WP#4 - Reflective Cover Letter

Dear Shelley, Fellow Classmates, and Future Me:

This English 102 class presented nine different course outcomes, all encouraging development of a different skill, or skillset. Each activity in the class was designed to address at least one of these outcomes. What follows is a brief discussion of how my writing development interacted with each of these outcomes, and how the outcomes may play into my future endeavors.

Out of all the course outcomes, the first, writing for specific rhetorical contexts, was most prominent. When I took English 101 (1999, UofA), I was lucky enough to have an instructor that taught me that rhetoric is omnipresent, especially in writing. As such, it played a part in almost every word I wrote for this class.

I see development of rhetorical context throughout my course work. I see adaptation to specific purposes in the differences between WP#1, where I was writing to analyze a rhetorical situation, and WP#2, where my main purpose was to write useful annotations for future synthesis. I see refinement of audience when comparing WP#1 with WP#3. In WP#1, I proposed to include the academic community in my audience. Over the course of planning WP#3, and in the final writing of it, I excluded that audience, recognizing that writing for a more focused audience would produce better results. I documented my awareness of the rhetorical situation in D#2, HW#1, where I examine the idea of the author’s relationship to the writing, and also D#6, HW#1 and 2, where I reflect on the importance of the rhetorical context as a whole. In my future writing, I will focus on strengthening my purpose/audience relationship to create stronger papers.

The second course outcome, organization of writing, taught me that different organizational schemes work better for different contexts. For example, WP#1 used topical organization, WP#2 was best organized by source, and WP#3 was organized in a causal pattern. I mention the importance of organization in D#8, HW#5, where I was constructing the organizational pattern for WP#3. As future writing projects arise, they will benefit from one or another organizational pattern. It will be my challenge to determine which pattern would best suit each project.

Usage of appropriate conventions in grammar is the third outcome. Even though this is one of my stronger skills, the class required a much-needed review of basic grammar and mechanics. I addressed this outcome as I revised my drafts. For instance, I revised a particular sentence in WP#3 from “…potential for missed work for employees” to “potential for employees to miss work”. I also refer to my use of proper mechanics in D#6, HW#2, in reflecting on WP#1. Although I have a decent grasp of proper grammar and mechanics, it is something I will continue to work on in future academics. As I am pursuing a science-based career, mechanics will be important to establish credibility when publishing in peer-reviewed journals.

Both WP#2 and WP#3 demonstrate my embrace of the fourth course outcome, working with sources. I learned it is important to have an understanding of one’s specific rhetorical situation before one starts looking for sources. I had to learn this to select appropriate sources for WP#2 and evaluate them on basis of credibility and suitablility to my purpose. In D#4, HW#1, I mentioned active reading, a technique I learned to be very useful towards accomplishing this outcome. Tying in with course outcome nine, I learned to use journal databases to locate sources. I could use additional focus in this outcome, and to that end I will continue to familiarize myself with the differences in the various databases. This will lead to more time-efficient research. In my future classes, I will use this knowledge to conduct efficient secondary research for many papers.

The best illustration of the fifth outcome, integrating sources, is WP#3. Not only did I incorporate what WP#2 taught me about reference citation, I also made extensive use of in-text citation, following APA style. I learned how to use summarizing, paraphrasing, and quotation of source data to support my argument. Much of D#6 focused on these techniques, including HW#’s 6 and 7. I intend to improve aspects of summarizing and paraphrasing, such as conveying essential information as concisely as possible. These techniques will be most helpful to me when writing future annotations for research sources.

The next outcome focused on a new topic for me, accurate documentation style. I had never used APA style before, and struggled with it at first, as evidenced in my first draft of WP#2. After reviewing the reading and exercises, I am much more comfortable with it. I can now write a reference entry without consulting a textbook. I mention my efforts to achieve this outcome in D#7, HW#6. I plan on journal publication to be a big part of my academic and professional future, and these skills are absolutely necessary for that. I will continue to refine my knowledge of citing different types of sources, for example multiple authors and different publication types.

Course outcome seven, using feedback to revise, is most easily visible in comparison of my rough to my final draft of WP#2. The instructor pointed out significant errors, such as my incorrect usage of APA style, and areas where I lacked focus. If it were not for the instructor feedback on this project, I would have ended up with a poor final product. Instructor feedback is essential in a course such as this, where there is no particular correct answer, only an evaluator that judges whether you correctly implement the knowledge or technique presented. Peer review was seldom helpful, although I did benefit from my classmates suggestions in D#5, HW#7, where they helped suggest search terms. In the future, I will work to improve eliciting specific types of feedback by using different questions and wordings. As I have found in both my academic and professional lives, there is usually some type of mentor in these situations that requires satisfaction, I will pay close attention to their feedback in the future.

My growth in regards to the eighth outcome, assessing and improving writing through evaluation, is also best demonstrated by the gaps in my first and final drafts of WP#2. This ties in closely with the previous course outcome. I now know that it is important to review one’s own writing, and assess strengths and weaknesses, so that these may be exploited or bolstered in future writing projects. I wrote about my assessment of WP#1 in D#6, HW#2 identifying coherency as a strength, and topic debatability as a weakness. I kept this weakness in mind in writing WP#3. I intend to improve my ability to critique specific aspects of my writing, and not ambiguously assess them as just “good” or “bad”. This improvement of critique will allow me to progressively build on my writing technique, and craft better papers for future classes.

Lastly, my use of course outcome nine, using appropriate technologies, is best seen, not in the content of my coursework, but in its presentation. For instance, WP#2 incorporated word-processor text formatting such as boldface, and the addition of graphic items (horizontal line). This was one of my stronger performances of the course outcomes. It had been quite some years since I used MS Word, and through typing my writing projects, I was able to brush-up my skills. Another noteworthy use of technology is electronic research databases. I am now able to confidently navigate these databases to locate sources. I refer to this in D#4, HW#1. I will need to constantly improve in this area, because “appropriate technology” is constantly changing. In the near future, however, I would like to improve my MS Word skills to ensure that I make the most of future writing opportunities.

Now at the end of the course, I can say that each of these outcomes promoted a skillset that will serve me in future pursuits. Most of the exercises I completed rewarded me with an enhanced proficiency. I am a better writer for having examined these outcomes.

Thank you,
Ryan MacNamara