Reflection

Writing and Rhetoric 1301-W11 has taught students many different aspects of writing

that will help them succeed throughout their college career. Everyone in this class is part of the

same scientific learning community, so we were also able to learn imperative skills on writing

for scientific research and review. Overall, this class will up us succeed in future English classes

as well as our future careers. The two projects done over the course of the semester gave us

proper research skills, condensing information skills, and learning how to separate our opinions

from the authors findings.

The first project done this semester was the synthesis project, which taught us how to

condense information from multiple sources to make one concise piece. This is useful for a

multitude of different reasons, but mostly so people know how sources fit together. When doing

this assignment, students started to learn how to properly paraphrase. Paraphrasing comes in

handy when you need to use evidence and research to back up a claim, or in this case connect

data points. After doing this assignment I learned how to create a concise summary of multiple

sources, with scientific evidence and data to connect all the points together. This assignment was

a steppingstone that helped me understand the purpose of writing, along with its importance.

The most recent project done was the literature review, which was used to show students

ability to use research to prove or disprove their own research question. On this assignment, I

researched the effects of alcohol on college students. For me, I used research to prove that

alcohol had negative effects on students. I also used the research to give specific details to what

happens to students, along with how alcoholism in students is caused. Overall, this assignment

helped me learn how to properly find and use research, as well as properly site sources. One of

the biggest issues my group and I faced, was in text citations. After completing this assignment,
we know how and when to use it. Moreover, we learned that a literature review should not have

any of our own personal thoughts or opinions. Literature reviews are objective and factual, with

all information being paraphrased and sited. I had never written a literature review before this

assignment, so I gained much knowledge from this assignment. Being able to write a literature

review will help me in both my academic future and career field.

Overall, this class has taught me an understanding and deeper appreciation of reading and

writing. I have learned how to write a thorough synthesis essay, as well as how to write a

complete literature review. Furthermore, I have learned valuable skills ranging from time

management to how to work with a group to how to complete an annotated bibliography. I will

take all the knowledge and information gained from this course with me throughout my

academic career. This class has given me a terrific foundation to improve upon for my future.