Daniel Garcia Garrigo

UWRT 1102

Ms. Leah Huizar

03/01/17

MIDTERM REFLECTION

This semester, I have had the opportunity to learn about useful writing processes.

1101 prepared me for writing texts in academia last semester, and during this semester I

have strengthened my knowledge of rhetoric, critical reading, composing processes,

knowledge conventions and critical reflection. During the first part of the semester, I

had to reflect on myself as a writer, which was very helpful as I was able to understand

how I write and think about my strengths and weaknesses. One of the first articles that

we had to read, 2b or not 2b? by David Crystal was very interesting, and it promoted

my curiosity in the different ways of writing and the different styles depending on the

medium that we are using to write. Also, the Backpacks vs. Briefcases article made me

think deeply on the concept of language and how it is shaped depending on the situation

and the context. The cultural background is also crucial for the variations of language,

and I know this very well as I come from Spain.

The next part of the course consisted on the Inquiry Project's phases. We have

had to work on them keeping up with the deadlines, so we have had a lot of time to

work on them. The research done for the project has helped me form a general idea and

I am now ready to start writing it after Spring Break. During the third and fourth week

we worked on rhetoric and we analyzed different texts that served for different

purposes. An activity that was very interesting was going around campus and getting

photos of objects or signs that represented an idea without mentioning it specifically.

Examples of this included emergency lights, cones, flyers and street signs. This helped
me think about texts in a different way, and we even analyzed the rhetoric's behind

television and magazine commercials. Also, the comparison between advertisements

from nowadays and a couple of decades ago helped me understand how the language

has adapted to the new forms of technology and the new advancements. The language

has evolved with the world that surrounds it, and rhetoric is a way in which we can

measure it.

Finally, the first half of the semester has made me approach writing assignments

with more confidence and organization. The fact that English is not my first language

shaped my way of writing, but I am confident that my abilities as a writer have

improved substantially. In the second half of the semester, I want to be able to

communicate more complex ideas in a more realistic way, and be able to write with

more ease and a better organization of ideas. I want to become a more effective

communicator and compose texts that can achieve a professional level. My Electrical

Engineering major requires a lot of writing, and communication is a key process that I

want to master.