Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

I think I always had a problem starting a draft. Seeing the blank page, in this case, my Google document is terrifying. There is so much to say and not knowing how to start makes it even more complicated. But this fear began to diminish when I understood that a first draft does not have to be perfect a first draft is ideal when it is imperfect and needs to be reviewed. In the Definition/Categorical Argument, I allowed myself to write according to what came to mind. I still had trouble starting to write, but every time I felt that my argument was not meeting expectations, or that perhaps I had forgotten what it was about, I always went to check the work that my classmates had posted. I read them and tried to decipher the strategies they had used to meet the expectations of the argument. Another thing that helped me a lot was reading and listening to Prof. David’s feedback. Our lectures and class talks helped me go from looking at revisions as tedious to spending 3 hours revising my Definition/Categorical Argument until it was as clear as possible.

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

My thesis for this class was how tears can be therapeutic. I began writing this thesis by defining and categorizing different types of tears, that is, tears of anger, tears of sadness, tears of joy, etc. But when I got to my Causal Argument, I realized that there are not certain tears focused on a single emotion, so we cannot categorize them and call them angry tears if they are not just caused by anger. After understanding this, I asked myself: how will I find sources that agree or at least prove that my argument makes some sense? After doing an extensive search for sources that at least mentioned this topic, I found some that somehow seemed to understand the perspective of my argument. So I read and studied them and was able to put them into conversation with each other. Even though they weren’t 100% based on my argument or had the same purpose as my argument, I found a way to add the parts where they agreed with me enough as evidence and support for my argument.

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

The assignment I was most able to demonstrate my Core Value 3 was the Visual Rhetoric Assignment. This assignment required a thorough rhetorical analysis of an advertisement, along with the ability to articulate my observations effectively. I not only needed to describe the visual elements of the ad but also delve deeper into the intended message and impact. This involved scrutinizing the characters portrayed, discerning their motivations, and carefully analyzing the context in which they were placed within the advertisement. In addressing these aspects, my goal was not only to provide a superficial overview but also to delve deeper into the underlying strategies employed by the advertiser to convey their effective message.

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

I think my Core 4 skills were best reflected in my Rebuttal Argument. The purpose of this assignment was to dismantle or provide arguments against our best opponent. In my case, my best opponents were those people who claimed that tears could be classified according to a singular emotion. Despite not having many sources to support my counterargument, that is, tears are the result of a combination of complex emotions, I was able to find some that supported my arguments in some way. Letting this task challenge me on multiple fronts: first, dismantling the arguments of my formidable opponent; second, locating sources that support my position; and finally, seamlessly integrating these sources into the discourse while maintaining my own voice.

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

Overall, I feel confident about my performance in properly citing and acknowledging the authors throughout all my assignments. I think this can be seen better reflected in my Bibliography (Proposal +5). In this assignment, I not only gave credit to the authors I actively cited in my other arguments but also to those who gave me ideas and taught me a little more about my argument. Furthermore, another assignment that reflects this in the same way is my Research Argument. In this assignment, I included three different arguments with multiple references and citations that not only supported my arguments but also provided merit to my argument.