Throughout this semester we have looked into the FIQWS 10103 and its curriculum in where we read and write about different topics and ideas. In every topic that we talked about there was something that we took away from it and went towards the course goal. Overall, after completing this course I have understood and been able to demonstrate the course learning outcomes.

  In this course engaging in collaborative and social aspects of writing processes was one course outcome that I understood that can be proven with the literacy narrative. The literacy narrative was the first paper that I’ve done in this course and for that I needed to discuss my experiences in that either influenced me whether it was positively or negatively contributing to my understanding of my academic literacy. While doing this paper in particular I got the chance to read my peers writing and understand how they were first exposed to literature. Whether it be a baby book, or learning how to write for the first time, it sparked conversation on how each of us had a different story, different influences, and different motives when it comes to reading and writing. This would connect to my understanding of the collaborative and social aspects of the writing process because before we started writing we thought. I thought about how should I begin this paper and right away I thought I should start at the beginning. In addition reading authors literacy narratives gave me insight on how to structure mine as well. In this paper I did really well, where I took the time to really draw back the curtain and think about everything that I have done that had led me to where I am in my literary career.

 A good amount of reading, writing, and editing of peoples work as well as my own was done throughout this course. An example of this would be the exploratory essay that we were assigned to do. For this assignment we were to analyze two articles one popular, and one scholarly. With these two articles we discussed the difference between the two with evidence from two authors who wrote about those two styles. This assignment specifically helped me understand the first learning outcome of developing the reading, writing and editing strategies needed to move forward throughout the semester. Reading strategies were learned in actively reading the text and engaging in what we were reading with underlining important information and circling evidence that could be useful in our paper and as a result made us gain a better understanding of the text. Drafting was another idea in where we wrote a draft of all of our work to be able to work on it and revise it to make it better for our final teaching me how it should be recommended to do a first draft have someone look it over, give you feedback, and make the changes necessary in order to better your work. That would lead into the editing in that a big role of it came from the professor and my fellow peers giving me and vise versa. With this I was able to understand how to give better quality feedback to my peers and it was shown when they got good scores. Overall I believe I did a good job in this assignment in that the preparation made not only reading and understanding the text given, but as well as the writing process and writing draft, getting feedback, revising, and bettering my paper. 

Finally for my last paper that I had to write, I had to write a research critical analysis paper. For this paper we had to effectively argue a position and provide evidence from 10 different sources to support my argument. This paper in particular contributed the most in my understanding the majority of the course outcomes. To start this paper we needed to pick a topic, create an argument and find research to support that argument. This would show how I understood locating research sources such as library databases, archives, and internet sources, using those resources to compose texts like summaries and critical analysis, practicing  systematic application of citation conventions, and understanding the use of print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences.

How I understood locating research sources such as library databases, archives, and internet sources, a day was dedicated to my class in showing us how to navigate our schools library website where I understood how to search for articles, books, and other sources that couldn’t be accessed anywhere else making this skill play a big role in gathering sources and evidence for my paper. How I understood using those resources to compose texts like summaries and critical analysis was by creating little summaries of each of my sources to implement into my bibliography. To expand for this paper a bibliography was needed and in it I had a paragraph on every source giving a generalization of what each one was about. This helped me organize my sources and evidence and where they would go in my paper showing how I understood the resources by creating summaries. I understood practicing systematic application of citation conventions by properly introducing sources that I used for my paper, always stating “according to the article” and explain the quote to support my analysis. Finally the last course learning outcome I understood was understanding the use of print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences. The reason why I say this is because when I was collecting my sources I knew that I needed to take into consideration both sides of the argument meaning I needed to appreciate the opposing side and their viewpoints. That is why I looked into the different audiences from both sides of the spectrum. Overall this shows all the course learning outcomes that I learned from doing my research critical analysis essay. All in all, I feel like I did a good job in explaining my argument very well with a lot of information while also leaving the reader very interested in the topic because I believe my topic was unique. 

Although I learned and understood a number of course learning outcomes, there is one that I failed to understand, that being Recognizing  and practicing key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations such as logos, pathos, and ethos. The reason why I believe I failed this one is because I remember when these concepts were talked about in class but looking back I’ll say that I did not apply that skill when I was dealing with writing situations. I believe that If I was exposed to this skill I would have understood how its used and how I could apply it.

Overall throughout this Course there were a number of skills that I have taken away in regards to reading, analyzing, interpreting, and writing. I enjoyed what this class has taught me and the paper that I’ve written to support those skills and I would carry them along with more on the way in my college career and my life. So I hope that when you read my work that you see a part of me in every one of them whether it be my experiences, my diction, or writing style.