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Jacob McElwain

Professor Volstad

UWRT 1103-010

9 April 2019

Reflective Cover Letter

Writing and Inquiry in Academic Contexts (UWRT) is designed to help students

accomplish five specific course goals. The five goals are: rhetorical knowledge, critical reading,

the composing processes, knowledge of conventions, and critical reflection.

The first goal, rhetorical knowledge, means that by the end of the course, students will be

able to “use rhetorical concepts to analyze and compose a variety of texts using a range of

technologies adapted according to audience, context, and purpose.” Additionally, students will

“develop the flexibility that enables writers to shift voice, tone, formality, design, and layout

intentionally to accommodate varying situations and contexts.” One of the assignments that falls

under this category is the rhetorical analysis paper. In this assignment, I analyzed a text and

determined its author, audience, subject, appeals, ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos. Doing so

allowed me to understand why the author chose to display the text in the way he did. In turn, this

allowed me to use this knowledge when it came time for me to write a paper. All papers we

wrote this semester required some sort of rhetorical knowledge. The reasoning behind this is in

each paper, I had to pick an intended audience and write towards this audience. Then, I used

pathos, logos, and ethos to persuade my intended audience. Therefore, every paper we wrote this

semester falls under the rhetorical knowledge course goal. A particular assignment that aligns

with this goal is the argumentative digital storytelling I created. I needed to establish a certain

tone and design in order to effectively get my point across to the audience. I did this by finding
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an audio track that fit the mood and using pictures effectively to establish pathos and persuade

my audience. This falls under the rhetorical knowledge course goal because I had to figure out

how to properly reach my intended audience by shifting the project to meet the correct context,

audience, and purpose.

The second course goal, critical reading, is defined as having the "ability to analyze,

synthesize, interpret, and evaluate ideas, information and texts.” Additionally, it is used for

“reading for inquiry, learning, and discovery and to locate and evaluate research materials.”

Many of the assignments I have completed for this class required critical reading. For example, I

completed an annotated bibliography for an argumentative essay. The annotated bibliography I

completed analyzed all the sources that I intended to use in my paper. To elaborate, I first

indicated where I found the article and then I provided a brief overview of the source. I then

discussed the author’s reasoning for constructing the text and who the intended audience is.

Then, I rhetorically analyzed the source, pinpointing ethos, logos, and pathos present in the text.

Finally, I elaborated on why this source could prove to be important or not. This aligns directly

with this course goal, as I used critical reading skills to locate and evaluate research materials.

The third course goal is to teach students about the composing process. The composing

process is defined as being “flexible strategies for drafting, reviewing, collaborating, revising,

rewriting, rereading, and editing.” The definition is continued with, “using the writing process in

order to deepen engagement with source material, their own ideas, and the ideas of others and as

a means of strengthening claims and solidifying logical arguments.” Essentially, the composing

process says there is more to developing a text than just typing and uploading it. The composing

process consists of several drafts, a few reviews, maybe some collaborating, revising, editing,

and then, just maybe, finalization. I learned about the composing process through several
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assignments this year. For example, when working on the argumentative essay, several drafts

were to be submitted. The drafts were annoying at first. I was so used to just typing a paper and

submitting it right after, without looking over it. Up until now, that had worked for me pretty

well. In this class, I was forced to submit drafts. After the second draft, I began to see the

mistakes I made in the first draft of the texts I did. I quickly realized that by learning and using

the composing processes effectively, I could write better, more effective texts. For example, in

my argumentative essay, I caught an underdeveloped argument that I was able to reword to

improve its effectiveness. The composing process has helped me engage more with my works

and I have actually begun to enjoy editing them.

The fourth course goal is for students to have knowledge of conventions. Conventions are

defined as “formal rules and informal guidelines that define genres, and in so doing, shape

readers’ and writers’ expectations of correctness or appropriateness.” To augment this, students

must understand “why genre conventions vary and develop knowledge of linguistic structures.”

In all honesty, I believe all the assignments we have worked on so far this year could fit under

this category as well. As every genre that we have worked with has its own conventions. For

example, the annotated bibliography had to be formatted a particular way, as it was the

conventional way to do so. The same is true for other works we have created such as the digital

storytelling, the argumentative essay, and the rhetorical analysis. Conventions vary based off of

formatting (MLA vs. APA vs. CMS), genres, etc. For example, the conventions I used between

my annotated bibliography and discourse community paper are different. One is in MLA format

and the other is in APA format. The main point to understand is that different genres and texts

have different conventions and it is important to understand those conventions when writing in a

particular genre.
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The fifth and final course goal is for students to understand the importance of critical

reflection. Critical reflection is “a writer’s ability to articulate what s/he is thinking and why. For

example, to explain the choices made in a composition, to contextualize a composition, to

address revisions made in response to reader feedback etc.” Students should be able to “use

writing as a means for reflection” and “illustrate that reflection is a necessary part of learning,

thinking, and communicating.” I would like to elaborate on the first part of that definition. In

class, we did several discussions. Some discussions included discourse communities, digital

compositions, and remixes. However, I am going to focus specifically on the discussion about

remixes. The topic of discussion was to determine if everything is a remix or if there are still

original works. I argued that everything is a remix. This assignment falls directly under the fifth

course goal because I had to state what I believed and why I believed it. Part of critical reflection

is to explain why your thoughts are so. I elaborated on my thought process by saying that

everybody is inspired by previous works that they saw. At this point in time, it is impossible to

not be inspired by another’s work. I then continued with saying that when you are inspired by

another’s work, it is no longer completely original; therefore, it is a remix.

Although I have not addressed every single assignment that we have completed in the

class, I have addressed all five course goals. I have examples of assignments that have

demonstrated the course goals and I have elaborated on them. I believe I have accomplished all

of the course goals.