This semester I have learned so much more than I did last semester.

I had a
really hard time figuring out what the standard of essays were and my teacher never
helped me reach those standards. I also had a hard time transitioning from high
school level writing to college level writing. This semester something just clicked. I
enjoyed writing the essays, it was easier for me to understand the prompts, I had
more fun in class, and writing at the college level was second nature. Also, the SLOs
meanings were clearer and it was easier for me to use them in my writing. I cannot
wait to share with you my progress on my writing and how SLOs B, C, D, and G; as
well as the required SLOs I and J were used in my writing over the semester.
SLO B: Writing as a Social Act, defined by me is the process of writing not for
you but for a discourse community as well as being able to manipulate what you are
expressing so that your entire audience understands what is being said. Your
vocabulary, formatting, and tone of paper changes based on the discourse
community. I write more informal and I use slang words when I am writing to my
friends vs. when I write to a professor, which is more formal and I use the best
vocabulary. In my genre revision I wrote specifically using language that would be
understood by the discourse community of mental health professionals but I also
made it so that a person suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder would
understand what I am expressing. For example In vivo exposure the patient
repeatedly engages in activities, situations, or behaviors that are avoided due to the
trauma, but which are not actually dangerous. For example a man who was
traumatized overseas in a car bombing could do therapy where he has to drive in a
car. A mental health professional would understand exactly what vivo exposure is
but because my audience focuses on both mental health professionals as well as
potential patients I need to explain what it is as well give an example so the patient
understand exactly what they will be going through. I will be able to use this SLO
outside of English in everything. Like I said previously I use different words and
slang with my friends whether I am writing to them or talking to them vs. my boss
with whom I need a professional relationship.
SLO C: Writing as a Process, defined by me is using different mediums to plan
and execute your writing, such as editing, making an outline, proofreading, having
someone else look at your paper, and researching. When I begin writing any of my
papers I make an outline on paper or sometimes in my head. When I wrote my
revision of my SWA #4, I used the formatting of the original SWA#4 as my outline
for the revision. An example of this is the counter argument and limitations Animal
activists, horse-lovers, and certain members of the government believe that horse
slaughter is an evil and inhumane practice. Their platform is that horse slaughter
has not been proven to be safe for human consumption, it doesnt stimulate local
economy, horses are companion animals, and it is not humane to slaughter
themThe animal activists are biased and only see their opinions through a narrow
lens. This is basically my original SWA #4 that is used as my counterargument.
Each paragraph was essentially the opposing view in my revision. I stuck with the
original formatting that I had written out previously. Also, I try and get all of my
papers to be peer edited. My dad was so kind enough to proofread my revision and
give me some great feedback that I used to improve my revision, such as grammar
changes, spelling, and word choice. This SLO is easy to use outside of English. I use it
in all of my writing outside of English, especially when I have to write a response to
a question in an assignment. I make sure that I go back over what I wrote and check
spelling, grammar and if I supported myself with appropriate information.
SLO D: Grammar and Usage, defined by me is to improve the quality and the
ease of grammar and spelling in your papers. Throughout the semester improving
my grammar and spelling has been a challenge for me. I have always struggled with
essays due my poor spelling and grammar usage. This semester I have improved
with my grammar and spelling. I believe that my essays have shown this
improvement. For example There will always be conflict with the slaughtering of
horses. The fact that they are companion animals makes the slaughter of horses
even harder to fathom. The slaughterhouses really do destroy the town that they are
in and it is hard to clean up after the slaughterhouses, the horse meat can be toxic
for human consumption and there is no way to regulate what toxins are pumped
into the horses. With the slaughterhouses open in the U.S. theses issues decline
compared to Mexico and Canada due to the increase of funding and inspections. I
felt like this paragraph showed my improvement of grammar as well word choice.
This SLO can be used outside of English in all of my writing whether it be a simple
response question or an essay I am writing for a journal, grammar and spelling are
always important.
