools to become a better writer throughout my college career, it has helped me develop the skills necessary for me to excel in my writing.