Dear Professor Turgeon,

I write this letter today with the intention of displaying my acquired knowledge and skills

regarding the set class goals. Throughout this semester, the writing and composing I undertook

stands as an effective testament to my understanding of Rhetorical Knowledge, Critical Reading,

Composing Processes, Knowledge of Conventions, and Critical Reflection. In this letter, I will

be citing my own compositions and writings as evidence to prove that statement.

Rhetorical Knowledge stood as one of the most prevalent themes throughout this course

in my own opinion. Many class periods we would perform rhetorical analysis. Rhetorical

Analysis is essentially investigating a medium in order to observe their persuasive strategies and

tactics. It was also great insight into how composers and writers must mold their works to

conform to their prospective audiences This played into our own writing as well. The RE:

Composing Paper was an excellent example of Rhetorical Knowledge. I made the decision to

place the assignment under this course goal since it challenged me to analyze Gretchen Pratt's

article persuasively, thus calling upon my acquired Rhetorical Knowledge to understand how she

engaged her audience in order to share her ideas and experiences. We had to use a combination

of rhetorical strategies, primarily logos and ethos based, to convey to our audience, the class

through the assigned medium, a presentation, that remixes and effectively communicates Pratts

ideas about living into the questions. A good quote from my RE: Composing Paper proving my

Rhetorical Knowledge would be In the article, she primarily uses her personal experiences as

well as analogy to drive the idea of living into the questions, and that questions are not static.,

which can be found in the first paragraph of the first page. This is a great example as I had to

find what evidences and rhetorical strategies she used in order to convince her audience. Another

great example of Rhetorical Knowledge can be found in Studio Week 4. This studio served as
great evidence of my Rhetorical Knowledge as I had to write a letter to my parents attempting to

convince them of allowing me to go on an exclusive vacation in the place of midterm exams. I

had to use multiple persuasive strategies and tactics in order to compose a convincing argument.

A quote displaying this can be found in the last paragraph of the letter, where I used Pathos in

great depth by appealing to my parents emotionally to allow me to go on the trip.

Critical Reading was also a common theme throughout the course. I was challenged to

analyze a variety of compositions through many mediums rhetorically and critically. One of the

most prominent examples of this during the course was the Annotated Bibliography. I chose to

place the Annotated Bibliography for the Mini-Ethnography Assignment under Critical Reading

because the assignment challenged me to read primary and secondary sources critically,

analytically, and objectively. I had to identify ones that are reliable, unbiased, scholarly and

could effectively contribute in my research for the paper as well. One example of Critical

Reading in my Annotated Bibliography can be found in the first citations commentary which

reads This serves as a great secondary source for my article as it encompasses unique and real

life stories of how the scientists got their start in the field as well as the real world issues,

theories, and ideas that they incorporate into their academia and research.. This is a great

example of Critical Reading because I had to examine the articles in great detail in order to form

an informed conclusion on what the article was really about. Another great example of Critical

Reading can be found in Studio Week 5. The studio mostly concerned the concept of remixing

and the scale of it's influence in society. We had to read the argument for remixing and it's

influence in society and come to our own conclusions as to if everything in society today is a

remix of the past. I chose it as it required an analytical and critical reading of the text. Evidence

for understanding the topic of remixing by reading the article critically can be found in my studio
response where I started off by saying Is everything a Remix? I would say yes. By definition, a

Remix is just something that has been changed from its original state through adding, removing,

or changing pieces of it. which proved I had comprehended the nature of remixing.

