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SebastianPennacchio
ProfessorBrianGraves
LANG120
4/22/2016
FinalReflectionNarrative
WhenIfirststartedthissemester,IsawthatIhadtotakeLANG120anditworriedmea
lot.NotonlybecauseIdislikedwritingatthetime,butbecauseIthoughtmywritingwouldntbe
goodenoughformetoscoreagoodgradeor,quitefrankly,passtheclass.Onthefirstday,
professorGraveswentoverthesyllabuswithus,andexplainedhowexactlytheclasswasgoing
tobethroughoutthesemester.Themomenthesaidtherewouldbenotests,Iwasrelieved,andI
thoughttomyself,ThisclassisgoingtobesoeasynowthatIdonthavetoworryabouttests!.
However,thatreliefwascutshortwhenprofessorGravesthenstartedtalkingabout3student
learnedoutcomesthatwewereexpectedtolearnanduseinallourworkthroughoutthe
semester.ThethreeSLOswere:ToEngageincriticalinquiryandreflectionbydiscoveringand
refiningcriticalquestionsorproblemsandinvestigatingthemfrommultipleperspectivesTo
developinformationliteracybyaccessing,evaluating,andintegratingrelevantinformationfrom
avarietyofsourcesinanethicalmannerandfinally,tocommunicateinrhetoricallyeffective
waysbycraftingandrevisingwrittenworkmarkedbychoicesinfocus,structure,andstyle
appropriateforrhetoricalpurposes,audienceexpectations,anddisciplinaryconventions.After
hearingallthis,IdidntunderstandhalfofwhatprofessorGraveswassaying,andsoonceagain
IthoughtIwasinforalong,painfulsemesterwiththisclass.

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Thankfully,Iwasprovedwrong.ProfessorGravesdidanexcellentjobatexplainingall
thetermsandconceptsinawaythathelpedmeunderstand.Therhetoricalsummarieswedidfor
articlessuchasExcerptfromBootstraps:Fromanacademicofcolor.(Villanueva,2014)and
Teachingtheconventionsofacademicdiscourse.(Thonney,2011)alsoforcedmetouseand
incorporatealotofthetermshetaughtus,suchastheuseofthinkingrhetoricallyandcritically.
Itwasntuntilthebigwritingprojects,however,thatreallymademeusethosethree
SLOsthatImentionedearlier.ThefirstmajorprojectwedidwastheLiteracyNarrative.This
paperbasicallyshowedandexplainedtoreadersmypersonalexperienceswithreadingand
writingthroughoutmywholelife,andhowtheyshapedthekindofreader/writerIamtoday,as
wellashowIviewreading/writingcurrently.Imanagedtouseall3SLOsinthisone.Iengaged
incriticalinquiryandreflectionbydiscoveringandrefiningcriticalquestionsorproblems,such
as"HowdidIbecomethewriterIamtoday?"and"Whatexperiencesinmylifeimpactedthat?".
Idevelopedinformationliteracybyaccessing,evaluating,andintegratingrelevantinformation
fromavarietyoftimeperiodsinmylifeintotheshapingandcontentofthispaper,suchasmy
timespentinSpainandNewYorkschools.Finally,Icommunicatedinrhetoricallyeffective
waysbycraftingandrevisingworkmarkedbychoicesinfocus,structure,andstyle.Evidenceof
thisistheclearfocusandstyleseeninmypaperthankstotheflowandstructureofthestory.
Thenextbigprojectwastheannotatedbibliographyformyresearchessay,whichcame
later.ThistookmealotlongerthanIthoughtitwould,butthat'sbecauseittakestimetofind
good,reliable,peerreviewedarticlesrelatedtomyinquiry.Iconsiderthisfinalproductasa
primeexampleofusingtheinformationliteracySLO,intermsofmehavingtoaccessand
evaluaterelevantinformationfromamultitudeofsourcesthatIusedasevidenceinmyresearch

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paper.Ialsoengagedabitincriticalinquiry,anotherSLO,bymehavingtocomeupwitha
questionthatIwantedtofurtherinvestigate.Thatquestion(inventioninpsychologyandthe
effectofresearch/intendedaudience)guidedmeinchoosingthearticlesbasednotonlyontheir
relevance,butalsotheirperspectives.
Thelastbigprojectwedidwastheresearchessay,whichfocusedmainlyonwritingin
psychology,andhowpsychologistsuseprewriting,research,andtheintendedaudiencetocreate
academicpapers.ThiswasprobablyoneofthemostdifficultpapersIwrotethissemester.To
illustratemySLO's,Ifirstengagedincriticalinquiryandreflectionbydiscoveringandrefining
thecriticalquestionofhowpsychologistswrite,andinvestigateditfrommultipleperspectives.
Then,Idevelopedinformationliteracybyaccessing,evaluating,andintegratingrelevant
informationfromavarietyofarticlesourcesinordertosupportandhelpcreatemywholeessay.
Lastly,Icommunicatedinrhetoricallyeffectivewaysbycraftingandrevisingwrittenwork
markedbychoicesinfocusandstructure,whichresultedinthefinalessayhavingaclear
organizationandfocus.
Overall,myexpectationsofthisclasschangeddramaticallythroughoutthesemester,and
IgottasayIamreallygladtohavebeenabletotakethisclass.Ifeelmoreconfidentinmy
writing,andIevenenjoywritingalotmorethanIusedto!Ihopetousemynewlylearnedskills
inthisclassandapplythemtoothercoursesthatIwillbetakingduringmytimehereatUNCA,
forIknowthattheywillhelpmealotinmysuccess

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WorksCited
Thonney,T.(2011).Teachingtheconventionsofacademicdiscourse.TeachingEnglishinthe
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TwoYearCollege,38(4),347362.Retrievedfrom
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http://wncln.wncln.org/docview/866304561?accountid=8388
Villanueva,V.(2014).ExcerptfromBootstraps:Fromanacademicofcolor.InE.Wardle&D.
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Downs(Eds.),Writingaboutwriting:Acollegereader(2ded.)(pp.10718).Boston:
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Bedford/StMartins.(Originalworkpublished1993).