To: Ms.

Alapin
From: Monica Schmitt
Date: 8 December 2015
Subject: Final Reflective Memo
Throughout the past semester, English 220 has challenged me with three
different major writing assignments and four different student learning
outcomes. Each outcome was stressed during our major assignments and
part of our task was to reflect on how we used and understood each one
after we turned in these projects. The student learning outcomes consisted
of: 1) to analyze rhetorical situations, 2) to find and evaluate information, 3)
to compose documents, and 4) to present documents. Over the past few
months of learning and thinking in this Expository Writing class, my
understanding of these outcomes has increased, along with an
understanding of how I believe they will help me as a future writer.
Analyzing rhetorical situations was especially useful for all three projects.
The first assignment, which consisted of writing an essay and creating a
media project to accompany it, was only effective if the writer thinks about
who his or her audience is going to be. My first draft of this essay was a little
vague and dry; one reason I think this happened was because I didnt fully
take into account who my rhetorical audience was. I revised this project so
that the essay was clearly directed at an audience who knew about Plato and
was interested in further analyzing how his ideals and the ideals of Rousseau
might conflict while thinking about education. My audience was less
generalized after my final edit, and this was only able to happen after
analyzing who my rhetorical audience was going to be. This student learning
outcome wasnt only vital in the first project. For each of the three projects I
put together, it was crucial to think about who was going to be looking at the
project and how to most effectively reach this audience. If no time is taken to
think about who you are trying to reach, your writing is basically moot.
Finding and evaluating information was the research component of this class,
and was the most important for project two. This project asked us to watch a
documentary and find outside sources to help compose an argumentative
multimedia piece. This project was so focused on outside information that I
was honestly a little overwhelmed at first, but going back to the student
learning outcomes helped me create a final project that I was proud of and
that met all of the criteria. I had never been particularly good at research
projects, so conducting research for this writing assignment and
incorporating it into my final project was a little difficult. However, the
importance of finding the right research was clear.
Composing documents was my favorite out of all four student learning
outcomes. I thought it was really fun and interesting toafter considering my
rhetorical audience and situationconsider what type of document delivery

would work best to convey my information. I settled on blog posts for two of
the major writing assignments because they hit all the bases when looking at
who might be reading my work and why they might be affected. Generating
content based on my own musings and readings, videos, discussions, etc.
was an enjoyable part of putting together a polished piece of coherent work.
Presenting documents first had me stumped because to me, it sounded
almost synonymous to the student learning outcome of composing
documents. I later realized that the compilation process was different than
presenting in that presenting also consisted of technical details like the
editing process for example, and also structuring the format of documents.
Presenting documents is important because depending on who you are
presenting to, the actual layout and demonstration of your work is an
important step in even capturing your intended audiences attention. In
project 2, I didnt originally have my work displayed in a blog format. Only
during my revision process when considering how to better communicate my
point did I decide to present my project in the form of a blog. This decision
made my project easier to read, understand, and targets the audience that I
am hoping to reach.
Each of these student learning outcomes has helped me to grow as a writer
because they have enhanced my level of understanding and perspective
when it comes to writing. I now take more time to think about my audience
than ever before, and starting from there, compose more concise documents
and projects to effectively communicate with the people I aim to reach. The
more I was urged to consult these learning outcomes and tweak my work to
meet them, the more I realized just how important they are in actually
creating a successful piece of work.
My development as a writer throughout the semester is clear. I was a little
wobbly during the first week or so in regards to these course outcomes but
now, coming out of week 17, I can honestly say that I feel confident in
summarizing each of these student learning outcomes and pointing out
where they stand in my final works. I can definitely use all of these strategies
in the future, especially in the professional writing field where it is crucial to
quickly and effectively communicate.