David Kriner

UWRT 1102
Mrs. Thomas
12/1/15

Final Reflection Draft

1.

Choose a song or musical composition that communicates your experience with

writing and UWRT 1102. Consider including a video of the song. Explain your choice.

For this particular question, the one song that I chose that represented my experience with
writing and UWRT 1102 as a whole would be This Fire Burns by Killswitch Engaged. It is a
bit on the heavy side but the chorus represents something that has happened time and time again
throughout my experience with not only this class, but with writing in general.
Even through the darkest days,
this fire burns always.
This fire burns, always.
I have had my times of not wanting to write in general but I always learned either something new
to do or something that I could write about that interests me and then the fire inside me burns to
get it done. I guess it's sort of a passion for writing but what I have come to terms with is that
writing interests me and it's cool to write about not only technological pieces but fun little tidbits
as well.

2. If you were to teach this class, what ideas would you emphasis?

Writing isnt about writing. Its not about putting words down on a paper just to get
something done. Its a message that you, the writer, is trying to create. You are trying to get your
story across. Even though people will find someway to criticize and say you are wrong, you can
use that hate to make your message even stronger. Embrace the hate, embrace the conflicts, from
learning about those things will make you not only a better writer but a more weathered person.

3. Explain how your understanding of rhetorical knowledge has changed over the course of the
semester using at least three examples from your writing ( Ex. Did you shift an assignment to
better fit a particular genre like a proposal?)
Coming into this class, I was already familiar with rhetorical knowledge. I was
introduced to it in high school and went more in depth about it in UWRT 1101. This class made
me go even more in depth about it. Some of the things I learned included expanding my audience
when writing papers for the class. I think, along with mostly everyone else, only wrote papers
with the target audience being the professor. While this is all good and dandy, anyone else trying
to read my paper would be lost. By expanding my audience, especially for opinionated pieces, I
am able to include more readers to read my writing as well as get more opinions to help prove a
point. I think this change is apparent in my thesis paper as well as my daily writing assignments.
The They Say I Say tidbit, was also very useful for me to know. Before I would not distinguish
the two and include it all in one paragraph or so leaving everyone confused on what side Im
taking or what the sources are trying to take. Now, I am able to help separate and gfive both or
more sides to the story indicating a more relevant and professional paper. Again this is apparent
in my Thesis paper. Finally the naysayers would probably be the biggest thing that I have learned
in this class. Using the hate and conflicts that people inflict on the writer and turn it to something

that strengthens the paper had opened a whole new perspective to me. Something I will take with
me to the future.

4. Explain how your critical reading has improved during the semester. (Ex. In what ways did
you read across texts for connections and patterns in your inquiry?)

I think all of my critical reading improvements came from the course pack. It was so well
organized and had a lot of great articles and readings that it just naturally came to me. I reread
everything to get a better understanding of it. In, The Book Thief, I came up to the conclusion
that the narrator was the Death persona. Just from the way he talked and happened to be
everywhere at once and learned about the past present and future just sort of clicked after
rereading and analyzing the text. I feel like my critical reading has come a long way and I am
happy at where it is now.

5. Discuss your composing process. (Ex. Did you conduct additional research while revising or
after consulting a colleague? Provide at least three examples to support your assertion.
My composing process has gotten more in depth where i do conduct more research while
revising. This was apparent in my annotated bibs for my thesis. My topic was constantly
changing and I kept on trying to find more and more pieces to the puzzle in order to complete it.
I had to get rid of some sources as well and add new ones. I was originally going to quote and
reference Gandhi but I found out that I could no longer use him in my book because of some
things that I didnt realize were true. And when some of my peers suggested that I try another
approach, I took that advice and researched even more things before coming down with a

definite topic. I took more time than needed I think but in the end, I feel like my paper will be
extraordinary.

6. Provide at least three examples of your knowledge of conventions ( Ex. sentence level
changes, MLA citation).

My knowledge of conventions have improved a bit but nothing major. I was always
familiar with MLA citation though the format when putting it in an annotated bib is still wrong. I
will say that the grammar videos about the commas and appositives have definitely increased my
writing potential. I dont think I was ever using them right until those videos. Hell, I dont think I
was actually taught how to use them right until now. I kind of just rolled with it and it worked.
But now I know how and when to use them making me a stronger writer in the process.

7. Critical Reflection: a) Discuss an example of choices made during the composition. b) Explain
what you think is most important in providing commentary on others work and receiving
commentary on your own. Provide at least three examples of your nuanced use of commentary in
your writing projects.
a. My topic was changing so much due to my sources. I had one topic that changed
to another and another and another and another until finally I decided to choose one. The
Naysayers lesson really helped me choose my topic because it brought it full circle. I will
be honest, I had so many sources that they were all over the place. But after that lesson, I
was able to buckle down and choose a path and this path worked. I can safely reach my
destination with no major accidents.

b. I think peer review is a great tool to have and be available for your disposal. It
provides more reader based feedback from people that are not teachers or professionals.
Professional help is greatly appreciated but having the common persons opinion is even
better. It helps you see what direction you are going with with your paper and how the
audience responds to your writing. It keeps people in line. Some of the nuances that
comes with peer review or commentary include the introduction to new opinions and
more vision to see some mistakes that were overlooked before. People arent going to say
the same thing twice. The common man or students doing the peer review is better for the
write cause they are mostly the target audience they are trying to reach . Finally the
advice as a whole seems to go a long way. Communicating with your peers helps develop
relationships that can support you a long way.