Rhetorical situations and genre:

I feel this was a very big part of doing my research paper, I had to analyze different arguments
on PPD and find the information that fit my question. While reading through all the articles I
could find I had to decide what was relevant for my topic. Once I narrowed it down, I looked at
a few studies that supported the point I was trying to make which was often presented
differently than the articles I was finding. Something I found important was looking at the
different arguments that were stated in each article I chose and making sure I found the most
neutral stance and information before delving into my own research paper.

Writing as a social act:

This SLO appeared a lot for me when research Postpartum depression (PPD). There we're a lot
of forums and “mommy groups” that provided an insight on what PPD is and how the
experience can vary from each individual. I also found through the UNM database a few studies
outside the country that looked at the same things and how different races are more
susceptible to PPD. Navigating all of these different forums and papers was interesting to read
through because it gives a lot of women a support system which I pointed out in my research
paper as one of the “solutions” to help ease the symptoms of PPD. It was interesting to see that
PPD affects women all around the globe and the symptoms are virtually the same. I know that
may seem like a silly point to bring up, but to women struggling through this I feel there is a
sense of comfort that can come from this to let them know they are not alone and the struggles
they are feeling are very real and a reality for many others as well.

Grammar and Usage:

During this project I feel like I have not only had to analyze the verbiage of the articles I was
reading but I also had to adjust the way I worded my essay. It was important to me to make
sure I came across informative but also “real”. I didn’t want someone to read my paper and
view it as cold and only factual but as informative and compassionate in a sense. I found it
important to make sure that my writing didn’t seem like I was blaming or shaming mothers.
There was definitely a need for balance between facts, strategies, and care. I had to really focus
on the organization of my paragraphs as well, I needed it to flow from the effects on the
mother, what a child needs to have proper cognitive development, how the two coincide and
its effects, and lastly what the mom can do to better take care of herself in order to better take
care of her newborn. It was also a fun challenge to fin d out how to put things into my own
words incorporated with my own thoughts while staying true to the article I got my information
from.

Reflection:

Over the semester I have seen my writing change and in my opinion, it has become more fluid.
At the beginning I was a little nervous because it had been years since I've taken a class or
wrote an essay. Truthfully the last time I wrote a paper was my freshman year of college but
those were... questionable. This is also the first semester I have practiced writing different types
of papers as well as using multimodality to compose different parts of each project. It was a
learning curve at the beginning of the semester using a screen recorder to shoe my work, as
well as using voice recording to go in depth about different components pertaining to each
project. I feel this process helped me get my inside thoughts out faster and took the thought
process out of typing my ideas right away. Overall, I feel the multimodality of each project
helped me create a better flow and refine my ideas.

Research:

Obviously this SLO is a very big part of a research paper, but I feel I have learned a better way
of researching. I learned how to use the UNM library database, and I found a lot of great
information on there which actually helped me refine my paper’s purpose. Initially I wanted to
just do a paper on PPD but I felt that was too broad and from there I went through different
ideas and searched to find articles, if found some ideas we're too broad and others we're too
specific. Going through each article I chose I made sure to look at when it was published,
edited, who the author was, and making sure the site I found my information on was reputable.
One component of research is making sure my writing is “ethical”, I touched on this in an earlier
SLO but It was important for me to find as much unbiased information and to convey it in a way
that wouldn’t make struggling moms feel worse but rather well informed on what could happen
and what the options t help prevent the effects from happening were.

Overall checking in with my SLO’s have helped me make sure that I am getting the most out of
this class and helps me stay on track with what I'm learning and understandingthe “why” for
each assignment. All sections of this have made me a better writer but also a better researcher.
It has helped me weed out misinformation and refine what I'm trying to learn. These skills will
definitely help me in other classes but also in my career. The healthcare field is constantly
changing and growing, and I know research will be a huge part of keeping up with all the new
discoveries.