Lexi Conklin

Ms. Diaz
English 120
May 3rd, 2015
Reflective Essay on Student Learning Outcomes
The overall progress I have made in this English 120 course reflects specific concepts
that I have improved on and others that I still need practice understanding and analyzing.
Targeting specific genres and transforming them into new genres within each of the sequences
has given me a new perspective of how the same information can be altered into a completely
different notion. Writing, concepts, research, and genres are particularly flexible in developing a
project that can be modified to fit any scenario. Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) aim to
improve the formal understanding of each genre through specific techniques that include the
rhetorical situation, the research, the writing process, grammar and usage, and the reflection.
These outcomes are broken down in steps through the sequences of approaching, producing, and
finalizing the prompt. It helps students like myself to focus and engage on the concepts of each
assessment, while giving me awareness of the level of work that is expected. Each of the learning
outcomes are guidelines designed to meet the overall goal of the course that has addressed
numerous rhetorical situations. These strategies have been beneficial to my writing and
understanding of uncertain concepts through class discussions, revisions, and exercises that are
specific to the assignments. I believe these outcomes have given my writing more structure and
substance with a clear level of organization, which will be very useful for me in the future.

SLO A: Rhetorical Situation and Genre

This learning outcome builds the foundation for analyzing and constructing a rhetorical
situation around a centered argument, while considering the prompt, the angle, the purpose, the

audience, and the framework of the context. Writing socially to convince or persuade the targeted
audience on a particular subject also takes considerable strategies, including researching and
making claims with supported evidence. Proper preparation is key to completing a wellorganized genre or rhetorical situation.
As a student, have utilized this outcome to its entirety mainly through the first sequence
when writing a paper proposal (LSA 1) and a rhetorical analysis (MWA 1) on how a university
ad or campaign can recruit students into joining their program. The rhetorical situation for both
of these assignments was to analyze a university ad/ campaign specific to my intended major and
report my findings to a student committee interested in how ads/ campaigns can be effective and
inviting for students. These two genres were composed of the same information but altered to
fulfill the lengths and details needed to support the genre within the rhetorical situation. The
paper proposal provided an observation of the key points and additional feedback to what could
be improved in the ad I chose, while the rhetorical analysis was an in depth analysis of all the
effective rhetorical concepts found in the ad. In the process of creating my rhetorical analysis, I
had to recycle information from my paper proposal and expand off ideas in my proposal so the
context would clearly match what was needed for the rhetorical analysis. Taking one genre and
producing a completely new one helped me understand how the context can be transformed to fit
the appropriate rhetorical situation. This has helped me think in broader terms about genres given
that their information and perspectives can be changed. For example, in my rhetorical analysis I
structured my argument by utiliz[ing] all the main rhetorical appeals ethos, logos, and pathos to
allocate th[e] career opportunity by effectively drawing in the viewers, while in my paper
proposal I evaluated how the ad impacted its targeted audience with factual and credible

references. The rhetorical situation may be the same, but both assignments were structured
around the different elements of their genre.
I have learned how to alter my thoughts from one genre to the next, while improving on
collecting the proper evidence and research needed to generate information from one genre to the
other. Although ideas and concepts can get mixed-up in the process of writing two similar
genres, I believe I did well on expanding the analysis of my thoughts into my rhetorical analysis
by filtering out information from my paper proposal. My proposal become a great reference
guide for the framework of my rhetorical analysis. For instance, this statement in my paper
proposal was the main foundation for my rhetorical analysis, all career training programs intend
to advertise how effective and promising they will be for students interested in a particular field
of study. This student learning outcome has given me a good understanding of how to structure
and compose rhetorical situations that has been practiced and repeated in every assignment this
semester.

SLO B: Rhetorical Situation and Genre

This learning strategy is specifically directed towards the roles of discourse communities
and how levels of social interactions within each group can form common values, interests,
cultures, and personal identities. In the second sequence of this course, I analyzed a genre
regarding taking a stance on an issue and making a creditable argument either for or against that
issue. The rhetorical situation for this position paper (MWA 2) involved me applying for a job as
a content writer for a Non- Profit Organization where part of my application included a specific
writing task. In this hypothetical situation, I was asked to present and defend my viewpoints on a
particular issue that I considered to be important and stimulating. This falls under the foundation

of researching an issue for this position paper as I had to consider other peoples supporting and
opposing ideas within local, national, and international levels involving the stratifications of the
argument. I began my position paper with a strong opposing stance on the current education
system in the U.S., which included my thesis statement. Although the introduction was strong, I
received feedback from my professor addressing that the introduction shouldnt jump right into
the argument and remain objective to the issue. For instance, as you can see in my intro I did not
invite the reader, I tackled the issue right away as I wrote, Common Core Curriculum has not
benefited the educational success of students in grade school; in fact, it has limited the time they
need to absorb crucial information. After restructuring my intro, I integrated my ideas and
began writing an objective summary of my opposing views, which included discussing the
strengths and limitations of those opposing views to add more substance to my writing. After I
introduced the opposing views, I backed my argument up with a counter argument explaining
why these opposing views should be reconsidered and revised in order to strengthen the
education system. The counter argument flowed directly into the summary of my supporting
points which opposed the overall issue, the decline of academic performance resulting from the
Common Core Curriculum and the unfair circumstances teachers have to endure from the
excessive amount of standardized tests students are given. I expanded on this issue to protest
my stance which included creditable sources, and from there I further discussed the strengths and
limitations of my argument and shortly wrapped up the position paper with a conclusion. These
were the main supporting points I introduced in my argument that qualified for the best way to
expand my ideas and viewpoints in the position paper.
Among my research, I analyzed a variety of different genres and identified how they
contributed to supporting my argument within their social level. Although I still need to work on

grasping my readers attention on different public levels, I can recognize the progress I have
made over the course of the semester through improving my directed approach or angle to a
specific audience. This learning outcome helped me make claims on how important this issue is
to the foundations of society and what repercussions may occur on the local, national, and
international level if the education system continues to weaken.