Composing Processes was defined in this course as using multiple strategies, or

composing processes, to conceptualize, develop, and finalize projects. I was able to display my

meeting of this goal effectively throughout the semester through our different assignments. One

of the best examples was the Mini-Ethnography paper. My first draft of the Mini-Ethnography

paper served as a great example of a start to a composing process. We as writers evolve our

writing and composing processes and reflect that through our writings when we see the

continued improvement over time. This first draft served as my baseline for the rest of my

composition. The second draft of my Mini-Ethnography paper represents the rewriting of the

paper. Everything from deletions to insertions and changes were being done in this phase of my

composing process as I worked towards a solid, final essay. My Final Draft of the Mini-

Ethnography paper represents the accumulation of improvements from previous drafts. This

represents an end product of my composing process. I chose to represent the three drafts here as

it represents the different steps of my personal composing process. Another good example of a

Composing Process would be the World of Warcraft assignment, the Personal Analysis

Narrative. This was a great tool to learning more about composing process as it required a

multistage, nonlinear approach to the paper. We were challenged to complete a solo play

narrative, a solo play reflection, and a group play reflection then remix all of those into a final,

complete paper on the Discourse Communities and experiences within the game.

Knowledge of Conventions also stood as a common theme throughout this semester in

class. I will admit, this goal was one that confused me more so than the others. It was defined in
the rubric as the formal rules and informal guidelines that define genres, and in so doing, shape

readers and writers expectations of correctness or appropriateness. I took my understanding of

this goal more deeply that it seemed to exist initially. I had perceived it at first to mostly be in

writing but soon realized that Knowledge of Conventions could be applied to almost everything

in life, from discourse communities, to setting up interviews, to ensuring my Mini-Ethnography

paper was in the proper format. There are two assignments that prove my Knowledge of

Conventions. Firstly, the interview for my Mini-Ethnography paper itself required an

understanding of how to conduct ones self professionally and respectfully. I had to

communicate with my career and field professional in an appropriate and respectful manner as

well as schedule an interview as well as prepare questions and equipment in advance. Another

example of Knowledge of Conventions can be found in my Personal Analysis Narrative. The

assignment taught me that conforming to a discourse community's rules and genre rules can

often bring about better success within that community. I chose to place it here as I had to play

the video game which had parameters, forced interactions, courtesies, and lexis. When writing

the paper, I also had to format it in the proper fashion. This can be seen at the very start of my

paper where I do the traditional heading for a MLA format paper where I list my name, course

instructor, class, and date.

The final course goal for this class was Critical Reflection. I would hold the opinion that

this is the easiest course goal to prove as we had so many assignments focused on Critical,

Rhetorical, and Analytical reflection. I mean even this letter in itself is a Critical Reflection of

the entire course. One of the best examples of Critical Reflection this semester could be found in

the Gameplay Reflection drafts of the Personal Analysis Narrative assignment. Firstly, we had to

reflect on our solo gameplay of World of Warcraft. A great example of reflection in this draft
could be found in the first paragraph where I look back upon my experiences in game and wrote

I found the environment and play style of the game to be reminding of titles such as The Elder

Scrolls and Dota 2. The unique thing I found about World of Warcraft was the just sheer level of

diversity within the game. This shows that I reflected on the gameplay in great detail and was

able to make connections with other experiences I have had. Another great example of Critical

Reflection is the Group Gameplay Reflection Draft of the Personal Analysis Narrative. I had to

reflect critically on the group gameplay part of the project and contrast those reflections and

observations to my personal ones of the solo gameplay section of the project. A great quote that

shows this from the Group Reflection is in the first sentence where I wrote My experiences

during our Group Gameplay Session on World of Warcraft was similar to my solo session and

also different in several ways.. This is a great testament to Critical Reflection in this class as I

contrasted both my gameplay experiences to notice the differences as well as similarities

between them.

Overall, the course goals turned out to be very much involved in the class this semester. It

was easily seen throughout our assignments that they were geared toward getting us to truly

conceive the ideas of Rhetorical Knowledge, Critical Reading, Composing Processes,

Knowledge of Conventions, and Critical Reflection. These goals have evolved from just simple

terms to concepts that I can apply to almost all areas of my life. Thank you Professor Turgeon

for a great semester and have an excellent winter break!

Respectfully,
Jacob Kauer

UNC Charlotte