Midterm Reflection Assignment-Part 1

Before FYW, I used composing processes many times without realizing it. For example,
I used composing processes when I was in the process of completing my graduation project
during my junior and senior years of high school. I was never the type of writer who would get
all of my research before I began writing. I would research a topic for a little while, then write a
little, then research some more, and then the cycle would continue. I believe that composing
processes are important because each and every individual writer has their own composing
processes that make them feel comfortable. For instance, when I was working on my graduation
project, mine were to periodically go back and forth between research and writing in multiple
sittings. In other words, my writing style is very flexible. I honestly believe that everyone needs
these skills and has them whether or not they realize it. In terms of careers, obviously those
involved with literature need to know their own composing processes and how to use them.
Personally, I am not sure how much writing I will do in my future considering I still have no idea
what I want to do after college. I know for sure that I will need to have a clear understanding of
my own composing processes during my remaining career as a college student, but beyond that, I
am unsure how much I will need to lean on them.
Midterm Reflection Assignment-Part 2
I probably did not start critically reading anything until I was in high school. In middle school,
reading class was basically just looking in the text for answers to simple questions. During high
school though, I started to be asked what I thought of what I was reading and I began to be asked
to look for deeper meanings behind the text. I believe critical reading is essential in the
development of learning because if we are not thinking critically about what we are reading, then
what is the point? I also find it kind of interesting to look for patterns and connections amongst

different parts of text and to find the reasoning for the texts existence. Anyone who has an
interest in reading needs to have critical reading skills if they want to get beyond the surface of
what they are reading, and get to the rich center. Critical reading is necessary for anything that
can be read; even instructions require critical reading. Beyond college, I will need critical
reading skills to read whatever is required of me for my job profession. Considering that I still
have no idea what I want to do beyond college, I am not sure if I will have to read something
such as instructions, or detailed reports about something.
Midterm Reflection Assignment-Part 3
The literacy memoir I created earlier in the semester is an assignment that touched upon
all five of the learning outcomes that we have discussed in class. For example, the learning
outcome most involved in this assignment was critical reflection. What I mean by this is that the
entire assignment was basically a giant critical reflection on my literacy experiences in my life. I
was able to think back on some of my early literacy experiences, such as reading my favorite
book, and go deeper into what made them such strong memories that stick with me to this day,
while also reflecting on how those experiences influence my current literacy experiences. Now
when I read, I dont instantly despise the notion of reading, I think back to when I used to love
reading my favorite book, and reflect on that so I can come up with a way to enjoy what I am
currently reading.
The other side of the coin of the literacy memoir assignment was reading the other
members of my groups literacy memoirs. This is where critical reading came into play. I not
only had to read my own memoir critically, but I also had to read my partners memoirs critically
as well. By seeing the choice of style my partners used in writing, I began to adapt some of their
techniques into my own style. I liked the way Makayla and James (my partners) engaged their

audience by asking questions in their memoirs, so I started to incorporate that into my own
memoir. This newfound style I started using because of critical reading has made me a more
dynamic writer and a better critical reader because I know what to look for in others writing and
how to incorporate it into my own.
I used the rhetorical knowledge that I had to understand that people only enjoy reading if
it is engaging. To me, that meant adding a good dose of honesty into my memoir which is how I
used my own writing process to engage my audience. I believe I did this well in my memoir
when I said, Unlike reading, I never came around from hating writing. To this day I still dread
doing writing assignments. Those sentences were straightforward and honest; me in a nutshell.
The learning outcome that I used the most after critical reflection for my memoir was
without a doubt, composing processes. Composing processes are flexible and the process of
creating my memoir was definitely flexible. Weekly, I would consult with my partners about
each of our progress and then we would use each other to improve our own memoirs through a
good amount of social interaction. We would write a draft, go to each other for guidance, write
another draft, and the cycle would continue.
My knowledge of conventions was affected by seeing my partners memoirs. I say this
not as a negative thing, but as a positive one. This is positive because reading my partners
memoirs built upon my expectations of correctness. We would also help each other out by
adding to each others memoirs, our own ideas of our mechanics of grammar and organization.
My knowledge of conventions also extended to how to use MLA citing to cite the various books
mentioned in my memoir such as Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.
Midterm Reflection Assignment-Part 4

Critical Reflection

Invention Draft for literacy memoir (This fits critical reflection because it was the first
step to completing my literacy memoir. The Invention Draft was where I first started to

think about and reflect upon my past literacy experiences).

