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Kayleigh Mize

Mrs. Maple

ENG 101-08

02 December 2018

Critical Reflection.

Throughout the course of this semester I have learned very much about myself and my

writing abilities. Through this class, I have learned what’s needed to ensure that a piece of work,

more specifically a paper, is a very well constructed one. I have also met all of the classroom

requirements that our course calls “SLO’s”, kind of like the objectives of the course. These

SLO’s that were demonstrated throughout the work I completed, proved that I understood them

and gained a lot of knowledge from them, throughout the course. One of the biggest struggles of

any writer is critical reflection. This was something that we really focused on this semester and

has lead me to become a more strong, solid writer. To present my abilities and prove that I was

able to meet all of the SLO’s as well as make positive learning changes throughout the course, I

have created an english portfolio through a website. The website contains pieces that show

strength, as well as my weaknesses. I compiled pieces that ultimately result in showing my

growth and critical thinking processes as a writer. The website contains polished pieces, as well

as parts that resulted in those polished pieces. I have also taken a paper that I wrote at the

beginning of the semester, and critically evaluated, reviewed and rewritten, which really shows

how I have changed, and the items that I have learned. This website is a summation of my work

that shows my abilities as a writer, convincing my viewers that I have grown and am able to pass

this course.
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My English Portfolio website begins with the homepage. Here I have my title and

underneath is a small introduction that states what will be presented on the site. I then have all of

the SLO’s listed, which were mentioned in the introduction. I did this so that viewers could read

my paragraphs and evidence on meeting the particular SLO’s, and already have an idea on what

they mean. My SLO’s are also on the home page, just further down. I chose to place my SLO’s

first on the website, so that the viewers could see that I was able to meet requirements. Placing

my SLO’s first also allows viewers to see that I am capable and intelligent, where as showing

work that was not so good or contained deep analysis could result in turning a reader off, or

jumping to the conclusion that the rest of the website would be about the same. Through each

given SLO, I offered great analysis and reasoning behind it to elaborate on my understanding of

the particular objective. The first two SLO’s presented are SLO 2 and 4. I chose to place these

SLO’s first because I feel that the evidence that I provided, proving that I had met those SLO’s,

was very strong. The exert I used was from my website project on gun control. Here I summarize

very important information that aided in my overall argument on gun control and how taking

away guns would not solve the problem. I read many articles and constructed a summarization of

what I felt would best make my argument stronger. I stated a main point, “Also, if the

government were to go through with obtaining firearms, individuals who do not abide the law

would take this into consideration, giving them a boost of confidence to walk into a store, a bar,

a movie theatre, or even someone's house with a gun, or other weapon, thinking they have the

advantage. This would result in more crime against law abiding citizens. Concealed carry also

prevents many crimes from happening, as well as protecting an individual.” , and then placed a

direct quote that provided statistics which supported my statement, “according to a 2000 analysis

of FBI crime data by economist and political commentator John R. Lott Jr., PhD. "Lott
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calculated that 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes, 60,000 aggravated assaults, and 12,000 robberies

could have been prevented between 1977 and 1992 if concealed carry had been legal in every US

state during that time period." (Pro 1) . SLO 2 states “Construct cogent, evidence-based

arguments;”, and that is exactly what I did within this paragraph. I also chose this paragraph

because it contained more than one in depth quote that supports my argument, making the

paragraph very credible and convincing. The fact that I read multiple articles and then

constructed a paragraph containing some of those main points that supported my argument,

demonstrates that I was able to meet the SLO 4. SLO 4 states “Summarize, quote, paraphrase,

and synthesize source material in support of an argument;”, and clearly, I did this through the

chosen paragraph as my evidence. Seeing this on the first page shows that I am able to critically

analyze my work, allowing the viewer to see that my thought process is well constructed and

leads to them wanting to view more of my work.

I then constructed a second page where there is a collection of my writing processes as

well as polished pieces that I turned in and received a good grade on. This is another way to

show my viewers my well constructed thought processes, as well as the polished pieces that

resulted from them. This is a great strength, being able to show how I came to construct the

polished pieces and the writing process that goes along with it. This also allows the viewer to see

the type of writer I am, getting to know me a bit better, resulting in appreciation of my

work/processes. I also mention, throughout the entire website, how certain pieces of knowledge

aided in my better understanding of items that helped me construct those particular pieces.