SLO C: Writing as a Process

This student learning outcome approaches every stage of the writing process including
planning through preparations, composing a rhetorical situation, revising among the feedback,
and reflecting on the finalized product. This is the brainstorming process where ideas and
concepts come together to have an effective approach on the assignment. Each procedure feeds
into the next to ensure that the final composition is accurate and strong throughout various
genres. These techniques are essential and used in analyzing every rhetorical situation, so
improvement could only benefit my writing and organization skills.
In the previous first sequence, the focus was to write a rhetorical analysis on the
persuasion concepts of ethos, logos, and pathos analyzing them within a rhetorical scenario. One
specific assignment (MWA 1), utilized the resource of an ad or campaign specifically describing
educational program designed to recruit students and workers to join. My task involved
addressing each of the rhetorical concepts found in the video used to persuade the viewer.
Collecting the important information for the prewriting stages wasnt a very challenging part of
the writing process as it was only a four-minute video that could be re-watched multiple times to
capture key elements. Although it was a short video, I still had to dig deep to find the rhetorical
concepts that werent always very obvious. I utilized my pre-planning notes and formed it into a

well-constructed composition, which was a sometime difficult to assess as I had to organize the
information and my thoughts appropriately. For instance, in my introduction I wrote, The
Anderson School of Management Career Service program accurately advertises the individual
success of each student, while providing direct advisement on various business concentrations in
order to structure an ideal guide for future plans. From this main point I expanded my analysis
within the three branches of rhetorical concepts that included ethos, logos, and pathos. I
discussed and interpreted the persuasion mechanisms from the video in depth to fulfill the
requirements of my analysis. After the draft was completed, the analysis went through the
revision and collaboration stage that targeted constructive criticism from my peers, which helped
me understand and correct my mistakes that overall improved my level of writing. This revision
included me reworking prior ethos, logos, and pathos descriptions into the paragraphs that
specifically address each rhetorical concept in detail. For example, I relocated this sentence to fit
into the paragraph describing this concept, the ethos tactic is utilized frequently in the ad to
value the credibility of the programs prestigious representation broadcasted through the
perspective of a previous student. This outcome has been taught numerous times throughout my
academic years, so it has become clear what is expected of my writing skills.
To better enrich my writing, I have learned not to ponder on unnecessary topics and get
right to the point, which I had received feedback regarding the logos paragraph. Knowing what I
need to improve on in the writing process has helped me compose stronger more compelling
arguments to achieve the objective of this learning outcome.

SLO F: Reflection

This learning approach evaluates the total progress that has been made over the course of
the semester through a self-reflection. The main objective of this English course was to learn
how to compose various genres using multiple resources and applying that information to form a
completely new context within a different genre. Each assessment that was assigned challenged
my creativity and my perception of how genres are created, addressed, shared, and reflected
upon.
In the most recent sequence, the class was given a specific rhetorical scenario that
involved persuading a department for $10,000 to fund a project dedicated to finding a solution
for a problem facing the University or in the Albuquerque area. I was first asked to write a memo
(LSA 3) addressed to a specific department to bring attention to a problem that could potentially
be solved, which included providing the reader with new information while persuading them to
take possible action. Memos are typically written in the format of a letter as mine was addressed
to Craig White, the Dean of the Anderson School of Management as I wrote, Im writing to
inform you about an issue that has affected the health of many children in the Albuquerque area.
Access to nutritious well-balanced meals is essential to families that cannot feed or support their
children. I briefly addressed the problem and the solution I would take if given the $10,000 in
funding in my memo. Then, it was my task to construct a proposal (MWA 3) that described the
problem in detail, implicate a logical plan to solve this problem, and then break down the costs
and benefits of that plan. This proposal was constructed from a group effort, where everyone was
expected to complete a part of the assignment in order to have a finished draft of the proposal. I
was assigned to define the problem and convince the reader that the problem was real and
significant and needed to be fixed, which also included the causes and effects of that problem.
For example in the proposal I discussed why this problem exists, child hunger has grown

extensively in the city of Albuquerque with the lack of resources and funding needed to support
the 29% of children below the poverty rate living in New Mexico. This assignment reflected a
real-life situation as my group and I addressed an actual problem that has hindered the
community, so it was critical that we considered every aspect of the issue and the solution in
order to accurately present a professional proposal.
This group proposal was a simple example of how various ideas and sources can be
incorporated to fulfil all the requirements needed to create a new genre. Each task that was
assigned to each person creating the proposal had to compromise how the genre was developed,
addressed, shared, and reflected upon within the constraints of working together as a group. This
course has provided me with all the resources and help I need to improve my skills on adjusting
and creating different rhetorical situations in everyday life and in the community. Throughout the
semester I have evaluated my progress in small concentrated reflections on specific assignments
and activities, but now my self-evaluation has developed into a much larger area of my life
where I have learned to accept and improve on the mistakes I have made. This learning outcome
has given me the opportunity to challenge and reflect on my previous advancements in this
course as I have come to realize that everyone learns and grows from their failures.
Every student learning outcome I have engaged in has given me a step by step
understanding of how to analyze, compose, and reflect on an assigned genre among various
resources. I have improved my writing skills and the fundamentals I need to advance my English
comprehension within the concept of rhetorical situations. This course has given me the
opportunity to expand my knowledge and apply what I have learned to future situations where
communication and technology is necessary.