Introduction:

Over the course of this semester I have learned how to better myself as a writer. In this
class we have done three sequences each of which have two small writing assignments
that are like crutches for one major writing assignment. In-between each assignment we
had daily activities that helped round out lessons given. We covered all the elements of
each student learning outcomes or SLOs for short through the process of doing each
major assignment.
SLO A: Rhetorical Situation and Genre
The SLO that I feel most comfortable with is SLO A. I feel that over the course of the
semester I have learned the most about SLO A and also how to really use it to better
myself as a writer. SLO A is being able to write a piece that fits its rhetorical situation and
genre. This means looking at the specific ways in which different pieces in the same
genre are written. With all three major sequences I think I understood what SLO A was
and how to use it more with each assignment.
My first introduction with SLO A was when we had to create profiles of our discourse
communities. Our first assignment was writing a usage guide. In class we had looked at
different types of usage guides and how they were organized (alphabetically,
chronologically or in order of importance) and how they were formatted. Doing this
helped me understand that works in different genres can deviate from the norm or follow
very specific guidelines set by that genre. Even looking at your discourse communities
was like a synonym, to genre because there are so many with different guidelines or
requirements.
The rest of the semester and throughout the remainder of sequences we continued to
explore more of what SLO A was. During the second sequence for example we had in
class discussions about different types of reviews and how depending on the venue of the
review it would change the way you wrote. So for example a customer review under a
product on Amazon would be less formal and have more of an approachable tone in
comparison to a formal review in a pristine magazine. Knowing the different ways to
write within the review genre made it extremely easy to write the final review on the
place I had chosen to write about. Just because I knew how to make my piece of writing
not only fit the requirements but also have it excel in its class. Now in the future I will be
able to write within different genres and write to fit a rhetorical situation.
SLO C: Writing as a Process
The next SLO that I feel I understand is SLO C or writing as a process. I feel like this
was also the SLO that I already new the most about before entering the class. Never the
less I learned a great deal more on what the SLO was and how to use it to my benefit
when writing by being in this class. Over the course of the semester we did assignments
and activities that touched or explained components of what the SLO meant in terms of
writing a solid well-rounded piece of literature. These helped me form my own definition

of the SLO C as; the breakdown of every element used when writing and constructing a
complete piece of writing.
The breakdown of the semester can be considered a break down of writing. In the first
sequence we did projects that focused on discourse communities. This was the first time
we as a class were introduced to genres. The first thing you do when writing is plan what
you want to write and part of that is figuring out what genre your going to write under.
And with that we did activities like looking at the rhetorical situations and figuring out
what structure to use based on the rhetorical situation and its genre.
Then in the second sequence we wrote a review of a local place or business in
Albuquerque. It was in this sequence where I felt that peer review was first emphasized.
We did peer review after each assignment and we had longer in depth questions to
answer. We looked at what made a good peer review or edit and we discussed in class our
personal experience with peer edits. This helped me know what others wanted and helped
me shape my own expectations of the peer edit feedback. In addition we were also asked
to express what parts of the peer feedback were helpful and what were the areas that
could be improved. After doing that the questions we had to think about while doing peer
editing made it a lot easier to give quality feedback.
SLO F: Reflection
My definition of the SLO Reflection is looking at your work and making a point to
recognize what you did well and what you understood also what you could potentially
improve on. Before taking this class I had never written a reflection on my writing or
really anything that I did academically. The first reflection that we had to write was the
scariest but it helped that in class we looked at someone elses experience with writing
reflections. We learned about the mistakes that she made while writing her first one and
how she improved it in the end. I think this really helped give a guide to how to write a
successful reflection
It became routine to reflect and have to write a thorough reflection on each of my writing
assignments. But as we moved onto each reflection we had more in depth questions to
reflect on and different ways on how we could reflect on what we had written. By doing
that it has made writing this major overall reflection easier in that I know how to reflect
from various standpoints or angles. I have also been able to look back on my past
reflections to see where I have changed my opinion or where I have remained the same
throughout the semester. Doing these after every assignment I now realize that to write a
successful reflection you have to be able to use and apply what you write to better
yourself as a writer.
SLO G: Research
It wasnt until the second sequence that I felt we touched on SLO G. This is when we did
observations at the place of our choice and then we incorporated that into our review by
describing different aspects of the place. We also had to incorporate an interview into a

costumer review. Doing this helped me learn how to use outside information and research
in my writing correctly which is also my personal definition of what SLO G is. In class
before writing our final review we went over how to incorporate someone elses thoughts
into our writing ethically and correctly. This is something that is going to help me in the
future immensely. I do however feel that I shouldve actually applied this skill in the final
review, I feel like it wouldve been added assurance that I knew how to do it.
Before taking this class I knew how to do research because of past high school research
papers but I lacked the skill to be able to smoothly weave the information back into my
own writing. Now I feel Ill be able to do so effectively. The point where I felt concrete in
my abilities was when converting the interview into the customer review. I remember
drafting it and having the interviewees thought and feelings spill onto the paper as if they
were writing it themselves. Although I feel as if I understand this SLO better I still wish
that we had done more with it throughout the other sequences. That being said this class
has given me a clear understanding of what SLO G is and my definition of the SLO is the
skill to take outside information and research and incorporate it into your work.
Conclusion:
Taking English 1110 with Mrs. Ridgway has definitely made me a better writer overall. I
feel confident in almost all the SLOs in that through taking this class I have developed
my own solid definitions of them and have been able to explain the ways to use the SLOs
to my advantage in my writing. I know how to incorporate research into my writing and I
know different ways to approach writing as a whole also, I know how to fit my writing to
a genre and how to make it make sense to a rhetorical situation. But the most important I
feel that Ive learned throughout the semester is how to reflect on my writing as well as
my progress or lack there of. I feel this is important because now I know not only how to
write one but how to use it to continue to make me a more of a developed writer. This
semester has went by very quickly but Im glad that I got a lot out of it despite the small
amount of time spent in the class.