GOAL 1: I used a multi-stage, recursive, and social process for my writing and took into consideration feedback from my instructor, classmates, and other readers. Throughout this class I realize I have not issued many rewrites, however, I have gone through papers and revised them as well as helped others.  I did not realize how necessary revisions were until I started having people read my papers.  I was very stubborn about people reading my papers, not embarrassed, but I liked keeping them to myself and the professor.  This class helped me embrace that other people could see my papers.  Before this class I was in the habit proof-reading papers only by myself and not letting anyone else read the for revision.  I now have understanding of how important it is to get help from others and I also feel comfortable with it.  One of my rewrites was from the beginning of the semester.  Having others revise it gave me a better grasp on the assignment and why there are revisions.  Here is my Visual Rhetoric Rewrite.

GOAL 2: I read source materials closely and analyzed them critically to learn how and why texts create meaning.  All the sources that I used for my research position paper took some time to gather.  I read a lot of things that I did not read as well as a lot of things that distracted me because I was so interested by them.  Some of them were just used for statistics and facts, however, I analyzed the statistics and after a lot of critical thinking ad practice, I was able to formulate arguments.  This is most clearly seen in my Research Paper.  A big part of this was finding things such as crime rates and expenses due to heroin addicts.  Using this I was able to argue how things were improved.

GOAL 3: I wrote with a particular audience in mind, allowing my purpose to shape the language and methods I used not just to communicate information but to persuade readers.  I think that the blog for this class was very effective.  I did not want to put anything embarrassing up so before I posted I made sure I was proud of it.  I’m very shy in my work normally.  In my arguments I was always focused on the audience that would be against my proposal and thought that everything could have an argument.  I believe the personal experiences of people spoke the most to me and therefore utilized that in my papers.  For example, my Rebuttal Argument used a quote from someone who quit heroin due to a clinic.  I felt this was one of the most persuasive things that could be used.

GOAL 4: I demonstrated my information literacy by synthesizing my own experience with new insights and information from a range of outside sources to produce new material. In doing research for my main counterintuitive argument,  I was enlightened to how a free heroin clinic can actually help people.  About a week after choosing my topic, I changed my whole argument and was then arguing for the side I was originally against.  This helped me realize that I always need to keep my mind open.  I know I did not mention many personal experiences in my essays but I understand that I have a lot of work to do to be a great writer and this is just something else I need to learn to do.

GOAL 5: My writing is ethical. Writing about meaningful topics, I have engaged responsibly with them and represented my ideas and the ideas of others honestly, fairly, and logically.  If I did anything right this semester, it was getting my opinion across in my paper for a good cause.  I think my topic was meaningful and can really help people that have made mistakes in their lives.  I think everyone should have a second chance, just because someone made a mistake to do heroin, does not mean it should haunt them for life.  In my research paper I believe my ideas were well thought out and logical.  I did my best to not make any of my work fallacy and all of my arguments are honest and valid.