Amanda Parrish

Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
UWRT 1003-007
March 30, 2016
This semester I have worked with many different forms of student learning outcomes to reach
the goals for First-Year Writing. Of these outcomes we have worked with rhetorical knowledge,
critical reading, composing processes, knowledge of conventions, and critical reflection. All five
of the outcomes have been interwoven into daily writing, response to peers, essays, and the
multimodal inquiry project.
Rhetorical knowledge is understanding how a piece of writing works. As a writer this is
important to have because it gives one the knowledge to be able to choose the right vessel for
their writing. An example of this would be the multimodal inquiry project. This project had no
specific rules on how the information was supposed to be conveyed, other than having two
modes of communication. Choosing the right vessel to present my research is an example of
rhetorical knowledge because I had to figure out how to get my message across in the most
affective way. I chose to write a paper in who, what, when, where, and why format along with
pictures because this best explained what I had learned about my topic.
Critical reading is the ability to analyze, synthesize, and understand difficult texts. Readers
can separate facts from opinions, and know if a source is legitimate. This is important as a reader
because reading texts is essential for gaining research and for understanding a topic as a whole.
An example of this is when we learned how to read scholarly articles. These articles can be very
long and confusing if one does not have the ability of critical reading. To fix this problem we
focused on how to pick certain information out of an article, and to skim what was unimportant

to the topic we were researching. A helpful trick I learned from this was reading the abstract but
skimming through the long, boring parts. It is impossible to read a twenty-page scholarly article
and gain information without the use of critical reading.
The composing process is understanding the process you are going through while you write. It
is important that one realizes there is not one single format for writing, rather it is a creative
process. I really noticed this process when I made a rough draft for my inquiry proposal. This
started with an outline which helped me to see how my writing was going to be laid out. I started
with an idea, which was the Wansee Conference, and from that I began the process of writing the
paper.
Knowledge of conventions is simply the grammar that is used to create your writing. One
needs to be aware of how their grammar influences the reader and effects the message of their
paper. I have seen a difference in the writing from of writing into the days compared to essays
and my inquiry project. The grammar I use in writing into the day tends to be less organized. It is
more quick writing, almost like writing in a journal. Since it is more personal, I do not typically
care about my use of grammar. If one was to read my writing into the days, they might think it is
sloppy and unorganized compared to a paper that has been edited. It is not because I care more
about papers than writing into the days, but I view writing into the days as a more personal piece
of writing.
Critical reflection is the ability to reflect on a piece of writing. Reflection is important
because it helps a writer grow. It is always to helpful to look back on a piece of writing and to
understand why you wrote what you did, and how you felt while writing it. An example of this is
writing into the day on January 20th. This was a reflection on the poem I wrote about who I am
and what has shaped that. In my reflection I discuss how the poem was difficult to write because

it was such a personal topic. This reflection was very important for me to understand how I felt
about my poem and what I can do to grow as a writer.
Overall I think this class has really prepared me for future classes and has opened my eyes up
to student learning outcomes without even realizing it. I have excelled when it comes to critical
reflection, the composing process, and rhetorical knowledge. These SLOs are easier for me to
grasp and understand as I continue to write. Critical reflection is important to me because I want
to reflect on my previous work. I feel like this will help me to become a stronger writer and to
identify my weaknesses. Identifying the composing process is also a strength I have developed in
this course. I understand the process of creation as I put pen to paper and develop my ideas into
something greater. Rhetorical knowledge is easy for me to grasp because I have worked with it
before. This tends to be the most popular SLO because it is important as a writer to convey your
message to the reader in the most effective way possible.
Although I have my strengths, I also struggle with some aspects of the student learning
outcomes. I struggle the most with knowledge of conventions. You may notice in this paper how
awful my grammar can be. This has always been a struggle for me because there are so many
grammar rules. I really want to work on this because I understand how important it is for a reader
to have proper grammar within a paper. Another SLO I struggle with is critical reading. I find
this difficult because scholarly articles are very daunting to read. I have not mastered the art of
skimming through readings to find what I need, so this is definitely something I need to work on.
The activity we did with learning how to read scholarly articles did help my understanding of
how to break them down and get the information I need. As I continue my journey as a student
and writer, I want to work on both of these SLO so I can enhance my learning skills.

To work on my critical reading skills and knowledge of conventions, I need more practice.
This is something I can do own my on outside of class but when I need help I will come during
office hours. After this class ends I know my writing days will not, so it is important for me to
work on these weaknesses. I need to make sure I visit the writing center or let a peer review my
rough draft so I can identify my grammar mistakes. To work on my critical reading skills, I
mainly need more practice. Since this is only the first year of college, I am sure I have been
difficult texts to read ahead of me. As I read them I will continue to look back on the notes I took
when we learned how to read scholarly articles.