Fatima Moflehi

ENG 21007 

Professor Crystal Rodwell

Semi-weekly reflections

Week 2:

Prompt: What kind of self-reflection experiences did you have in your freshman English class? What have you learned (related to self-reflection or writing in general) that has stayed with you and supported your writing?

• In my freshman English class last semester I wrote many essays that helped me practice my essay writing skills. One of the assignments was to write a critique on an article. That assignment gave me a self-reflection experience from the feedback I received on it by my professor. I learned how to give more clarity in my argumentation.

Week 3:

Prompt: Analyze the rhetorical situation of your Freshman Portfolio. For those few students who do not have one only: analyze the rhetorical situation of your Freshman English research paper/project.

• The rhetorical situation of my freshman portfolio was to showcase all my past assignments throughout the class as well as a final assessment writing assignment that was about an aspect of the course that challenged me and what important tips and skills I took away from it that I would use for my future papers.

Week 5:

Prompt: Analyze the rhetorical situation of your Product Review essay.

• The rhetorical situation of my Product Review essay was to give a thorough review on a product based on three or more criterias. I chose to write about an IKEA dresser based on its durability, capacity, and assembly/installation. The purpose was to write a well organized informative review on the different aspects of the product so the reader can be given a full evaluation on the product in order to make an informed purchasing decision.

Week 6-7:

Prompt: What have we done so far that has been helpful to your writing process? How might you apply this helpful information or tool? What would you like to spend more time on? If the clarification/additional focus does not occur during class time, how will you acquire the knowledge?

• So far during class we have been discussing our lab report analysis essay and doing our outlines and first drafts. Something that has been helpful to my writing process was looking at my peers’ discussion posts of their outlines and my group’s drafts as well as the criticisms they received. I applied this to my essay by comparing the things I lacked in my outline and draft and editing my work. I would also like to spend more time editing and peer reviewing and if it does not occur during class times I would look under other peoples past peer reviews to reflect on my own.

Week 8:

Prompt: How are you doing with time management? Are you balancing the multiple needs of this course? Your other courses? Are you making time for reading, writing, studying, and collaborating? Explain how if yes or share your success plan if no. 

• Quite honestly time management in this course has been a huge struggle due to my lack of writing skills and not meeting the assignment requirements resulting in a lot of bad scores. I have edited my work multiple times and have constantly received feedback and criticisms that take up my time with other works that are assigned in this same class. Keeping up with the work would be easier if there were clear rubrics to which each assignment would get graded based on. With this class the only other course I’m struggling to balance it with is calculus. I don’t have a success plan other than just keep trying to get everything done.

Week 9:

Prompt: After you have received feedback on your essay: Analyze the rhetorical situation of your Lab Report Analysis essay. Include textual detail to support your claims. 

• My lab report analysis essay was on lab reports that centered around studies on bacteria. I analyzed each section of the lab reports such as abstracts, introductions, discussion, etc. The main purpose of the assignment was to analyze the way the lab report was written rather than its content. I followed the lab report analysis checklist but still received feedback on how I didn’t meet the requirements fully in certain sections.  With this feedback I was able to identify my wrongs in the assignment.

Week 10:

Prompt: What experience have you had working in groups before this class? How has the group work we’ve done in this class been for you? What are you doing/will you do to optimize your experience completing the collaborative project for this class?

• Before this course my experience working in groups was simple and smooth. Compared to the group work I did in this course I would say group engagement is better in person rather than online. We have clashed on certain topics for the project but overall was able to make progress through group chats. To optimize my experience of completing the collaborative project I will continue to engage in the discussions and voice my opinions so that I’m able to do my part efficiently for the project as a whole.

Week 11:

Prompt: Analyze the rhetorical situation of your Technical Description. Include textual detail to support your claims.

• The technical description assignment was based on breaking down a chosen object and writing a detailed explanation of each part of the object’s features and components in order to learn the use of technical language in writing. I wrote on the PS5 Dualsense Edge controller and provided the necessary description to each component such as its function, color, and material. 

Week 13:

Prompt: Select one learning objective or one component of a learning objective. When, where, and how have you learned it? How have you developed in this arena?

• One learning objective from this course is the ability to analyze writing and write a proper analysis. I learned this during the Lab report analysis assignment where I delved into rhetorical analysis and learned how to dissect the writing structures of the lab reports I chose and compare them to the other lab reports to highlight anything that is lacking or can be written concisely. I have developed in this arena by following the Lab report checklist where I was able to see what requirements lab reports should meet in terms of organization and structure. 

Week 14:

Prompt: What have you learned that has proved most useful to your composition process?

• The most useful skill I learned in this course is APA formatting and how it isn’t just citations but the writing as a whole that includes headings, subheadings, bolding, italics, and indentations. I chose this to be most useful to me because most writings I’ve done have been MLA and I’ve always struggled with APA formatting due to its unfamiliarity in my assignments. This course made APA formatting familiar and easy to follow with the professor’s comments on my writing and links to Purdue owl writing resources.