Ryan Dixon

Mrs. Thomas

05 May 2017

UWRT 1104-037

Final Reflection

For my final reflection, many of my writing pieces that I used were too

large or too long to fit on to a picture. Therefore the texts in BLUE are the works

or paragraphs that I reference.

1. Rhetorical Knowledge

My parents treated me special as a child because of my heart condition that prohibited me from
playing contact sports and other activates. They did this not only out of parental instincts and protectiveness
and love for their son, but because they both are doctors. However I wanted to be treated as a normal kid
to fit in with kids my age and not be seen as a special case. So that is how my parents began to treat me.
While I influenced my parents to treat me as the average Joe, they have taught me a lot and influenced me
in more ways than I can count. My parents purchased a lake house before my sister and I were born. When
I was younger my dad would take me fishing off our dock. That sparked a fire in me that will never go out,
and I am ever in debt to my father for starting my fishing passion. Yet, his support for my fishing career didnt
stop there. In eighth grade he bought me a small aluminum bass boat that I still use today. He is also
responsible for my decision to study mechanical engineering. His father, my grandfather, worked for NASA
as an engineer and helped build many major projects that still function today. Before he began practicing
medicine as a geriatric physician, my father earned his masters in mechanical engineering because of his
fascination in physics and motion.

Rhetorical knowledge is the ability to analyze and act on understandings

of audiences, purposes, and contexts in creating and comprehending texts. A

good writer is able to reach multiple different audiences on different topics by

presenting the text in different styles of writing. The two examples above are
written in different styles as they are targeted at different audiences. The first

example is from a Chemistry Lab report written for Chemistry 1251 Lab last (fall

2016) semester. It is written in very scientific terminology and that is focused on

factual information and how the experiment was completed without using any

personal tenses. This writing form is for the sciences and engineering which

requires no personal draws on the subject to solely focus on the topic at hand.

There is no fancy language to fluff of the paper or make it sound artistic. It is

simply communicating how something was completed and the results of such

experiments or tests. I had to stay focused on the topic and communicate as

clearly as possible what I had done to complete the lab without say I did this or

we put this in that. The second piece of writing above is from my Literacy

Narrative, where I am discussing the influence of my parents on my life. This is a

very personal topic and deals very much with me as the main subject of the

paper. Thus it is a very different writing style that includes the first person point of

view, as it is partially autobiographical. The paper does require some fluff to

spruce it up a little, unlike a scientific paper or laboratory report that is void of this

extra writing. Unlike the lab report the literacy narrative was less restricted on the

format and style of writing. It wanted me as the writer to include myself in the

paper while providing incite on how others had influenced me. These two pieces

of writing are very different and are a good comparison to express the rhetorical

knowledge that I posses when transferring from one style of writing to another.

2. Critical Reading
 Critical Reading is the process of actively reading a text while analyzing,

interpreting and, evaluating it as well as our own writing. This improves the writes
self-critical analysis and ability to criticize their own work and improve it. My first

example is of a source that I planned to use in my inquiry thesis, however as I

read through the article, it became apparent to me that it didnt seem very

credible. Prior to reading this editorial I had found one on the same topic but

sounded much more credible. The first article was from a very popular and well-

known news website. The second article was on a webpage that was titled

ScienceDirect and this topic was definitely not about science. The article was

well written and had credible sources but it just didnt sit well with me. The other

article I had found was much more credible and better related to my topic, so I

decided to eliminate the second source and use the first one instead. My second

example of my critical reading skills occurred during the formation of my

introduction my inquiry thesis. Mrs. Thomas provided us with an example

Eportfolio by Rebecca Lagares. I decided to read her inquiry thesis to see how

previous students had formatted their thesis. When I began writing mine I had

trouble formatting my introduction and my final conclusion paragraphs. I went

back and read Rebeccas introduction and conclusion paragraphs and it gave me

an idea on how to format mine. So I used my critical reading skill to apply

something totally different in topic to mine to spark something to get my brain

flowing of how I could format my thesis. The same idea applies to that of the first

example and its credibility. By comparing it to a very credible source I was able to

determine that I needed to forget this source and find a different more credible

one to reference in my inquiry thesis.

3. Knowledge of Conventions

Magnet, Myron. The Vision of the Founding Fathers. National Review, 3 July 2015,
www.nationalreview.com/article/420615/vision-founding-fathers. Accessed 4 Apr. 2017.

Knowledge of Conventions is the understanding of writing rules and how

to use them. The first example I have is of an MLA formatted citation of an online

article. This shows that I understand how to create and properly cite in MLA

format. It also shows that I have the ability to read and understand an MLA

citation when presented to me. This also communicates to my reader the source

I am obtaining my information from. It also gives my reader the opportunity to

check my information and to judge my work on its credibility.

The second example above includes a quote that is properly formatted for

in-text citations. In-text citations are used when you refer to, summarize,

paraphrase or directly quote from another source. This ensures credit to the

owner of whoever the original idea that you used in your paper. I used quotations

in my inquiry paper or my example above because the phrase was worded in the

best way possible that fit in with my paper. Quotations are also used when you

directly write what another author has written. Quotations can also enhance or
bolster the argument of your paper and shows you completed sufficient research

to back up your claims or topic you chose to write about.

