Rice 1

Chase Rice

Enc 1102

April 3 2020

Self-Assessment

Introduction

Writing and reading has always been a struggle for me, not in the way that I do not know

how to read texts or how to respond to a prompt, but mentally being able to sit down for a long

period of time and work on a text. In ENC 1101 last semester one thing I really tried to work on

was focusing on a paper for a certain period of time without turning away and getting distracted.

While I struggled with this for a while, and still do a bit, my work has significantly improved in

my opinion and I am glad to have learned so much over the past two semesters even though it

was very difficult. Where my last self-assessment left off, I stated that I had not yet mastered the

course outcomes for ENC 1101, but now I feel that if I have not yet, I am at least very close to

and did much better this semester because of it.

Students Will Be Able to Analyze and Synthesize Complex Texts 

I have become significantly better at this over the past two semesters and I would not say

I have mastered it. This is only because in my opinion to master something you must be near

perfect at it and there are still texts that I struggle with sometimes. However, I am much

improved at it and feel I am very good at analyzing and synthesizing complex texts. To support

this point, I revisited James Porter’s Intertextuality and compared my writing from this semester

and last semester. In the first semester I struggled to understand the piece fully and it showed in

my response “…he discusses his definition of it as well as providing examples from a variety of

sources such as the Declaration of Independence, a Pepsi ad, and a news article.” I then provided
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a quote and restated it because I was not sure how to explain a text I did not fully understand.

This affected me in almost every response that semester and I felt like I was not doing as well as

I could have. This semester I felt much more confident in my responses and my ability to analyze

the text. In my response to the same piece this semester, only a few months later I was able to

understand it much better. I demonstrated my knowledge of it much better this time saying “…he

discusses the concept of all texts being dependent upon and related to each other. This is referred

to as intertextuality, the fragments of past writings and thought that combine to form our own

definitions and papers”. I went beyond re-stating the author and formed my own understanding,

and while I am not a master at this I did significantly better throughout the semester and it shows

in my responses and papers.

Students Will Engage in a Recursive, Inquiry-Based Writing and Research Process

I feel that I have a good grasp on this concept as I was able to complete my first in-depth

research paper answering my initial research question and using over twenty sources to learn

about the topic. For me to master this concept I will have to write many more research papers

and learn how to fix the errors I am making in clarity and reasoning. Often time in my papers

when trying to explain something I do not add enough detail because writing is not something I

particularly love to do, so without meaning to I shorten things that need more explanation. This

is something I worked hard to avoid in my research paper and provide a clear well thought out

argument with sound reasoning and supporting evidence. Even though I put forth a lot of effort

towards this I still made errors in that regard and others. In the initial feedback I received there

were a few parts that confused the reader that I had to try and fix but there were not many serious

issues. In the future I think I can write another good research paper as I have learned from my
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mistakes and while I will make others, I can write a well-articulated argument in response to a

question.

Students Will Be Able to Interpret Their Research Findings in Order to Produce

Arguments

This is one concept I think that I have mastered, and if not mastered at least close to it. I

have always been a very argumentative person and based my arguments in logic and research.

Since I can remember I have been researching and developing arguments for any possible thing

somebody could say to me because I never wanted to be unprepared to defend myself and my

opinions. This helped greatly in the research paper because even though I am not great at getting

my words onto paper I was able to put an argument forth with evidence to support and come to a

conclusion that is well supported. Something that I can improve upon in this regard is the actual

process of researching. Once I find the information, I am able to find important parts of it to

support or attack a position, but I can get better at finding the exact information I want quickly. If

I can improve this then my research process will become significantly quicker and more

efficient. This is also a part of writing I have always enjoyed because I can learn new

information to support my opinions and become a more educated person.

Students will examine their own conceptions of writing and research