ENG 120

Spring 2015

S. Diaz
University of New Mexico

Part A: SLO Essay

During this class, we learned, discussed, and progressed in many different Student
Learning Outcomes (SLOs). There were 3 sequences for this class, and three genres as well;
rhetorical analysis, individual proposal, and group proposal. Through different genres, we dove
into certain SLOs for each Major Writing Assignment (MWA) and Low Stakes Assignment
(LSA). We were asked to write a cover letter for each MWA which a section of the letter was
devoted to discussing our SLO progression.
SLO A: Rhetorical Situation and Genre
SLO A asks students to to write in various genres taking into consideration all the
information presented; according to the rhetorical situation. This SLO was one of the easier ones
to progress on. During each MWA, and even the LSAs, we had to take into consideration all the
possible choices for each assignment. For Sequence 1, we were tasked with writing a rhetorical
analysis on an ad that was directly tied with our majors or career choices. Choosing an ad helped
progression with this SLO, because there are numerous ads in the world that focus on teaching or
learning foreign languages. Taking in all the information I know about learning a foreign
language, I chose the ad that I felt best represented the benefits and difficulties of taking on a
foreign language, while including examples of language as well. For Sequence 2 and 3, we had
to research and find many cases that supported and opposed our thesis. This also helped
progression with this SLO, because you have to dive into each case presented and dissect the
information to find the true purpose of the case, and then you can use to the info support or
oppose your thesis.
SLO C: Writing as a Process

ENG 120
Spring 2015

S. Diaz
University of New Mexico

SLO C asks the students to use multiple mediums to brainstorm and plan their writing
process. During the semester, SLO C was utilized in a major way. Each start to the new
sequence, we had free writes which helped us plan for the topic or issue we wanted to address.
This helped us plan our ideas in fun interesting ways to open our minds to the possibilities of
each writing assignment. Since Sequence 1 was a rhetorical analysis, we analyzed an ad
pertaining to our major of career choice, we had to present the major points of the ad and explain
it to our audience. We had to find a catchy title and present the information in a way that didnt
make our audience pass out. We also utilized peer review throughout the semester. This directly
ties to SLO C because after your document was peer reviewed, you had to choose what to change
and what to not to change, for the overall improvement of our document.
SLO F: Reflection
SLO F asks the students to evaluate how their writing has developed over the course of a
semester and to describe how using various technologies to write multiple genres and mediums
can be applied in other ways to move forward with your goals. Over the course of the semester,
each assignment required a cover letter to be written in which wed reflect upon the areas which
we felt could use help and the areas which were the best. We also reflected on the decisions
made in the process of writing. We reflected upon why we made certain decisions and how we
came to the conclusion that it was the best possible choice. We also reflected on how we
progressed in the SLOs present in that sequence and assignment. During the semester, it has
become increasingly easy for me to reflect upon my choices and course of action. Through
writing the cover letters, I learned how to explain in detail my decisions, I also learned how to
utilize different genres styles of writing to present information in new creative ways. Overall,
Ive progressed greatly on SLO F.

ENG 120
Spring 2015

S. Diaz
University of New Mexico

SLO G: Research
SLO G asks students to use writing to discover your personal beliefs through multiple
perspectives, and to use other mediums to answer questions related to the research topic. As
stated above, during this class we utilized our peers for peer reviews, and for group mates during
MWA3. This helped us progress in SLO G, because we got to see other styles of writing for the
same genre, and we also got to utilize their perspectives of our writing. We used their knowledge
and ideas to help better our writing styles and broaden our horizons to new ideas of executing
our styles of writing. Weve also progressed toward this SLO through seeing and experiencing
different forms of finding answers. We did an activity in class where we had to describe the
feeling in a painting. I created a story in my head about what was happening in the picture,
however, others saw how the different colors and placement of the colors related to some
underlying life message in the painting. This helped me see the feeling of the painting
differently.