Voice and Vitality Exercise (this fits critical reflection because of how I took one of the
paragraphs in my memoir and reflected upon it to see some of my own flaws and learn

how to correct them in my second, more fine-tuned paragraph).

Reviewer Memo (This involved critical reflection because of how I needed to reflect on

my own struggles during my memoir and figure out what I needed help with).
Reflective Letter (this falls under critical reflection because of how I analyzed my

memoir and wrote a summary of my letter to the instructor).

Extended Inquiry Project Article, Topic, and Questions Proposal Assignment (This
proposal involved critical reflection because I had to take the first step in my extended

inquiry project by asking myself questions and figuring out what I wanted to research).
Research map and blogs (I need to critically reflect upon all the research I do for my

readers guide and figure out which best serves my maps and blogs).
Peer Review from map and blogs 1 & 2 (I took what my peers said and I reflected upon it
to figure out what I was doing correct and what needed to be improved).

Critical Reading

Responses to Questions about "Argument as Conversation" (This fits critical reading

because I had to analyze and interpret the ideas that Greene was talking about in his

article).
Reverse outline of Deborah Brandts article (This fits critical reading because I had to
completely understand Brandts article, Sponsors of Literacy, before I could reverse
outline it and reword it).

Literacy narrative summaries of The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me
by Sherman Alexie, Disliking Books by Gerald Graff, Scholarship Boy by Richard
Rodriguez, Mother Tongue by Amy Tan (This fits critical reading because I needed to
understand the ideas and reasoning of each article).

Peer Reviews of Literacy Memoir (This fits critical reading because I needed to read my
peers memoirs and understand their motivations for why they chose the writing styles
that they chose).

Voice and Vitality Exercise (This fits critical reading because I had to read my own
paragraph and try to go deeper into my own thought process than when I created the
paragraph for the first time).

Research Map and Blogs (I need to read from multiple sources critically and figure out at
the same time how to incorporate them into my own readers guide).

Rhetorical Knowledge

Literacy narrative summaries of The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me
by Sherman Alexie, Disliking Books by Gerald Graff, Scholarship Boy by Richard
Rodriguez, Mother Tongue by Amy Tan (This fits rhetorical knowledge because I
needed to figure out the writing structure and rhetoric of each individual author and

distinguish them based on my own understanding of rhetoric).

Voice and Vitality Exercise (This fits rhetorical knowledge because of how I used rhetoric
in my second paragraph to better use different styles and experimentation with different
writing conventions).

Reader Response Blog Post for the 2 Atlantic Articles I was interested in researching for
my Readers Guide (This falls under critical reading because of how I read these 2
articles while also keeping in mind that I needed enough to pull from these articles to

complete an entire readers guide.

Research Map and Blogs (This involves rhetorical knowledge because I use my own
writing processes and mix them with experimentation of different technology to use a
structure that I have not used before).

Composing Processes

Peer Reviews of Literacy Memoir (This fits composing processes because of the

necessity for social interactions with my peers).

Voice and Vitality Exercise (I used composing processes by reviewing my own paragraph

and being flexible enough to alter it for the second).

Extended Inquiry Project Article, Topic, and Questions Proposal Assignment (This
involves composing processes because I needed to go back and forth between my
proposal and the Atlantic article Why It Pays to Be a Jerk in order to come up with a

proposal).
Research Map and Blogs (This falls under composing processes because I am constantly

getting new research and putting it into my padlet and blog on a weekly basis).
Peer Review from Map and Blogs 1 & 2 (I would take what my peers said about my map
and blogs and then I would alter them).

Knowledge of Conventions

Reverse outline of Deborah Brandts article (this fits knowledge of conventions because I
needed to have an understanding of organization to be able to reverse outline Brandts
article).

Voice and Vitality Exercise (This fits knowledge of conventions because of my needed
understanding of how to switch up my own rules and guidelines for my second

paragraph).
Research Map and Blogs (I use my knowledge of conventions to use informal ways of
presenting information such as using padlet for notes and a blog to present the findings of
my research).