Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

This composition class was by far the most writing-intensive course I’ve ever taken. Though it is my first college writing course I didn’t assume to be revising so much. One of the first prime examples of getting feedback from the professor and revising was the Definition Rewrite. I single this assignment out because I ended up rewriting the entire thing while sending it back for more feedback. Currently, I’m still working on fixing it up before I submit it, but I’ve definitely learned that no first draft is perfect. My first drafts weren’t very great, but through the Professor’s feedback and my peers, I polished them into a better paper. Also, conferencing with the Professor helped me realize how much work goes into gathering the correct information to support our papers. My papers are still far from perfect and could always use feedback.

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

As writers, we are supposed to be able to read and analyze texts, and my professor made sure we had to analyze a podcast. In the Stone Money assignment, the professor had me analyze the counterintuitive idea that money has no intrinsic value. After listening to an hour-long podcast, I had to use the evidence discussed in the podcast to analyze and describe the concept of money. Throughout this assignment, I had to constantly replay conversations, listen to what was said, and decipher the true concept of money. In my research, I found that money is a concept that we have brought to life with the use of paper and digital numbers on a screen. Without our belief in the concept of money, it would crumble and become invaluable.

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

Identifying argumentative, rhetorical elements and concepts best take place within my Causal Rewrite. The paper describes a chain of effects that occur before and after consuming fast food. From feeding livestock to gaining weight, the rewrite lists the ways fast food negatively impacts individuals and their environment. By doing this I specify my audience as anyone who eats fast food and negatively benefits from it. By directly talking about the effects to consumers, the consumers feel as though fast food restaurants are attacking them. I’m trying to create a common enemy which my reader can focus on while reading what I have to say. I believe that this becomes more effective than blaming the very people I’m writing to while gathering attention for the reader to continue reading my paper. If I’ve learned one thing from this comp II class is that the purpose of every sentence is to make the reader read the next sentence.

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

The visual rhetoric assignment most exemplifies evaluating source information and applying what I’ve learned to reinform. This assignment focused on the visual information from a short video and described how the video used rhetorical devices to get the audience to understand a message. Facial expressions, video speed, body language, environment, and even the clothes worn by the actors formed the evidence to guess the message that the video producer was trying to portray. The use of sound was prohibited to hone our focus on small visual factors to help improve our understanding of environmental and physical influences on our judgment. Second-by-second commentary along with a discussion of how the illustrations worked for or against the message of the video helped conceptualize the different elements of successful rhetoric techniques.

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

The best representation of this core value is my research paper. The research paper is a cumulation of all the sources that I have used to directly support my argument over the semester. Each source that was directly quoted, summarized or hinted at received credit for the help it provided in my paper. Sources that provide helpful information should be recognized by those who use it for their own benefit. Not giving authors credit would be stealing, and I would never willingly do so. Not only have I given them the credit that’s due but also linked their work to the places. It is great that the professor promotes putting direct links in the writing assignments. I’ve done so in my research paper along with all my other writing assignments so people can easily visit the sources and see the work that other authors poured their time into.