Aulisi 1

Jared M. Aulisi

May 3rd 2017

Professor Santiago

UWRT 1102

Final Reflection

Throughout the course of this semester, I have evolved as a writer. From the preparation

to my first major assignment, to the building up towards each step that lead me towards my final

draft. Each step along the way shaped my writing in one way or another, which really helped me

in the end with my inquiry paper. I gained a lot of beneficial knowledge that I never thought I

would have picked up on, and incorporated it into sections of my work which could make it

stand out from any previous projects that I have worked on in the past. I think my evolution from

this class stems from being able to observe the different elements when it comes to writing and

be able to develop and grow from each and every one.

While doing research on my inquiry paper, it felt like one giant puzzle to me. This puzzle

had articles and books that held so many different perspectives that were vastly similar but also

some that were different from my own. Not only that, but I had to understand these perspectives

and weave it into an argument that both compared and contradicted my own points. It became

clear to me that separating analysis and summary was an obvious struggle that I presumed. It was

a challenge to analyze another view point without including part of summary to explain the

analysis then actually break down and analyze a text. I really had to dig deep and learn how to

depart the two if I wanted to validation different perspectives in my papers. So by critically

reading these articles, I feel as if that really helped me evaluate different points of views and
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relationships and piece them together in order to complete a part of this puzzle. An example of

another perspective I displayed in my paper was the argument that politics did not display a

benefit in the music industry, in which I argued that it had done so. Some argue that politics

and music do not mix together, or that music is not influenced by politics. Sometimes political

statements in music do not exactly stick to the plan they were accordingly supposed to have

followed.. I then had to take this and argue for and against this standpoint in which this was

difficult to do so.

By analyzing theses articles, you really have to put your mind elsewhere for a little while

in order to be open to others people's intentions. Then strategize how exactly you are going to

correspond it with your own. By breaking down the different layers of a text, and diving into the

different elements that it possesses, you can really grasp a deeper meaning of the text and

therefore you are able to easily make decisions on how you are going to work with it. I felt that I

really opened my mind to rhetorical knowledge in this sense, and used it to my very advantage

while carefully observing other articles. By used both rhetorical knowledge and critical reading, I

felt as if it was like a game and I just unlocked another level that brought me benefit towards

another important tool in writing.

While using these multiple strategies to help develop my inquiry paper and ultimately

finalize it once I incorporated different viewpoints, it showed me that I had growth in areas that I

was weak in before. I used to not be a very flexible or open minded person when it came to

writing, and often stuck to my own morals. By composing and processing different strategies

which stuck with me throughout each process of this project, I was able to open up more as a

writer and gather strength in certain fields of writing that I was so opposed to before. I felt proud
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that I was able to do this, as it is better to be open to others validation rather than relying on your

own. It was not something I did alone though. In class, we did peer reviews where is where I was

able to discuss and analyze other classmates work and have then review mine.

While doing peer review, and having discussions on what we enjoyed and what we

needed to work on with each others papers, it helped me understand more about the assignment

that I did not know of before. I was often lost with doing research and putting together a formula

in which my paper would result in following, and my peers often helped me understand the

guidelines and regulations that the paper was to be followed by. They helped me grasp a better

knowledge of conventions and designed me a new style of writing that would be helpful with

things such as grammar and spelling. Beforehand, I kept using contradictions in my paper such

as Its always evolving and shaping itself within the numerous different genres and styles of

music.. I also had problems with speaking in first and second person, which was also not

allowed, such as using the word you, If you look at all the differences in all the

accommodations that tie into the musical history of the past fifty years, it's clear that you can

spot out the changes and the similarities of how much has been shaped into what it is today.. I

continued to do so throughout the entire course of my paper and that was often forbidden in

formal papers. My peers were the ones to let me know of this, and therefore I was destined to fix

those before it could have hurt my grade. Not only that, but shaping and distributing a distinct

and consistent tone throughout my paper and mechanically piecing that together with the

information I had to display. Without the benefit of my peers advice, I do not think my paper

would be as strong as it was when I finalized it.

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I think my weakest point throughout this semester, was reflection, and critically articulate

my thoughts directly into my own words. I do not mean weak in the fact that I was unable to do

so, but I feel as if I already grasped this process enough to my own ability that there was not

many improvements that I had to specifically make. Reflection was often something that came

natural to me, so the fact that I could not exactly get any more benefit out of it kind of

disappointed me because I felt like I could not come to my full abilities as a writer. When my

peers often made marks in my paper while revising it, I was quick to make these changes right

away with no hesitation. For example, one of my peers recommended that I take out a biased

statement that I had in my first draft, Artists who are often notoriously known for the usage of

artist because they lack vocal talent include rapper Kanye West, and international pop star

Britney Spears.. I ended up taking out that statement later and covering it up with something

else. They also recommended that I spoke more on topics in my paper, such as AutoTune and

brush up more on the topic. I took this advice and did so, AutoTune is specifically used to

digitally edit your voice to give you the ability to sing better then you naturally are capable of

doing.. So I felt as if I grasped the reflection process of the paper down well enough in where

further improvements could help, but would not be exactly necessary.

Needless to say, throughout this entire semester I have definitely shown signs of high

improvement in certain areas. These improvements really came to my advantage, especially with

finalizing my final draft and looking through it. I looked back at my first draft and compared it to

my final draft, and I feel I am bold enough to say I excelled in development as a writer and I can

thank it all to this course. Throughout the semesters, things just started to click more and I was

exposed towards new directions of writing that overall was influential enough to grow as a
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writer. By brushing on each element for improvement, it really has matured my writing and in

the future I hope to be able to use what I learned from this course and incorporate it into

everyday life by making it work.