Assignment: Reflection Paper

The main goal of this class is to teach you to think critically about an issue before you settle on an opinion, but another main goal of the class is for you to understand more about your own writing process so that you can apply this knowledge to the assignments you will be completing in your other college courses.

For your final reflection essay, I would like you to consider your writing throughout the semester and write an essay describing your experience. The essay will have two parts.

Part I: The research proposal

Firstly, I would like you to write about your writing process for the research proposal. Consider the following questions and be sure to answer them in your writing.

What techniques did you use as you thought through the issue?

What prewriting techniques worked best for you?

What claim type strategies did you use? Were they effective?

When you analyzed your arguments using the Toulmin method, what warrants, or unstated assumptions did you find? Did you address them with backing?

What strategies did you use to address your opponents' viewpoints?

What do you think are your greatest strengths of the essay and why?

If you had more time to work on the essay, what would you like to improve upon?

Part II: Your Writing Process

In the next part of your reflection, I would like you to think about all of the assignments you have written for this class and consider which strategies helped and which didn't. Consider the following questions and be sure to answer them in your writing.

Did you prefer writing the exploratory essay or the I Search? Which essay better prepared you to make your arguments in writing your research proposal?

Did the narrative strategy of the essays help you think through your topic? Why or why not?

Which types of activities helped you most in preparing to write your research proposal(analyzing other arguments, attempting persuasive techniques through weblogs, etc.)? Be specific.

Reflect for a minute on the peer review process. Did you get good feedback? Was this helpful to you? Did you learn from reading others' essays and giving feedback?

What did you find frustrating about the writing assignments for this course?

Ask yourself, where, when, and how do I write?