Henry Reid-Morrison

Advanced Writing
Reflections

Part 1:
Composing the final paper was one of the more laid back tasks that we had to
accomplish as a group. I state that because writing this paper was more of a reviewing
process of all the processes we had to go through before completing the project. As with
all the other group projects we have completed this project was a difficult task, but for a
much different reason. Initially, the group decided that the best option for creating a
public service announcement was through developing a presentation / pamphlet. By a
unanimous vote we made that decision for multiple reasons. By creating this product we
know that it could be broken down into further mediums, such as a video, or could be
published online for people around the world who have access to the internet. It also was
a simpler way for us to collaborate over the computer and generate ideas for the project.
Determining how to simplify, already simplified information was one of the harder parts.
We knew the people and the areas that we were targeting so it was challenging to
translate the information into simpler terms. We found the information that we believed
to be most relevant and important to the audience and created a presentation that
would be the length of approximately 5 minutes. From this presentation, I have gained a
minor understanding of what it feels like to promote and broadcast a solution to a
widespread or global issue. To do so, a person has to make a guesstimate
understanding of the environment before jumping to any conclusions. It also helped
increase the understanding of the interdisciplinary approach because each member did
their part to incorporate the different approaches from each background / discipline.
One of the most helpful parts of this assignment was both giving and receiving
peer feedback. I believe peer feedback is one of the more beneficial things because it
helps ensure each group that they are not the only ones that have things that need
fixing. The help that we received from the other group was very effective, even though
our draft was extremely rough. As a group each person individually read and re-read the
final paper to search for grammatical errors and parts of the paper that were
unnecessary.
The thing I enjoyed the best about this project was the ability to work alongside an
understanding group. Since we began working together as a team from project 2, until
now, the team has developed a sense of understanding and teamwork. Throughout
project 3 there were times when some group members, including myself, could not make
a meeting or came late to a meeting because of school work or health issues. The team
understood and make an effort to work alongside each individual. Where we had our
disagreements, we spoke directly to each other about it and had it solved. Therefore, in
addition to learning about interdisciplinary approaches and globalization, I believed we
learned teamwork, which is one of the most essential parts of a working environment.

Part 2:
Please complete the self-assessment below. Please spend some time on this and
complete it honestly with comments. I will take this into account when I grade your final
product.
5=excellent, 4=good but could be improved, 3=adequate but needs significant work, 2=doesnt quite
meet the requirements and needs significant work, 1= does not meet any of the requirements

Category and Goals

Genre: Meets the requirements of the

visual assignment (length, participation,
form etc). Demonstrates creativity and
effort in developing the visual medium.
Demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature
of the project. Demonstrates continued
ability to cite disciplinary and
interdisciplinary research in a
collaborative environment.

Aim/Argumentation: Demonstrates
effective use of the visual medium to
effectively persuade a specified pubic
audience of the teams aim. Demonstrates
an organized, balanced, and effective
depiction and interpretation/analysis of
the research and the scenario and its
nuances. Demonstrates understanding of
how interdisciplinary research and writing
is applied to contexts outside of academia
and the professions. Demonstrates a

Comments
Point
s
5

I give this presentation a 5 because I

believe we created a visual that
touched on every aspect of the genre.
Firstly, our presentation was 5 minutes
long and ran smoothly. The information
was short and simplified enough that it
would be able to cater to the public
audience that we would be targeting.
The visual is also attractive because it
uses a combination of pictures, words,
and sounds to appeal to the audience.
The presentation was divided evenly to
display the interdisciplinary
collaboration between every teammate.
As a team we decided it best to
collaboratively write an audio script
and have one person read it to avoid
any unedited transitions. I believe it
flowed smoothly showing the credible
sources primarily, then explaining the
virus and its causes, the prevention,
etc. I believe we did a great job both
highlighting the salient details and
providing them for the specific public
audience.
I give this section a 5 because I believe
the group did well fulfilling our aim. We
found our desired target audience and
developed a presentation simple, yet
descriptive, enough for them to
generate a formal idea of how serious
the Zika virus is. If I were a person who
had no idea about the Zika virus and
was handed the pamphlet or link to this
presentation I would definitely have
been informed and aware of the

responsible and careful attention to

possible political issues, counterperspectives, qualifications, and
limitations.

intensity of the situation. I also would

have a great understand of the
necessary precautions to avoid
contracting the disease and the great
lengths that the CDC and Titan Labs are
going to to make sure that the virus
does not continue to spread. The word
demonstrates an organized, balanced,
and effective depiction and
interpretation of the research we have
done as a team both because of the
great work that we have produced but
also because of the interdisciplinary
foundation that can be found inside of
the work. For the most part I believed
we touched on each topic with heavy
strength.