My third and final example is of an appositive phrase. This phrase

introduces the author of an article I am referencing in my inquiry thesis. An

appositive is a phrase that renames the noun right in front of it. In my case the

author or person being introduced is provided a background that gives the reader

a sense of how credible the source is. The appositive used above does just that it

tells the reader whom the author is, their current job and thus provides the reader

with a small amount of credibility. The credibility then is aimed at my paper and

seeing that I trusted this source how well did I implement her article and ideas

into my work.

4. Composing Processes
 Taking a step back and looking at our country from the perspective of someone who does not
believe the United States is the greatest country in the world gives us an argument to work around. Devon
Haynie, an international news editor for U.S. News & World Report, wrote an article U.S. Falls in U.S. Best
Countries Rankings about the reason for the United States drop in rank of best countries. Haynie first
establishes the fact that the Unites States is not the best country in the world based on rankings as the U.S.
fell among the Best Countries for Adventure, Open for Business and Citizenship,...Education, the Most
Transparent Countries and the Best Countries to Headquarter a Corporation. However she blames such a
large fall in rank mainly on the recent presidential election. While, the United States still holds the title of
worlds most powerful country, many countries believe that may turn for the worst with Donald Trump at the
helm. In fact most Americans do not approve of President Trump as he seems very radical and
unpredictable. This in turn caused a drop in patriotic pride for our nation because people do not relate with
President Trump or his ideas, however I believe that many underestimate the new Commander-in-Chief.

We have looked at opinions from the point of view of Americans but what does an non US citizen
think about our country? On February 24th I had the opportunity to discuss this topic with former high school
colleague Joseph Penrose. Joe is a British citizen who moved to the United States and now attends Elon
University in North Carolina. I also asked Joe if he thought that his home country was the best in the world?
His response was startling and intriguing at the same time, answering that neither the U.S. nor the U.K. was
the best country in the world. He claims the United States has a very high percentage of prisoners, which we
do, and inequality. The U.K. has similar problems with inequality and other issues. However, Penrose meets
in the middle acknowledging that they are both wonderful countries to live in and have many freedoms and
benefits but to call them the best is a mistake in my mind as it ignores the problems that run rampant.
Josephs point is that every country has many flaws making no country perfect or the best in every sector of
judgment. Joes answer had no bias toward the U.K. or the U.S. and he gave some statements that proved
true and some that I found inconclusive results on my own personal investigation, but I trust Joe with his
information because he has a strong knowledge about his home country and stays current with the events
overseas. This interview gives the perspective of a non-American with patriotic ties to his home, but also has
a fair argument for why he doesnt believe either or any country is the best.

During the revision stages of my Inquiry Thesis fellow students suggested

that I include an opposing opinion against my argument. The picture above was

the first peer review that I received that directly told me that I should include such

an opinion. As I continued writing my paper, I looked for a place to best

implement the opinions that I found in my research. I found that there were two

authors that argued fairly well so I decided to put the opposite opinion first

(Devon Haynies article) and challenge it with a more American view point from

Mr. Shapiros article defends false statements about different sectors of harsh

judgment on America. When I finished writing both of these parts of my inquiry

paper, I knew that I wanted to include an interview that I conducted with a high

school buddy who was from England or the UK. The interview included some
very important and well-versed ideas and opinions on weather the United States

was the best country in the world. He really had no biased to toward the United

Kingdom or the United States. So this in turn provided a well even opinions after

two very opinionated authors took their argument to higher levels. So I decided to

place my writing about the interview after both Haynie and Shapiro. This provided

the reader a more modest and moderate view of my topic or inquiry question.

This expresses my ability to analyze my writing and improve it from draft to draft

as I did revise all three of these parts many times not just for errors but to try and

relate them as much as I could. I dont think that I would have included these

parts of my paper to the extent that I had unless my peers had not suggested

that I implement them in my inquiry.

5. Critical Reflection
 The introduction to my inquiry thesis took a lot of revising. I went through

maybe three for four drafts before I finally was pleased with my final version. It

was hard to start such a big paper on such a broad topic, and I wanted to include

almost everything in my introduction. I cut down a lot and could barely fit my

actual inquiry question in my introduction. I also had too much of my personal

opinion in the introduction and didnt establish the idea that there were people

that disagreed with my ideas. I also wanted to state where my sources and

information was coming from to show that I had completed lots of research for

this assignment. So my ideas on how to format my introduction changed as I

tried different styles. I tried putting my question first then explaining it, then I had

it as the very last sentence of my introduction and I felt as if I was dropping a

heavy weight on the reader when they finished the intro, like a cliffhanger. So my

ability to step into the readers shoes and act as if I was reading it for the first time

allowed me to change my paper to better keep the readers attention and keep

them engaged. The ability to critically read your own work is very important to the

success of your paper. My critical reading skills have definitely improved after

completing my inquiry thesis assignment.

 I added my annotated bibliography in this part of my reflection because it

was basically my outline and start of my inquiry thesis. The reason for this is

because after I completed the bibliographies, I wanted to put them in an order

where I could simply write my thesis while following them like an outline. So I

arranged them into an order I could work with and went through and looked at

how it would pan out. Well turns out that I would rearrange them another three for

four times before I got what I wanted. What I found was that I could relate

between almost all of them was that I was going close to historical chronological

order. I started with the founding of the U.S. because that is where our country

began, and what we were founded on. Then I delved into how we defended

those rights and how our defense stood up against other militaries. It continues

down the line and I was satisfied with my order. So my critical reflection of my

annotated bibliographies helped me piece together my thesis faster and with the

best flow I could produce from idea to idea.