Sahaj Patel

Mid Semester Intervention

Engaging Concepts:
Critical Reflection:
I believe that critical reflection is my top Key Concept that I have
acquired from this class. Critical reflection involves the expression of
thoughts and the explanations for them. An example of how I have recently
been demonstrating this is within blog post three. I explain my opinion and
background knowledge from personal experience of the vegetarian diet. I
also ponder and interpret my thoughts in my exploratory essay in the last
paragraph. For example, I have become a better friend, son, and a better
person overall. Later I expand upon the statement by clarifying with
Whenever I had any problems in my life no matter what the concentration I
knew that I could always toss my backpack onto my bed, grab my board and
just watch the rest of the day melt away in front on me. Critical reflection is
a very natural concept for me because I am always trying to improve myself.
It involves honest evaluation and refining which I will be doing all throughout
the semester.
Independent Inquiry and Curiosity:
Independent inquiry and curiosity is another concept that I am strongly
engaged in because my inquiry and curiosity is self reliant. In blog post three
I am asked to find interests and cultivate possible inquiry questions. I
develop a bold question, How beneficial is the vegetarian diet to us? Also,
I further justify I learned in my pre research that on average vegetarians live
longer than their omnivore counterparts. The explanation being a
vegetarian lowers blood pressure, improves mood, and also lowers the
chance of getting long term diseases such as cancer and heart disease
further exemplifies my independent curiosity of the topic. This class is
helping me create my own independent inquiry and curiosity by offering the
freedom of choice on topics that are intriguing to research.
Composing Processes:
Composing processes involves the flexibility of developing and
finalizing a piece before, during, and after revisions. An example of this in my
writing involves the implementation of multi-modality into my exploratory
essay. The vivid description of landing my first kickflip is an excellent
example of ongoing revision. My first version of the draft was not as alluring
without the details: For that split second in which I caught the board, I felt at
ease. I could hear the birds chirping overheard as the sun was about to set
within the next hour. Composing processes is probably the most engaging
out of the three concepts that I have chosen. The process itself actually
reminds me of skateboarding, the constant revision of foot movements to
successfully land a trick.

Sahaj Patel
Challenging Concepts:
Knowledge of Conventions:
Conventions are rules that are used in writing which demonstrate
formality or the genre of the composition. I need improvement in this section
of the class because my grammar is not always accurate and neither is my
punctuation. My exploratory essay has comma splices that need to be
fixed as well as minor grammatical issues. I think that this topic is something
that everyone constantly will need to work on because they are generally
small mistakes that are missed and add up. Alex asked me to reword a
phrase and I had some difficulty organizing the concluding paragraph
structurally. Another aspect of conventions that I need to learn is how to
create citations in the correct format in my bibliography.
Rhetorical Knowledge:
Finally, one last concept which I need improvement in is rhetorical
knowledge, the ability to identify and apply strategies across a range of texts
and writing situations. So far, I only have the one voice which I universally
implement into all of my assignments for all of my classes. An example of
how I need help in this regard is the clarity of my sentences in introductions
and conclusions. For example, that time becomes an illusion in itself.
Another thing that I wish to do is create a voice as persuasive and confident
as the blog post from Smitten Kitchen mentioned in Who Says? The post
basically deceives the reader into feeling a sense of comfort and trust in the
author because of the authors confidence within the text. I wish to progress
in the development of different styles of writing that relate and do not relate
to my major. Another area of writing which could use some assistance is my
formal writing skills to professors, organizations, and more professional
writings.