Brenyanah Gassaway

Professor Thomas

May 09, 2017

Final Reflection

I. Rhetorical Knowledge

When I first began to get an understanding of what exactly rhetorical knowledge meant I

had to google and understand. And then I came up with the meaning of interpreting different

perspectives and voices in a writing, the single author can introduce various characters with their

own sense of individualism. Understanding the genre and the subject of your writing and

developing a sense of community and different personalities in one's writing.

Example 1: I have grown up learning and experiencing different living environments through my

life and each one was very different. The guardians and my peers that I have interacted with all

have been through different backgrounds and living situations. This for me made me realize that

I had to quickly learn to adapt to different living environments and settings. For example, living

with my grandparents I had to learn to cook for myself, but living with my boyfriend I had to

learn to not go into their kitchen Willy-nilly. Ive always had to open my mind and not be quick

to look down on how someone else is because everyone learns how to live differently.

Sometimes I must make sure that the way I present myself was simple and true to whom I really

am. I began to think before I acted growing up or even before I said anything, because what's

normal to someone could be looked at weird to another. I remember in elementary school I didn't

realize I had a lisp when I talked but my classmates recognized fast. I was picked and slandered

for my lisp but I couldn't control it or help it, it was normal to me.
Example 2: Relationships are a very important element in the development of an individual's life.

When evaluating the dynamics of relationships, there is a distinct difference in the way men and

women approach the concept. Men and women have different views on life itself because of

how time has evolved. Every little detail is different, not just because of people, but also because

of the major events that have taken place on Earth's lifetime. The mental and physical differences

between genders can lead to different perspectives on the advantages and disadvantages of

dating, the overwhelming emotions of love, the complications of being married, and the intense

feelings of sex.

This is a valid example of me using rhetorical knowledge because at the beginning of my

inquiry project I was settling for a topic I didn't really know how to write about. I was looking

more for what could interest other people, but I eventually had to focus on the topics I like to

write about and introduce my audience to, according to my writing situation I had to

communicate my new topic differently than the old one, I had to readapt the way of my writing

to incorporate an experience for my reader.

II. Critical Reading

Learning about critical reading was very interesting because this one reminded me of

myself the most. To be a critical reader you should be able to read the whole text and identify

parallelism, author, themes, purpose, and genre. Being this specialist in writing one can also be

able to recognize any weaknesses also in any type of writing.

Example 1: I used to write food reviews for California magazine before it folded. (My writing

food reviews had nothing to do with the magazine folding, although every single review did

cause a couple of canceled subscriptions. Some readers took umbrage at my comparing mounds

of vegetable puree with various ex-presidents' brains.) These reviews always took two days to
write. First, I'd go to a restaurant several times with a few opinionated, articulate friends in tow.

I'd sit there writing down everything anyone said that was at all interesting or funny. Then on the

following Monday I'd sit down at my desk with my notes and try to write the review. Even after

I'd been doing this for years, panic would set in. I'd try to write a lead, but instead I'd write a

couple of dreadful sentences, XX them out, try again, XX everything out, and then feels despair

and worry settle on my chest like an x-ray apron. It's over, I'd think calmly. I'm not going to be

able to get the magic to work this time. I'm ruined. I'm through. I'm toast. Maybe, I'd think, I can

get my old job back as a clerk-typist. But probably not. I'd get up and study my teeth in the

mirror for a while. Then I'd stop, remember to breathe, make a few phone calls, hit the kitchen

and chow down. Eventually I'd go back and sit down at my desk, and sigh for the next ten

minutes. Finally, I would pick up my one-inch picture frame, stare into it as if for the answer, and

every time the answer would come: all I had to do was to write a shitty first draft of, say, the

opening paragraph. And no one was going to see it.

Example 2: I feel like Im unique in a lot of ways. There are different things about me than some

others that I meet in my life. I have hazel eyes that change colors, I get a lot of components on

that daily. I have the silk caramel skin whir the light brown hair which also compliments mf

eyes. So, you see where I'm getting at I'm just a three-toned brown skin thumb sucking girl that

sometimes doesn't have a clue. But I am smart and I've learned a lot of things about myself

through these eighteen years I've been living. I know that writing this English paper is a drag,

although I am enjoying this.

The first example used to describe the focus idea of critical reading was a text by Anne

Lamott's "Shitty First Drafts" that we read in the course packet that describe how to be a critical

reader and create writing based on that. The paragraph stood out to me most because she went
into detail of how sometimes it is very difficult to come up with an incredible sentence that

doesn't have any weak spots or any hidden messages. The second example of critical reading is

from my literacy narrative that I wrote and focused on the underlying meanings and imagery in

my writing. I used direct and informative interactive language with my audience to better engage

and interpret my big picture in my writing.

III. Knowledge of Conventions

Being able to master being a good writer is largely important to identify the rhetorical

situation such like sentence structure, spelling correction, and being able to cite correctly in your

writing. Knowing where to place commas in a text is important, as far as punctuation goes being

able to be a grammatically correct writer.

