Brianna Williams

UWRT 1103
Mrs. Thomas
26 April 2016
1. Choose a song or musical composition that communicates your experience with
writing and UWRT 1103. Consider including a video of the song. Explain your choice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvvimH5_Ap4
Conqueror by Estelle best fits my relationship with UWRT and writing in general.
There were many a times during the semester when I did not want to do my work and
would prefer to lay in bed. However, I came to school for a reason and I was not going to
let one class tear me down like that. The chorus begins with Id rather stand tall, than
live my knees, 'Cause I am a conqueror, and I won't accept defeat! Try telling me no, one
thing about me is I am a conqueror, I am a conqueror! Ooh oh! Estelle sings about how
she conquerors her struggles in life by not staying down, by getting up and doing what
she needs to do.
2. If you were to teach this class, what ideas would you emphasis?
I would emphasize the importance of drafts. Explain that having more than one draft is
okay and stress the importance of having other people look at drafts. It really helps
getting second opinions from others.
3. Explain how your understanding of rhetorical knowledge has changed over the course of the
semester using at least three examples from your writing. Ex. Did you shift an assignment to
better fit a particular genre like a proposal?

Hearing the term rhetorical knowledge gave me the impression of ethos, logos,
pathos, but after this semester I have learned that it is so much more than that. I
used to make sure that my papers included logical facts and ideas, appealed to
reason, and sometimes played with emotions, now I have so much more to add. I
now know that I can always take my writing a step further. When I first decided
my topic for my thesis it was Are naps beneficial to work ethic? however, as I
was researching I had to modify my topic and add in sources about sleep
deprivation. In my thesis, I made things seem more intense than they were so that
people would take my paper seriously. For example, it will lead to weight gain, a
weakened immune system, memory problems, impaired brain activity and death.
Even though this is true, I used the word will instead of can because the latter
has a possibility of not happening; almost one of those scared straight
situations.
4. Explain how your critical reading has improved during the semester. Ex. In what ways did
you read across texts for connections and patterns in your inquiry?
When forming my annotated bibliographies and thesis I had to make sure that the
sources I used did not have repetitive information and that everything would flow
but remain as a separate entity. All of my sources had a common background of
naps and/or sleep deprivation throughout the paper. Reading up on authors and
publishers became a must to make sure that the words I would be putting into my
work were logical and true. My evidence had to back up my opinion and others
opinions in order to make my question seem like a serious problem. Making sure

that my sources did not exceed beyond 1985 was a must, because many sources
after 1985 could have negated the sources before then.
5. Discuss your composing processes. Ex. Did you conduct additional research while revising or
after consulting a colleague? Provide at three examples to support your assertion.
Without peer-advising clinics my papers would have been mediocre or below
average. When composing my literacy narrative, I left out many holes and left my
readers lost to their surroundings. Due to my brain moving faster than my fingers,
I also left out minor words that made a big difference and introduced a lot of
misspellings. Even after three draft revisions I still made some mistakes. I lacked
in topic sentences and transitions when I wrote my inquiry proposal, thus leading
to instability in my writing. In the first draft of my thesis, I did not introduce my
sources as well as I should have, leaving my readers in the dark about who I am
talking about and how big of a deal my source is.
6. Provide at least three examples of your knowledge of conventions Ex. Sentence level
changes, MLA citations.
When citing my sources I have always been told to introduce my opinion, then
give evidence to support it by quoting my source and putting the name or page
number in parentheses. I was never really told to give a little background on who I
am talking about or other ways to insert a quote. Learning the whole process of
They say/ I say was like testing the waters. Including many voices into my
paper that can be of disagreement, agreement, or neutrality was very eye-opening
and beneficial to my writing improvement. Adding a personal story gave my

readers a personal connection to me and using nouns like we and us made it

seem like we were in this together.
7. Critical Reflection: A) Explain the importance of reflection in learning processes. B) Explain
what you think is important in providing commentary on others work and receiving commentary
on your own. C) Provide at least three examples of your nuanced use of commentary in your
writing projects.
A) Adding reflections throughout our drafting process shows
the improvements you have made throughout time. Reflections add some
personal time and can be beneficial to your writing process.
B) Receiving commentary allows for a new set of eyes to look
at your writing and give their personal opinion in order to benefit you in the
long run. It helps you better yourself and others because they may be
experiencing the same problems.
C) In the earlier drafts of my literacy narrative, a fellow
classmate made a comment on how my conclusion ends abruptly. Of course I
fixed it, but I made sure to look at my conclusions in future writing so that I
never made the mistake again. When I read a draft of a colleagues thesis I
told them to add some personal experience or opinion on the matter. Once I
notified her of that I took that into my own consideration concerning my
thesis , solidifying the purpose of our thesis. When creating topic ideas for our
thesis, I noticed that some people had more topics stemming from their main
topic. I in turn used that method while I was researching so that my thesis
overall would be well-rounded.