Ms. Douglas, Thus far I have enjoyed the course and especially our discussion Monday.

Specifically regarding Daybook entries I believe I have given B- Above average effort. All entries are completed along with supplemental notes. I believe all my entries are thorough, well-reasoned and demonstrate critical thinking. Substantial effort was given to complete each entry. Alternatively, during in-class discussions I believe I have gone above and beyond and given A level effort even on the first day of class. I believe I have contributed to the overall classroom experience at the Above and beyond threshold for example during Mondays discussion. I have attended all class meetings, participated in all discussions thus far and been prepared for each assignment. I have taken brief notes on particular assignments and asked questions throughout the semester. I do believe the introduction letter was a demonstration of my critical thinking and effort. I have started my research and compiled numerous sources. I have not written my annotated bibliography yet as I want to compile all sources first. I realize during my proposal my line of inquiry wasnt properly narrowed. I would like to submit a revised line the effect on a child of being raised by a same-sex couple. I have run into one issue, can we create tangent arguments between sources that dont specifically address the line of inquiry? I assume that is possible. While this is not a floating scale I do believe I have stood out this semester as one of the best 3 students in this class. Obviously I have no numerical data to support this claim however I do believe my peers would agree. While this seems extremely pretentious, there is substance. Suppose you asked the class to vote for who they genuinely think are the top 3 students, I wholeheartedly believe I would be included. That is a reflection of my effort and contributions to this class. Accordingly, I would consider my performance to this point to be A Above and beyond. I am hoping to receive an A by the end of this semester. The one area I would like to improve is my Daybook and raise that from B to an A. Within the Daybook I selected 4 pieces I believe exhibit critical thinking and thorough effort, each passage is noted with a yellow numbered sticky note. 1. Passage one is the first Daybook assignment of the semester. The passage is the answers to questions 1-5 in response to MLKs Letter from Birmingham Jail. I picked this entry because I believe it set the tone for the Daybook expectations, obviously they became far more complex and lengthy. Each answer directly and thoroughly responds to the questions with examples. This demonstrates critical thinking and reading comprehension of a substantial work. 2. This entry is the informal essay at the end of Chapter 5. I chose this essay because it is a great example of immediate critical thinking. It stood out to me after I heard how many people didnt do it. Based on my assessment this part of the assignment was commonly

skipped. This informal essay demonstrates critical thinking and analysis. The essay required one to understand the arguments and evidence supplied. 3. The third entry isnt an assignment, rather it is a set of notes I took during lecture about the Rhetorical Analysis Essay. This stood out to me as a secondary use for the Daybook, a location to keep class notes. I used these notes to guide parts of my essay, brainstorm topics and keep the proper formatting. This entry isnt so much a demonstration of critical thinking as it is a demonstration of being engaged within the class. This entry made the Rhetorical Analysis Essay far easier. 4. The final entry was completed before the discussion Monday. We were asked to simply brainstorm ideas and questions. This stands out to me because it was so recent and is a strong demonstration of critical thinking. I believe in this entry I demonstrate critical thinking, especially in the questions I ask. I also asked one of the questions during our discussion and created a very organic conversation.

Michael Roth