You will write a 600-700 word self-analysis essay about the skills you have learned in this course. By drawing evidence from your experience in the class, you will do a reflective self-assessment and write a well-developed analysis. This entails reviewing all the work you have done this semester in order to explain the skills.

Directions

For your final exam, you will write five substantial paragraphs - include introduction, three body paragraphs (a solid paragraph is at least 5 sentences), and a conclusion - about THREE specific skills you have learned in this course. By drawing evidence from your experience in the class, you will do a reflective self-assessment and write a well developed analysis. This entails reviewing all the work you have done this semester in order to explain the skills. You will also explore/explain how you learned these skills; and how these will benefit you in your future courses. In general, please consider the following questions in your essay:

• What did I learn? What skills have I learned (such as, writing, reading, critical thinking, researching, discussing, team work, etc.) in this class, and how will these skills play a part in my academic life?

• How did I learn it? How did the activities--reading and critical thinking exercises, writing assignments, essays and research projects, group work, class discussions, peer reviews, and so on--contribute to the skills I have learned in this course? How can I show that I have learned these skills? What examples can illustrate that I have learned what I claim?

• Why is it important? What role do I think these college composition skills will play in my future courses?

Requirements:

• You must defend all your assertions with specific examples from the work you did in the course. For example, if you believe that you learned the skill of critical thinking, then explain in the most specific terms, what you learned about this skill, what assignment/s helped you learn this skill, what specific activities in the assignment/s were most helpful in your learning, and how this learning will benefit you in your future courses. Use specific examples from the work you completed in this course to prove your claims.

• Remember that you must write a coherent and well-developed essay. Listing and answering questions is not enough. Your essay must demonstrate that you learned the desired skills of the course and can argue and write clearly and effectively.

• Although this essay will not require citations or a Works Cited page, please make sure it follows the MLA general criteria for essay assignments.

• You will type this essay directly in the text box provided in Blackboard. Double space between paragraphs and use the spell check provided in Blackboard.

Your grade will be assessed on the following criteria which are necessary elements of composition writing:

• thesis statement which includes the key purpose/argument of the essay and the main ideas that will prove the purpose/arguments
• topic sentences related to the thesis
• sub points that are well organized using the SEX (statement, evidence, explanation) formula
• relevant and well integrated evidence/examples that support the claims
• Specific and detailed analysis that explains the evidence and proves the validity of the claims
• effective introduction and conclusion
• focused paragraphs
• unity and coherence in the whole essay
• accurate sentence mechanics (spelling, grammar, and punctuation).
• general MLA format criteria
• note: since this is a self-assessment essay, you will use the first person perspective the skills or things studied

1. Ccritical thinking links

http://trinitysem.edu/how-to-write-a-critical-paper/
http://www.salisbury.edu/counseling/new/7_critical_reading_strategies.html
http://www2.southeastern.edu/Academics/Faculty/elejeune/critique.htm

2. Elements of an Essay

3. Introductions and Conclusions

4. MLA Documentation

5. MLA Resources (Formatting Essays and Integrating Sources)

6. Outlines

7. Refutation link: http://www.speaking.pitt.edu/student/argument/argumentfourstep.html

8. Summary VS. Analysis

9. Annotated Bibliography.