Rhetoric: Demonstrates thoughtful

engagement with the teams chosen
rhetorical situation of
speaker/subject/public
audience/aim/context and form.
Demonstrates an understanding of how to
utilize visual rhetoric to translate and
deliver field/discipline specific information
to various public audiences. Demonstrates
appropriate appeals to the proposed
public audience in order to effectively
appeal to the proposed aim.

I gave this section a 5 because we took

into account the chosen rhetorical
situation and turned it into something
that seemed extremely realistic.
Without knowing that Titan Labs is
fictional, I would have believed that it
was a real company collaborating with
the CDC. I believe the medium that we
created would be an effective was of
distributing knowledge globally and
informing the public of the seriousness
of the virus. It translates and delivers
the specific information to the public
properly and effectively, thus fulfilling
the proposed aim.

Style: Demonstrates appropriate style,

syntax, tone, and vocabulary used at a
level consistent with your audience (for
the visual and the write-up) with very few
proofreading or grammatical errors. Is
sufficiently developed and demonstrates a
unified and cohesive voice.

Without sounding very repetitive, the

team did great work and went into
extreme detail to make sure we used
appropriate styles, syntax, tone, and
vocabulary that the public would be
able to understand. Each person put
some form of input into every aspect of
the project to project multiple yet
collaborative voices. In my opinion the
usage of different voices gave our
presentation the extra niche that it
needed to be great. We proofread the
project about 3x each and did our best
to make sure that the work had no
grammatical errors.

Write Up: Demonstrates a thoughtful

analysis of the rhetorical choices in the
write-up that sufficiently explains and
examines/reflects upon the choices made
in the project. Demonstrates critical
thinking and insight into the challenges of

The write up definitely demonstrates a

thoughtful analysis of the ideas and work
that we had to generate as a team. I believe
it gives an in-depth description of the
strategies we had to perform and encounter
while developing this product. For a 1200+

creating a multimodal project regarding

the audience, aims, and subject?
Demonstrates ability to collaborate
effectively and self-assess both
collaboration and individual abilities as a
writer
Group Participation: Participated
equally in the group. Met group
established deadlines. Communicated
timely and effectively with group
members. Participated equally with full
effort in collaborative research and
writing. Was respectful of group members
ideas and communicated ones own ideas
appropriately in the group context.

word reflection the write up goes into

extreme detail explaining the though
process behind each step. It took more brain
power than necessary to get all the work
done, but as a team we made it happen.
5

I believe the group participated effectively

and efficiently making sure that all work was
split evenly. To my knowledge all work that
was completed was established and
provided by the published deadline. We all
communicated well, whether it was letting
the team know we were going to meet or
making sure that all the work we did was
done effectively. From the 2nd Project up to
this project the team collaborated well and
in all aspects and with full respect.

Part III:
Please complete the group assessment below:
1. In your opinion, how much work did you do on the collaborative projects in relation
to the other group members? What evidence do you have to substantiate this?
As I mentioned above I believe each person put an equal share into the amount of work
that was necessary to create such a successful project. Each person made sure that they
did their best to be accounted for in each meeting and if they could not make it they
would let the team know. The work speaks for itself. In the PowerPoint presentation the
work is divided into interdisciplinary pieces plus a little extra. We split the presentation
evenly and individually wrote their pieces of the audio script. Then there is the paper
that each person generated ideas and edited together.
2. In your opinion, what role do you think you played in the group? Were you a
leader? A contributor? A taskmaster? Etc. What evidence do you have to
substantiate this?
As a group we did not assign roles but I would say Jordi was definitely a key player in
keeping the team together. Each person was a contributor in their own way.
3. On a scale of 1-5, (1=no work, 5=all the work) please rate each of your group
members contributions, including yourself. Please list members by name below
and include evidence and explanation to substantiate your rating.
Jordi Ariel Lotito = 5
Harsh Lekhrajani = 5
Nathan van der Wielen = 5
Henry Reid-Morrison = 5

4. On a scale of 1-5 how well do you think your group functioned (1=not at all;
5=extremely well). Please provide evidence and explanation.

I think the group functioned extremely well even through the difficulties that we
encountered, because that is what a team does. We work together to make sure that all
our tasks are accomplished. 5 out of 5.