Self-Assessment Essay 

Each phase assignment throughout this class taught me different skills and helped develop my writing and language understanding to a higher level. We first were asked to find out more about our own experience with language and what moment in our lives stood out to us. Then we learned about rhetorical devices and strategies and how this can be plugged into our writing and reading. Finally, we researched a controversial topic we found interesting and used newly developed strategies to find specific information and complete our argument. 

I feel like phase one and two taught me a lot about learning outcome one by making me more aware of the role language can play in different types of cultures and social structures. Rhetorical devices are used in different ways in a variety of  social interactions. We witnessed this in all the different forms of media we studied. It is good to be aware of the way you use rhetorical devices depending on your audience. This will help your writing/language in every situation throughout your life. Writing about my own personal life was something I hadn’t done in a while and it reintroduced me to that form of writing. Making sure you connect with your reader is extremely important in a text like that so I had to understand my audience and rhetorical appeal. 

In this class we have studied many different genres of writing over the course of each phase. For example, we spent time studying short stories as well as poems such as ‘Themes for English b.’ In the most recent phase we focused on a research essay so that also meant we had to sort through professional sources that were a good fit for our papers. Like I mentioned earlier, in each of these pieces of writing we learned about the rhetorical situation and practiced focusing on a specific rhetorical strategy/audience. 

While doing the research paper we had to master the skill of finding the right articles and skimming through them to understand if they had value to our argument or not. This made us more aware of how to properly read through sources and build a solid outline/draft. I learned how to use the internet to find particular information from trusted sources. The research paper also taught me more about other cultures and experiences. For example, in my paper I wrote, “Students in the United States with an asian background face a different set of challenges compared to other groups. In my research essay I will be studying how the linguistic and cultural differences of being in America affect asian students.” I studied the experience of another group in the U.S  and used new strategies I discovered to research and find the right information. Throughout each phase we were also able to collaborate and edit our peer’s essays as well as our own many times. After phase three we became even better at collaboration and revision by exchanging advice and editing our papers multiple times for each phase. This also forced us to understand the social interactions of giving each other constructive criticism and being able to receive it as well.

Referring to learning outcome eight, in the most recent research essay we wrote, we were able to hone in many of the skills mentioned such as, critical analysis, summary, synthesis, and argumentation. The third phase specifically taught us how to use synthesis and incorporate it into our essays.Learning outcome 7 resonates the most with me as we had to research very specific information and find which sources were suitable for our paper and what would help to strengthen our argument. I also think learning outcome 3 applies to this phase as we learned more about revision/drafting as well as how to properly read sources and find the information you need. Before this, I never really knew what synthesis meant and how it was used. Critical analysis is always a part of essay writing and we were able to strengthen this skill as well. 

There were certain learning outcomes that I developed an understanding of through each phase of the class. For example, learning outcomes 2, 5, and 9 were included throughout the course. We of course explored a variety of rhetorical situations and writing techniques. We also collaborated with each other on each phase assignment by revising and helping each other draft. Finally, we had to properly create a bibliography in more than one phase assignment and were taught how to properly cite a source. The biggest takeaways from this semester will be my development of rhetorical appeal and getting used to finding professional and specific sources online. As well as the exploration of different forms of writing/literature.