My most important learning experience from this semester was learning rhetorical reading strategies and how to conduct peer reviews properly. Both of these things were skills that I had already learned prior to college in junior and senior high school. However, learning them again helped me understand them to a deeper level. These things also helped develop and strengthen my writing skills. I was able to incorporate the strategies into my writing assignments. As for peer reviews, I learned how to properly read and give people helpful feedback on their writings. I feel like giving people feedback helps me not only see what I can do better from the feedback I got but also by giving feedback as well. 

Over the course of this semester, I picked up on a few course learning outcomes. My most important moment connects back to a few of those course learning outcomes. It mainly connects back to exploring and analyzing in writing and reading a variety of genres and rhetorical situations. It also connects to developing strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing. As I developed the skills of rhetorical reading strategies these course learning outcomes were easy to grasp. This is because I need my rhetorical strategies to understand and achieve those course learning outcomes. 

The first course learning outcome (explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations) means having the ability to read and understand what you’re reading from different perspectives no matter which media is used. You should be able to break down the reading and comprehend the main ideas of them. Also, being able to apply that ability to different genres and rhetorical situations, not just one. I think that this one is the most important one because once you understand this everything else falls into place. Kind of like a domino effect. This is also important because the majority of our writings require this understanding. We applied this CLO in class by breaking down articles using the rhetorical triangle. As well as engaging in discussion posts. For the most part, I think I was successful in achieving this because I did gain an understanding of how to do this and what it meant. For example, when I wrote about the little mermaid I referred back to my triangle which helped me through the assignment. However, I think I can do a better job at exploring a variety of genres and rhetorical situations.

The second course learning outcome (developing strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing) means gaining the skills of reading and comprehending and being able to do it to your own writing as well as your peers’ writings. Gaining the skills for drafting a writing piece. Connecting it to outside sources looking over your work and making necessary changes. This is important because it is a key factor in making you a better reader and writer. We implemented this skill in class through peer reviews practicing color-coded revision, strategies, annotating, reverse outline, and doing essays following specific steps. I used the reverse outline for my research essay. It played a huge role in helping me gather my thoughts and organize them correctly. With this course learning outcome, I think I was very successful.

Additionally, the third course learning outcome is to recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations. This course learning outcome means learning and apply important rhetorical strategies to different writing situations. This is important because it helps you as a reader or writer understand and write better. We applied this in class with the articles we read and spoke about in our discussion posts. We also did this using those same articles we completed a rhetorical strategy triangle. However, we utilized this CLO the most when we practiced trying to identify ethos, pathos, logos, context, exigence, audience, and author in different media.

Further, the next CLO is to understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences. This means using different sources to find the author’s intended and extended audience. An “intended audience” refers to the specific group of people a piece of communication, like a marketing campaign or written text, is specifically designed to reach, whereas an “extended audience” is a broader group of people who may also see or access the communication, even if they weren’t the primary target group the creator had in mind. We followed this through our multimodal elements and digital portfolio. I think I was somewhat successful with this and I can use more practice to master this CLO.

Lastly, the final CLO is to compose texts that integrates a stance with appropriate sources, using strategies such as summary analysis, synthesis, and argumentation. This CLO means being able to find sources that back up the main points in your writing. We did this by practicing MLA format. Also by reading and summarizing our sources before citing them properly. This is important because it makes our writing more authentic. We also learned how to write an argument and take a stance while also being able to understand different stances.