Midterm Analysis of Data

By: Keeshia Sison

Rhetoric Throughout half the semester, I have learned new concepts of

rhetoric and have employed them in our class discussions as well as in choosing class discussion topics. I have participated in several activities in which I successfully exercised my understanding of different terms of rhetoric such as the three appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos.

One activity, in which I was able to showcase my use and understanding of rhetoric, was during the midway journey presentations with my group members Omar and Emmanuel. I learned many new things that day and I was able to establish more than one new skill, one of which I was able to identify lots of information within a video that was short and simplistic.

Evidence found in Learning Record:

Writing

After high school, I lost my ability to write correctly and effectively. After a few weeks of this course, I have begun to rebuild my skills.

First, to rebuild my skills, I had to learn how to properly conduct research for my paper. One of the most helpful days of class was when I learned how to properly use the online UT library database. I learned to input correct information on the search engines to receive better output of sources. This made finding my sources so much easier. It’s a learning skill in which I am able to take with me and apply in my other courses.

I was also able to showcase my ability and knowledge on how to cite sources. I accomplished this in all papers I have written for this course thus far. I have also proven this in the in-class quiz in which I answered 3 questions that required knowledge and understanding of how to cite sources correctly.

Lastly, I have increased my ability to write effectively by writing on the class blog. It is an effective way to exercise writing without having to do so it in excess. By writing a blog one to two times a week and responding to our fellow classmates’ blogs, I have been building my skills to format words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs to effectively answer what is being questioned.

Meta-Cognition “Thinking about thinking” is a highly obvious course strand in which all my

fellow classmates and I can relate to. Each class meeting, we were required to write an observation from that day, onto the Learning Record.

I have used meta-cognition numerous times since class first began. I am able to observe myself and point out times when I have learned something I did not know or understand beforehand. An example of this was the time we discussed “rhetorical timing.” I did not fully understand it until many examples were brought to the floor during discussion.

Another example of when I used meta-cognition effectively was when I fully understand what I meant to be aware of others’ thinking. This occurred when my group presented “Plastic is Fantastic” video. I pointed out to the class about the video being zoomed in and then zooming out towards the end of the video. I claimed that we must look at the bigger picture and how much bigger the problem really is than we think. There I was taking the creators thinking that “seem obvious, but isn’t” out in the open. I was able to show how I understood the bigger concept and not just what we were given in the video.

Deep Attention

The first time I observed myself using deep attention was when the class discussed examples relevant to our daily life. One example I presented to my classmates was how I was able to see my fingerprints on the screen of my phone. That was something I have noticed before, but I have never fully paid special close attention to my phone to the extent of fully acknowledging my finger prints on my phone.

Another example of when I used deep attention was during the green guilt discussion. I learned how to pay deep attention to written work. As a class, we discussed one paragraph in the article and went through it sentence for sentence.

Lastly, I used deep attention when I paused the video “Plastic is Fantastic” and pointed out the image detail. I presented that Chris, the man buried under plastic, was not relaxed, and had a stressed and tired face. This is noticeable through the tightening of his face, his wrinkles, sweat, and through the squinting of his eyes.

Confidence and Independence

At the beginning of the semester, I started out a tad bit shy. I didn’t have the courage to speak up and express my thoughts, ideas, and opinions. I was afraid of being judged the wrong way by my peers. As the days went by, I began talking to my classmates more and became much more comfortable with them. This helped me, slowly but surely, find the lion in me and roar effectively. I was able to use the skills I already had and use them in discussion. Even though I grew confidence in my work, I was not afraid to approach Noel and other classmates for help even on the simplest matter. I have grown to become unafraid to share my learning and question what I do not understand. I still have moments where I question the quality of my work, but I try to continue to trust in myself, the skills I already have, and the skills I have recently gained.

Skills and Strategies One of the simplest skills I have gained is embedding a video from

YouTube to our class blog correctly. It took several tries, but I have mastered it in more than one way.

Second, I have learned the proper and correct way of not committing plagiarism. This is important for my success in all my courses and after college.

I have built confidence in my own ideas and in my writing where plagiarism is almost like a ghost from winter’s past. I can even, independently, without help of a book, cite a specific source. This was evident on the quiz we took in class where I had to do just that.

Knowledge and Understanding

Two instances in class where I observed that I had good knowledge and understanding of concepts and ideas was during the presentation of “Plastic is Fantastic” and during the class discussion on “rhetorical timing.”

With “Plastic is Fantastic,” I was able to showcase my understanding of rhetoric, meta-cognition, and deep attention by pinpointing forms of ethos, pathos, logos, stakeholders, efficacy, and image detail.

With the “rhetorical timing” discussion, I was able to bring to the table, two recent issues that were easily relatable to the topic. One was a foreign issue on Libya, and the other on the UT group advocating for the Dream Act.

By bringing forth these two instances, I showed my confidence in the ideas I had and I showed the skills that I had gained before and during this class.

Use of Prior and Emerging Experiences

One experience that was evident for everyone was the attack on 9/11. The examples found in the book and the discussion in class were key for me to understand terms such as commonplace. For discussion, I recalled the events that took place where I was standing on 9/11 and I blogged about it. By doing this, I used what I have experienced for something class related and I have given my peers my view and understanding of common place. This gives my peers an example of common place if they do not already understand what it is.

See blog based on 9/11.

On Essay 1.2, I applied the things I learned from Essay 1.1, Research Summary 1, and Research Summary 2 to create a paper that met the requirements and go beyond. One aspect evident in my writing style was my inability to use ‘however’ in sentence form. For essay 1.2, I incorporated the knowledge given to me by Noel to ensure that I do not commit the same mistake once more. I also used basic knowledge of simple grammar structure to see that simple mistakes were not committed.

See Essay 1.2.

Reflection

At the end of each class, I have to stop and think about all the things I observed myself learning that day. This is evident on the Learning Record where I have recorded my observations. I have created an observation almost since the first day we had to create one. Since then, I’ve been on track and keeping up with it.

See Learning Record, Observations section.

On the first research summary, I stepped back and thought about the big picture about the “Green Guilt” article. I was able to use what I have learned in class and apply it to my writing. This gave me an advantage of chronically moving forward in my learning process rather than moving backwards. What was the author advocating? What is the author arguing for and establishing? After thinking about those questions over and over again, I was able to write a paper that was “thorough” (Noel, Research Summary Notes).

Creativity, Originality,and Imagination

From Essay 1.1, I wrote a sentence that was not only appealing to me, but to Noel and my other peers. “With a solution to a problem, comes a problem with the solution.”

After building the first four dimensions of learning, I have been able to think outside the box and speak my mind in ways that can attract my audience. In this power point alone I used figurative language to convey my message. Saying that I’m a ‘lion’ that now can ‘roar’ are evidence of my creative thought. What’s rhetoric if I were like a wolf unable to howl at the moon? I have a way of articulating words in a nice way. However, this part of me only comes up when I am inspired by a light-bulb over my head, then I just can’t stop.

I like to find comedic relief in the most serious of cases. This is an aspect of reflection, that of which reflects my personality. I like to have fun with my learning process. This enables me to learn better and communicate what I have learned much more effectively.

What do I deserve, based off of what I have observed?