Example 1: Andrew Cherlin, the author of The Marriage Go Around, claims women are more

likely to initiate divorce, and are more than three times as likely as their former husbands to have

strongly desired the divorce. Compared to men, women ask for divorce two-thirds of the time

(Cherlin). Females strive for their relationship to be "complete" in life by the factors of being

married. Being married to women can create a mindset of satisfaction, reassurance, and a

rewarding experience. A females relationship satisfaction has more to do with how the negative

feelings that evolve in her relationship such as arguments, not receiving what she desires, or even

hormonal circumstances other than positive factors. She focuses less on positive factors because

she is accustoming to the behavior and now expects it.

Example 2: This article is about how marriage has changed throughout the years. It states that

people in this generation barely are married compared to people in the 1960 s. Whereas in the

1960s people sought to get married and have children. I also took away from the article that
people now get married for the wrong reasons, such as, financial crisis, immigration, and health

insurance.

Example 3: This source was great. It gave me a lot of information about dating apps and websites

and how they impact people currently. Compared to other sources I have read; this article gave

me a lot of facts about dating industries and how the dating experience affects others. The source

is objective because it gives you facts and no opinions of the author's feelings. The goal of the

source was to explain how dating online has expanded through time.

Example one of knowledge conventions is example of my writing and how I cited an

article that I found online and used his information to validate my writing. In the paragraph, I

properly cited his article and name giving him credibility, and without using direct quotes I

summarized his article in a couple of sentences. In example two, this paragraph came from my

thesis paper and it is using properly used punctuations. The use of periods, commas, spacing, and

parallelism is properly used which makes it easier for my readers to comprehend my work. The

last example is another example of me describing a source with the use of punctuation and short

sentences.

IV. Composing Processes

After creating a masterpiece, there is a process before the final which is revising and

editing your own writing. Reading out your final product you will notice grammar mistakes and

rephrasing of words based on how you notice the words said out your mouth itself. Being able to

intake advice and suggestions from your peers and revise the draft to improve from the peers

advice. Utilizing every editing device is best when trying to create an awesome final product.

Example 1: I feel like as developing teens and adults we face judgement of being ourselves every

day. We don't know what to say or how to say things in certain environments depending on how
comfortable we are in it. Growing up I faced many challenges being myself and being

comfortable in my skin because they people around me were different. Being normal to me was

wearing jackets in public no matter what temperature it was, crying when things aren't going

right, eating whenever I feel hungry, and speaking on how I feel. But growing up, I realized that

my peers are different, and some things they wouldn't understand. My inquiry question focuses

on how normality is interpreted through society as for what the true meaning of being normal.

Example 2: Nice start. I like the fast pace and informal style. Consider rereading bell hooks piece

in the course pack as a model. Keep letting the ideas flow!

Example 3: My inquiry question stimulates everyone's mind, it should be important to my

classmates today for them to have an open mind to everyone. Everybody has their own way of

thinking, of what they believe should be accomplished in life. I think that my question will give

my classmates a different perspective with sources and facts to back it up. I also think it will be

more interesting and connecting to the UNCC community if a survey or poll is done to get the

opinions of my peers.

The step before reflecting is revising and editing the product and making sure it is in the

best condition. In the first example, I used a paragraph of me describing in one of writings about

what m audience would like to hear from me. I was editing my paper to entertain and make sense

to my readers, I wanted the best and nothing to be flawed or dislike when being read. The second

example is from my professor, Mrs. Thomas, she reflected on my writing and complimented me

on my key intake of my paragraph that keeps the reader's attention. She also gave me a tip to go

reread over another author's work to get a better idea or understanding to help me enhance my

work. My third example is a paragraph I made of reflection of a piece of my writing, it is

explaining how I personally wanted my readers to feel about my writers feel about my writing. I
wasnt anything forceful or obvious to the reading to make it stand out but it was for me to stay

focused around the central idea I tried to convey.

V. Critical Reflection

After all the destruction done in the writing, the final process of evaluation is reflecting

on the improvement of one's final product. Being able to compare the initial work and the final

and noticing the major changes is good when writing an essay. Every piece of writing needs and

editor and evaluator to improve. To critically reflect from a writing is understanding the writing

in a new perspective.

Example 1: Revising and editing my paper made me realize I can form my paper in a different

matter. I can take the idea of being normal and incorporate it to the differences between women

and men today. I still want to focus on the psychological part of writing my paper and how

society view the demand, but I am also going to incorporate my essay to the different gender

affects also. The most difficulty I had writing my inquiry proposal was finding the topic I wanted

to write about, now I am very comfortable with my topic and creating a product my classmates

can relate.

Example 2: The SLOs I used in the process of drafting my ABs is critical reading and rhetorical

and knowledge because I had to be able to analyze and interpret a text to understand the meaning

and reasoning behind it.

The examples I found to describe the final stage or concept of the SLOS is my personal

review of my writing itself. The first example displays one of my final reflections of my writing,

I explained in this paragraph how I took the opinions and ideas of my peers to benefit and make

my paper better. I also reflected on the difficult parts of writing my paper and how I can avoid

these obstacles for next time. The second example is of me using the student learning outcomes
to reflect on my paper itself. In that specific example, I explained how finally understanding

these outcomes helped me better my writing and become a good reader myself.