Self-Evaluation

Over the past semester I have grown as a writer. I learned a lot of beneficial strategies that will stay with me throughout my academic learning and possibly into my career path. I’ve learned how to write a more informative and engaging argumentative paper by following research strategies and by following the Rogerian model of argumentation. Before this class I never knew the term but I did try to apply it in my everyday life. By finding common ground instead of polarizing a specific side you are able to create a more informed argument without a sense of hostility. I believe being able to understand an opposing side’s argument is key to any successful argument; otherwise you just have opposing forces arguing without a resolve. It helps to show the opposing side that you understand and respect their views even if you do not personally believe in them. The pieces I have included in my e-portfolio show my understanding of the concepts while also showing an improvement on them over the semester. With the help of this class I have improved my understanding on assessing key terms within a rhetorical situation, finding credible sources, an understanding of arguments, and engaging in an effective research process to create a final product.

The Rhetorical Situation

Learning the basic contexts of a rhetorical situation was a very important concept that I learned. Applying  the rhetor, constraints, audience, and exigence to all of my assignments was a key lesson I learned in this class. By being able to concentrate on who I am writing for, accommodating for constraints, and by understanding the problem or argument I was able to focus on the main point of my argument. Every part of a paper should relate to the topic including the claims, arguments, and sources. Instead of focusing on a constraint like page or word count I was able to focus on the parts of a rhetorical situation and was able to go beyond those constraints without even thinking about them.

Searching for Sources

Thanks to this class I was able to find sources more efficiently with better search terms, and incorporate a large amount of them to base my research off of. This is shown off in the digital paper trail. Sure I didn’t use every single source in it, but it helped me narrow it down to a few key sources that helped to formulate my research paper. Instead of finding sources to formulate around my thesis, I was able to formulate my thesis around my sources and make changes where need be. I used to keep my thesis set in stone but I’ve realized that change is good and by realizing this I was able to work and rework my thesis to create a better research paper. The rhetorical analysis was a good way for me to show how I analyze a source to determine if it is right for my research. I have learned that a source is not the primary argument or a claim. It is the information you use to back both of them up.

Research Process

To begin the research process I had to first choose a topic that would relate to my major, would make for a compelling argument, and be able to provide a presentation similar to a TED Talk. Being a Digital Media major I chose a topic that is based off of social media and the content we see on a day to day basis. The next step in the process was to research my topic and find sources related to my topic. I had trouble finding sources considering that my topic is fairly recent and there isn’t much in the field of academic research relating to my topic. I was able to compile my initial sources in my Digital Paper Trail Next I started to plan out my paper and the research process in the Research Dossier to gather my ideas and necessary sources. The next step was analyzing a specific source to see if it was credible and if I could use it in my paper. By dissecting this source I was able to better understand the source and what exactly I was looking for in my research. After analyzing a source and gaining knowledge to add to my research I pitched my idea to the class in a Pecha Kucha like presentation where every slide was 20 seconds and I only had 2 minutes, this was to prepare me for my actual presentation, which would be a longer more in depth version of this. This is where I gathered all my ideas and sources over the past semester and finally compile them into a paper. We had several drafts for this and it was very helpful being able to gain feedback from both my professor and peers. The peer feedback was especially helpful, being able to get multiple points of views over multiple drafts helped me to really form my final paper. Finally the last step of the process is to present my findings to my peers through a seven minute TED Talk.

Conclusion

After taking this class I feel like I have learned a lot, especially when it comes to writing and rhetoric. For better or worse I can’t look at text anymore without analyzing it. I also try to apply the Rogerian mode of argumentation to most of my discussions. Being able to accept an opinion and not having to be 100% right makes arguing and discussion less of a hassle. The peer reviews and presentations in front of my peers were a very important skill for me considering that in my career path I am most likely going to be working within a group, pitching and reviewing ideas. Overall I feel as if I have learned a lot of essential skills that will help me throughout my academic and professional career.