What
I Learned in English 111
An
Evaluation of My Learning and Performance
Although I was always good at reading,
grammar and punctuation, this is probably the hardest part for me as I have
never been good as self-evaluation, much less writing about it. It’s not that I mind writing; I just have a
hard time putting things into words or explaining things. I don’t know that this portfolio based on its
content would earn me an “A” in English 111; however, I do feel that if all
aspects of the class are considered, such as I was in attendance for all
classes except when I was sick and my daughter had surgery, I stayed and helped
Darrell and Sara with setting up their Blogs, answering questions and repeating
what was discussed in class to “the girls in the back”, I did participate in
class discussions, as well as offering my SDV portfolio to the class as
reference material for their work. Oh,
and I also have proof of voting which was offered as extra credit and I will
load a picture of that as well. Ok, here
goes nothing and my attempt to give you what you are asking for….
General
Course Goals:
I learned to adapt my writing to
different genres, such as my Rhetorical Analysis, Restaurant Review and Life
Files. I did demonstrate academic
integrity and the appropriate use of others’ ideas and feed back in producing
effective communication as evidenced by my draft and final copy of my Ethics
paper that you reviewed for me. Also, I
demonstrated college-level written and oral communication skills as noted on my
SDV Final Portfolio Assessment.
Rhetorical
Knowledge:
One of the first things we started
learning in English 111 was about Rhetoric; or how to be a better communicator,
which includes what you can and cannot write about, who your audience is and
how they will receive my message. One of
the things that were learned about Rhetoric was how to write a Rhetorical
Analysis which is basically when you write about something and have to break down
the means of understanding by giving the argument, followed by the major claims
and evidence to support the claims. I
did this in my Rhetorical Analysis which is posted in my blog on my Op-Ed article,
“Keep politics out of examining room” published in the Richmond Times Dispatch
on September 15, 2012. Here is also an example of the Rhetorical Triangle we
used.
Message:
What
is said or written-book, papers, articles, etc.
Whether
in print, online or spoken
Author: Audience:
Creates the message Receives the message
Process:
We learned about the six steps to the writing
process which includes:
1. Pre-writing:
·
Figuring out what you want to say
·
Brainstorm and free write ideas
·
Find out who your audience is and your genre
·
Determine what you can and should say
2. Drafting:
·
Writing ideas about what you want to say on
paper
·
Manipulate your ideas
·
Draft ideas in stages
3. Revision:
·
Reorganize and work with the draft in
sections
·
Adding and cutting
·
Focusing on revision while producing a “Deep
Level” draft or a draft that is somewhat complete with terms and ideas
4. Proof Reading and Editing:
·
Setting up your format
·
Checking spelling, grammar and punctuation
·
Rereading at the sentence level making sure
all is fine
·
Work on elements of presentation
·
Editing is done by someone else
·
Proofreading is done by the author
5. Publishing
or Delivery:
·
Getting your information in front of your
audience
·
Making sure you can publish
·
Audience accepts the delivery
·
Let go of work and turn in what is written
6. Review:
·
Did I accomplish my purpose?
·
Opportunity to make process better the next
time
·
Rhetorical Memory – Tweak and learn about
your process and how to improve it; learn what rhetorical moves worked and what
didn’t
Critical Thinking, Reading
and Writing:
Critical
thinking begins with Rhetorical Charity which is that the author is worth
spending time to understand. With
critical thinking, we also have to determine if an argument is good or a claim
is true when presented to us as well as be able to format our own good
arguments. When writing, we should always
take our audience into consideration and make sure that we are able to get our
message across to them.
Oral Communication Skills:
This
brings to mind when we were learning about proper posture, standing in groups
having little discussions, learning how to draw people into the conversations
so they don’t feel alienated. We also
learned about engaging our audience with an exercise when Jose stood in front
of the room and had to make eye contact with the class.
Digital Technology:
I
was not very familiar with Google Docs or Blogger, but after setting up a new
account for English 111, and learning how to navigate around Google, I am finding
it fairly easy to use even though I am still in the learning stages. I have merged multiple Google accounts, used
Google Docs for saving my work in the cloud, as well as merged my calendars.
I
think I have definitely learned many new skills and techniques from English 111
and will be challenging myself to try and incorporate them into future classes
when it comes time for writing papers and doing the research, as well as using
better oral skills as I progress in my career.
