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Lauren Collins English 1102 Professor: Fran Voltz 11/20/13 Final Course Reflection While compiling this final portfolio, I felt a sense of accomplishment looking at all of the work I have completed this semester. I have probably written more in these last 16 weeks than I have ever done for any other class. While at times I may have felt overwhelmed, the work load gave me a chance to grow not only as a writer, put also as a thinker and a person. It is natural to be reflective after spending an entire project solely dedicated to going over old work and looking at it in a new light. At the time I was writing my journals, blogs, and day books I was primarily concerned with getting a good grade. Now I am getting the chance to view these entries not as graded assignments but as evidence of my journey in writing. I have noticed that I defiantly have a particular voice to all of my writings. It is hard to describe, but I believe that there are elements that persist through out all of works. I realized that I write in a very logical manner, but am still able to make connections with my readers. Like my writing style, my writing process has stayed consistent throughout the semester. I am not big on planning out responses, because I believe my best work occurs when I let my brain have free reign. This stream of consciousness strategy serves me well, as long as I refine my ideas through editing. I believe that editing has been my biggest weakness throughout the semester. At the beginning of the year, I would write a response and print it out or submit it without looking back over it. This is one bad habit that I have been able to overcome. I came to the conclusion that what I turned in was more than just an assignment; they were a reflection of who I am as a student and thinker. I am proud of the ideas I developed throughout this course, and they deserve to be treated with respect. I now thoroughly edit my papers so that I can be proud of the final product.

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Looking at my entire repertoire of writing, it is evident that the topic of arguments comes up a lot. Whether it is analyzing how other authors argue their points or arguing my own, many of my responses have dealt with this subject. In fact, I believe that the purpose of this course was to teach us how to communicate our ideas in such a way that they will be respected and listened to. From learning the rhetoric of genre, tone, and types of appeals to learning about way in which society influences us, we were being taught to recognize the power of ideas. For example, the videos that we watched at the beginning of the semester about AIDS and vaccines and ADHD were very interesting but I believe they served a larger purpose. By watching these videos we were learning to broaden our perspectives and take into account beliefs that were widely different than our own. By forcing us to look at the world in new ways, we grew as thinkers. In order to make a successful argument, you have to be able to see the argument from the opposing view so that you know how to address possible rebuttals before they actually occur. One example where I used this skill was in the Rogerian letter. Using this type of argument to hypothetically convince my mom to allow me to go to Raleigh, I had to focus on arguments that would be most persuasive to my mom, not to me personally. In terms of applying the knowledge I have accumulated over the semester, I think that my EIP essay was my best work. I worked very hard on it and really but my heart into it. I took a personal interest in the subject and I think that it shows through in my writing. I believe that I made a argument using appeals to both logic (logos) and emotion (pathos). I also applied what we learned about connotations to choose words and phrases that would best make my point and tone clear. In addition, I did not simply just recite facts I found in my research but synthesized this information to come to my own conclusions on the topic. This level of critical thinking

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shows that I have progressed as a learner. I cannot expect the answers to be given to be anymore. I am responsible for taking what is given to me and applying it in my studies and in my life. All this being taken into account, I am very proud of my finished portfolio. It showcases some of my best work while still chronicling my growth as a student, thinker, learner, and most importantly writer. I have learned so much this semester and I know that is evident through my responses. I worked very hard and honestly think I deserve a high A on this project. I know that all of my journal, blog, and day book entries are not perfect, but I did carefully choose the examples I included in my portfolio to reflect the topics that were asked of me. All of work is edited and polished. I tried to genuinely reflect on each individual response as well my writing as an entire collection. No matter what grade I receive, I will still be happy with the quality of work I turned in. I did the best I could and it was a personally rewarding experience. While I have learned a lot about the world around me this semester, I have also learned a lot about myself through this process.