SLO G: Research, defined by me is using research to discover your personal
beliefs through many different views and to focus the research based off of specific
questions. As I was rewriting my SWA#4 I realized that my view on the horse-
slaughter ban had changed. At the very beginning of my writing process with my
SWA#4 I was totally against the slaughter-houses in the U.S. but as I found articles
talking about the lifting of the ban a came across one proposal where there is ban on
the export of horses to Mexico and Canada. I realized with the ban on horse-
slaughter already lifted that this was the best possible result that can come from
situation. As I began to rewrite my traditional revision this idea solidified. With my
research into the topic I came across quotes such as PETA thinks that it is a better
idea to open up slaughterhouses in the US so that the horses are not treated as
cruelly as they are in Mexico. And 92% of horses slaughtered are in good
condition. These quotes made up my mind on the subject and made me realize that
I need to do research before I completely pour my soul into a belief. I will use this
SLO in my everyday life. I need to learn to be more informative and selective with
the information that is presented to me.
SLO I: Research, defined by me is through the process of writing a research
paper I need to find sources that will make me a credible writer. The sources need
to support my opinion but also use the counter-argument as well as using rhetorical
devices. They make the reader interested and it shows that the author can be
diverse with the information. This makes sources credible. Being able to find these
sources and using them makes me a more credible writer and makes my paper
stronger. With my SWA#6 and genre revision, I needed to find very credible
sources because it was an informative research paper. With this type of paper I
didnt need a counter-argument so I needed to figure out what made my sources
credible. It was actually very easy to find sources that were reliable because my
topic was PTSD. Many of the sources that are out there for PTSD are reliable and
credible because they important articles are done by well-known groups, such as
the Veteran Affairs groups across the country, Web M.D. and the National PTSD
group. An example of the credibility is The Nebraska Department of Veteran Affairs,
an estimated 7.8 percent of Americans will experience PTSD at some point in their
lives, with women (10.4%) twice as likely as men (5%) to develop PTSD. About 3.6
percent of U.S. adults aged 18 to 54 (5.2 million people) have PTSD during the
course of a given year. This represents a small portion of those who have
experienced at least one traumatic event; 60.7% of men and 51.2% of women
reported at least one traumatic event. This quote sums up the meaning of reliable
and credibility. They have pathos, ethos and even logos. In my traditional revision I
felt up to the challenge of writing my whole paper as the counter-argument of my
original topic. I was able to use all of my original sources so I know that I had
reliable and credible sources. This SLO can be used outside of English with work
because you may have to gather information to present to your boss and you need
to find information that isnt faulty, poorly written, and not reliable.
Lastly SLO J: Research, defined by me is I should start to write like my peers
in my field by using the correct terminology, tone and formatting. With my genre
revision I chose to do a brochure because I thought it would be a great way to write
like the people in my field. I knew that all of the information was there I just needed
to condense it and pick out the information that I knew was the most helpful to a
patient who might pick up the brochure. I hard part was that I had to give the
information so that a person who doesnt have extensive background in PTSD can
understand what is going on with him or her. A great example of this is when I talk
about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy is when
psychiatrists and psychologists help the patient understand and change the way that
they think about the traumatic event and the aftermath. The goal of this therapy
according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs is to understand how certain
thoughts about your trauma cause you stress and make your symptoms worse. The
patient will then identify what makes them experience PTSD symptoms. Then the
patient will learn to replace these thoughts with more accurate and less disturbing
thoughts. This will lead to learning how to cope with anger, guilt and fear. What is
special about this type of therapy is that CBT is a type of psychotherapy that is
different from traditional psychodynamic psychotherapy in that the therapist and
the patient will actively work together to help the patient recover from their mental
illness. (NAMI) Patients who receive treatment learn how to cope which helps them
get along through their daily activities. I was able to keep the information that a
college of mine would know and understand and word it so that a patient will know
what is exactly going on in there therapy. I will always use this SLO outside of
English. Knowing what career that I want to go into I will start to write like Forensic
Psychologists.
I will be able to take all that I have learned into the work force because
writing is an important skill in this day and age. Whether it be a presentation of
information to your boss or a psychiatrist writing down notes about their patients.
Being able to use the appropriate standard of writing will always be important.