Sandy Nguyen

Julia Remsik Larsen

English 120-040
3 May 2015
Reflective Argument
I believe I have progressed as a writer throughout the course of English 120 this spring
semester. Through the constructive feedback I had received from my peers, as well as my
instructor and from all the in-class activities weve done, it all has helped me better my writing
as the semester proceeded. English 120 has helped me think outside the box when approaching
an essay; I have made more improvements than I had anticipated at first while meeting the
expectations of the student learning outcomes of A, C, F, and I. I have learned how to apply a
variety of genres to many certain types of rhetorical situations by persuading the readers and
supporting my argument(s) for the intended audience in an effective manner. I have also bettered
my transitions from paragraph to paragraph; having a better flow to my essay rather than having
the paragraphs in my papers bounce around from one idea to the next.
The first student learning outcome that I would like to reflect on is SLO A; I have learned
how to analyze and reflect on arguments in a variety of genres within a given rhetorical situation.
From analyzing the rhetorical devices and patterns of the movie trailer, Tomorrowland for the
third low stakes assignment, it has helped me improve my writing in a more analytical matter
with the claims and evidences based on the analysis I collected from viewing the two minute
trailer. When analyzing the movie trailer, I was able to quickly recognize and identify the

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specific devices and patterns used, providing appropriate examples for each of the identified
scenes. As a class, we analyzed the different genres of movie trailers by identifying the rhetorical
devices and patterns in each and how each device and pattern used was effective towards the
films intended audiences. From this class activity, I was able to understand the usage of the
devices and patterns, expanding more and supporting my claims for my rhetorical analysis of the
sequence. Understanding the elements and reason behind it has helped me with my analysis and
being able to apply thorough examples to the evidences I noticed and identified was what made
my final paper effective.
Furthermore, SLO C has helped me improve my writing as well, with the application of
the multiple steps of researching, revising, editing, and proofreading along with incorporating the
feedback I had received from my peers and graded assignments has been part of the
improvements that I have made throughout the semester. Through the process of the position
paper, I had done research on my belief statement as well as my counterargument prior to the
major writing assignment. Applying the multiple approaches to the position paper has helped me
with approaching the assignment appropriately in an organized manner. During peer review day
in class, my peers revised and proofread each others work, giving each other suggestions of
what we could do to make our essays more effective. From this, I incorporated each of my peers
feedback into the position paper, applying each of the steps one at a time and finalizing my essay.
The improvements that I gained from this SLO have been part of my development as a writer by
using the multiple approaches towards my essay, and not just the position paper, but all the
different types of genres in writing.
Also, SLO F has been part of my understanding of how to write in various types of
genres and being able to evaluate my own work along with my peers work. During the second

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sequence, I gained a better understanding in identifying the different types of rhetorical devices
and patterns in different genres of movies and how they were used towards the films intended
audiences. Aside from this, the class had a peer review day, which gave me the opportunity to
evaluate others writings, gathering ideas and being able to see multiple mistakes and details on
others paper as well as my own has helped me advanced my writing. Based off of the feedback I
had received from my graded papers, I took the opportunity in evaluating my writings and
development. Understanding my mistakes has helped me learn how to apply them to the
upcoming assignments. Being able to be more specific of the details and examples in my papers
along with rearranging sentences for better sense and understanding is what helped me with my
transitioning in my papers. With the application of these techniques, it is what has helped me
progressed to where I am today.
Moreover, SLO I has been a huge part of my development as a writer as well, from doing
research and finding relevant information from books, articles and scholarly journals in order to
convince my intended audience about the points and arguments in my papers. Prior to the major
writing assignment of the first sequence, the counterargument (low stakes assignment #2) of my
belief statement required a lot of researching for the assignment as well as the major writing
assignment in the end. Based off the research I had found, I was able to put together a
counterargument that would be in support of my position paper. When putting together the
position paper, all the accurate information I had researched on were what made my paper
supportive and convincing towards my readers. Through the process of researching on articles,
books, and scholarly journals, I was able to gather the information founded and incorporate it
into the major writing assignment. From the information that I gathered for my topic, I was able
to break it down and used information that were needed for my argument, not just all of the ones

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that were found. During sequence one, as a class; we got the opportunity to learn how to use the
UNM data bases and how to search relevant information for our first two low stakes
assignments. From this, I was able to obtain the information and scholarly journals I needed for
my support and evidence of the position paper.
Aside from the SLOs that I had made extensive improvements on as a writer over the
course of the semester, the one SLO that I made the least improvement on is SLO H,
incorporating others viewpoints and positions into my own writing style at an ethical level has
never been my strong suit. It isnt a difficult thing to do; however, using a more formal tone to do
so comes difficult for me because I would gradually start sounding more like myself rather than
others as the paper progresses onward. I can always improve myself with this SLO by having a
better understanding of the opposite perspective of myself to others and applying it to a writing
style that is comfortable for me while appropriate for others without sounding informal, rather
more formal and sophisticated.
The improvements that I have gained from each of the SLOs mentioned above have been
part of my development as a writer throughout the course of the English 120, making more
improvements than I had anticipated at the start of the semester. Not only have I improved on my
transitions, but I have learned the proper organization of my papers of what is needed and not
needed in an essay and learning how to write effective and well structured papers. The first and
second major writing assignments that I will be making revisions for both represent my growth
as a writer because they have improved my skills in various sorts of ways. Using the different
methods of researching, identifying claim and reflecting on arguments for appropriate situations
and genres have helped me improve my writing.