Saying this, and then providing a page where you can actually find that polished piece talked

about, makes my work understandable as well as shows my knowledge in action. This aids
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proving my strength as a writer as well. The other reason that I chose to place this page here was

because of what comes after.

My third constructed page consists of the original version of my rhetorical analysis paper,

the paper that I chose to revise. This original version is a version that was sloppily done and

submitted, even a page short. I chose to rewrite this particular paper, because it was not some of

my best work and does not give me a good rating as a writer or student. I had the chance to prove

myself to my professor and show her how I have changed throughout the semester, so I

absolutely did. I placed all of my good, polished work first so that readers would know that I am

a good writer, and continue to evaluate my work rather than push it to the side. Then, after my

polished work was viewed, the not so good work would be viewed, but not labeling me as a

“bad” or “sloppy” writer due to my already good work shown. The original document is placed

on the page through scribd so that any viewer could see it and be able to interact with it by

scrolling up and down on the document. Placing my document this way is also subtle, not just

blatantly placing the entire document as a whole, which would result in “ugh, this is too much to

read”, but by being able to scroll yourself, the reader controls how much they want to read.

The last page of my website contains the polished, revised version of the rhetorical

analysis paper. I placed this after my original version so that the information provided flows

swiftly, as well as to end on a good note. I began with the good, added the bad in the middle and

ended with another great document wrapping everything up. My revised version provides

evidence to show that I understand the analysis and critical reflection processes, and having it to

be seen in action. There were many, many revisions done to this paper for it to be able to be

considered a solid, polished piece. This is because, the original version did not go in depth in

analysis, it was not descriptive and it did not provide an analysis of one of my chosen ads to
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rhetorically analyze. Therefore, I made sure that I constructed these changes with the revised

version.

One of the biggest changes that needed to be made was adding in more information,

because my original was one page short. (Sloppy I know.) Going back over the orginal for what

seemed like the hundredth time, I was extremely frustrated. Being faced with this big problem, I

decided that I was going to make little changes, but rewrite the entire paper. I began with making

changes in the layout of my information. With the original paper I had my introduction, which

introduced both topics, but the following paragraph jumped right into the analysis of the ad. I

totally left out the description of the actual commercial itself, and began immediately talking

about the rhetorical appeals that I saw, but briefly describing them. I chose to construct my

revised version a completely different way. I began with my introduction, introducing the two

commercials as well as the topic of rhetoric. The following paragraph then consisted of a very

thorough description of the current Pepsi ad. I made to include almost every scene and really

focused on the important ones that aided in the argument of the commercial. I did this so that the

readers could really get a feel for what the commercial was trying to say and how they were

saying it.

The following paragraph was about the older Pepsi ad. I constructed a very well analysis

of the commercial and even quoted the voiceover that was present in the commercial. I made

sure that this description was very thorough due to the fact that in my original paper, I did not

provide a deep description of the ad itself. After this paragraph, having already provided the in

depth descriptions of the two ads, I begin to target one of the appeals of the first commercial. I

have a paragraph for each appeal, making sure that they are consciously wrote out, making sure

that the readers are able to understand the specific, important points in making those particular
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appeals. I also made sure to include an analysis of how they went about making these appeals,

and its effect on anyone who viewed it.

After I mention all of the appeals of the first ad, I then do the same thing with the second

ad, and actually providing an analysis of it, which was lacking in my first version. After these

paragraphs I then have a paragraph about how the times have changed, which can be a reason for

why the current ad was so much more successful than the older one. I then provide another

analysis of how the two ads compared, as well as contrasted. I listed out the good and bad points

of both commercials, but then stated why the one commercial was so much more successful. In

doing the layout this way, I feel that the information provided was a lot easier to understand and

made more logical sense in the new, revised way.

Throughout this course I have made many changes to my writing processes that resulted

in making me a better, stronger writer. I have also been able to meet the required SLO’s of the

course. I was able to prove this through my portfolio website by providing evidence with an

analysis. I was also able to take a paper that was previously written in the beginning of the

semester and revise it, making the paper more polished and thought out. I placed my information

in the order of; good pieces, the bad in the middle and then ended on a good note. I did this so

that readers would see my good work first and then see the bad, but with previous knowledge

that I am a good writer. I ended on a good note so that everything was tied together, and also

supports my argument of my growth and knowledge throughout the semester.