Students will analyze the subject, purpose, audience, and constraints that influence and determine what
kind of document (genre) they will write. They will consider diverse audiences and cultures and show
respect in their use of language.
- Throughout the process of researching and writing the final paper, I was constantly ingesting large volumes of
language on the History, religion, and culture of Ancient Greece. In doing so I developed an eye for the kind of
language and structure used by experts in the field to effectively argue a point, and to bring in an air of
professionalism, knowledge, and humility. I then used these skills to craft a paper in the style and structure
of the academic works I consumed during the research process.
Find and Evaluate Information
Students will develop research strategies for their rhetorical situation, and then gather information from
primary and secondary sources; they will evaluate the sources for quality, validity, and appropriateness for
the rhetorical situation.
- By focusing my efforts on finding primary sources to prove my arguments and stances I was able to strip away
many of the potentially weaker sources that tend to overwhelm the novice researcher. Once I had more of an idea
of where I was going, I widened my target to secondary scholarly sources from trustworthy publications and
writers, and by using the JSTOR and library infrastructure of UNM I was able to find many reliable sources.
Compose Documents
Students will develop strategies for generating content, organizing it into a logical structure, and otherwise
shaping it to address the needs of their audience within particular disciplines.
- I embraced design thinking and looking at my work through the perspective of the viewer to craft compelling
and effective layouts to convey information in as clear of a way as possible. The two assignments that come to
mind in which this was a primary goal was the MWA 1 poster assignment, and the SWA 3 Research paper assignment.
In both of these cases it was critical for the reader to follow along with the arguments and information
presented, and I used a logical and clear layout to achieve this.
Present Documents
Students will edit and revise their writing to provide clear meaning and coherent structure; they will use
effective document and paragraph structure, documentation and genre conventions, and document design to
create a rhetorically complete presentation. They will consider and practice using multimodal presentations:
i.e. photo essays, Jing, and podcasts
- I found that using images and art in the form of spoken poetry worked very well to engage and command the
attention of the listener/viewer. This was put to best use in the SWA 1 presentation assignment where I
attempted to convey the beauty of Orpheus’ song through both visual expression, and music.
Reflection
In reflecting on major writing assignments, students will be able to explain course outcomes and
how they have achieved them.
- The reflection process was deeply assisted by interaction with other students, who would give me valuable
feedback on my design choices, and would catalyze the process of reflection, revisement, and eventual polishing
of a prototype into a final product. I also find it very rewarding to look back on how my perspective on the
class had shifted block-to-block, just like my learning my perspective was this very fluid ever-changing thing.