- For Learning Outcome #1, ‘explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations’, I will discuss the steps I took to analyze the piece ‘This is Water’ by David Foster Wallace. After exploring our thoughts and opinions over the text in our class discussion, my professor hellped to carefully explain the themes and ideas present in the writing. In order to aid us in our possible difficulties analyzing the piece, the professor provided text proof to back up her own analysis of the piece. After the discussion I was able to piece together my own interpretation of Foster’s ‘This is Water’ and relate it to our overall course theme of self and other. My full analysis can be found in the summary and response essay included, but I will include a short excerpt of a piece of my analysis. “In David Foster Wallace’s piece entitled ‘This is Water’, he compares human’s natural preference for a mentally perceived self-centered reality to what he calls a “default setting”. The main theme of choosing awareness over our “default setting” describes to readers that despite the self-centered reality our mind attempts to convince us of, we must consciously choose to make ourselves aware of that which is right outside of our own minds, in front of us. “
- For Learning Outcome #2, “develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing”, I will copy and paste discussion board paragraphs I wrote for my FIQWS 10108 course. For Discussion Board #4, I wrote, “In the piece ‘Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals’, Alexis Pauline Gumbs attempts to convey the rhetoric of similarities between black women and marine mammals by their similar experiences in colonization and captivity. Alexis presents this rhetoric to her audiences as a way of opening their eyes to the connection of unjust human behaviors such as robbery of one’s identity towards the uniqueness and beauty marine mammals and black women share. An example of this rhetoric can be seen when Alexis states, “What struck me first was this sentence. ‘Several of the captives have gained renown as quick learners and creative performers.’ They were talking about the oceanarium lives of the slope-headed dolphins with the ridged teeth (Steno bredanensis), but I thought they were talking about you. And me. And all of our brilliant friends who have had to learn so fast, perform so creatively here in our captivity.” I believe the main points of this article are to convey to readers how black women in the present are learning to grow, thrive, and find a sense of freedom when long ago, our freedom was taken from us. In response to this article, I believe this piece really resonates with me as an individual born a black woman. I think Alexis’ main points hold a weight of forgotten reality in them simply because she takes into consideration the possible alteration of our fates due to our captivity.” For Discussion Board #8, I wrote my rough draft for my Summary and Response Essay beginning with, “In David Foster Wallace’s piece titled ‘This is Water’, he attempts to portray humans’ natural preference for self-centered negativity in challenging times through what he calls a ‘default setting’. By providing various examples of how quickly our minds find excuses for the negative aspects of a situation centered around only us, readers are able to better understand his message that despite its difficulty, we must consciously choose the path our thoughts take instead of allowing ourselves to slip into the “default” he describes.”
- For Learning Outcome #3, “recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations,” I will include the introductory paragraph from a rough and final draft of my Research Essay to showcase how my drafting process differs from my final copy after applying strategies learned in class. Rough Draft: “I chose to write about ‘Nothing Personal’ by James Baldwin, ‘To the Man Standing on the Corner Holding the Sign that Said, ‘God Hates Gays’ by Rudy Francisco, and ‘As Black Lives Matter turns 8, understand us’ by Sybrina Fulton. Each piece highlights the perspective of Black Americans in a society that is built in favor of its white inhabitants, illustrating their external challenges and personal opinions.” Final Draft: The concept of ‘self and other’ can often find itself portrayed in various forms of literature when writers attempt to convey numerous societal factors and the possible effects, they have on oneself. This concept can be found in the writing of James Baldwin, Rudy Francisco, and Sylvia Fulton in Nothing Personal, To the Man Standing on The Corner Holding a Sign that Said “God Hates Gays”, and As Black Lives Matter Turns 8, understand us. Each piece highlights the perspective of Black Americans existing in a society that is built in favor of its white inhabitants, whilst illustrating their external challenges and personal opinions.
- During class on October 25, 2021, my professor assigned each student a peer to review eachother rough draft texts with. Luckily my peer was present in class and we both read over the drafts we had written thus far for our Exploratory Essay assignment. The professor also provided us a checklist to align our peers texts with to make sure we were on the right track. I followed the outline to critique my peers writing and noticed they did well and their writing matched up closely with the checklist. When I recieved my feedback I agreed with most of the pointers given to me because they pointed out flaws in my writing I hadn’t yet caught. I usually am not fond of peer reviewing because I am a bit introverted, but through the help of the online barrier, the welcoming atmosphere, and checklist provided, I found the experience was much less anxiety inducing. The discussion of our texts and pairing with another classmate for the process successfullly met the course requirements for the Course Learing Outcome #4: “Engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes.”
- To demonstrate Learning Outcome #5 , “to understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences”, I will describe my process of finding one of my resources I used for my Research Essay. In order to get me started in the right direction, my professor provided a link to the CCNY Library database to assist me in finding accurate and informative sources to include in my essay. Using the link, I typed “Black Lives Matter” into the search bar in order to narrow down sources particularly pertaining to the personal perspectives of black individuals experiencing America’s systemic biases. I found a source that had Sybrina Fulton’s personal thoughts on the BLM movement. After using the tips provided to me by my professor to make sure my sources are legit, I decided to use the website in my essay. I included my research essay on this website to provide further demonstration of Learning Outcome #5.
- Learning Outcome #6: For this Learning Outcome, “Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias”. On November 3, 2021 we had a Zoom class session with a CCNY Librarian that helped to show us how to find credible and accurate sources, specifically through the CCNY library databases. We were taught how to decipher sources that should be used for writings such as our research essay, and which sources shouldn’t.
- Learning Outcome #7: For my Research Essay, I provided evidence to match the ideas I presented and made sure to follow MLA citation rules presented during class and even on owl.purdue.edu. I made sure I cited my information correctly because I know in previous writings, the professor spotted my incorrect citations and provided information explaining the correct way to write them in MLA format. Through this process I was able to use Learning Outcome #7 and “practice systemic applications of citation connections” for my Exploratory Essay assignment.
- For Learning Outcome #8, to practice systemic application of citation conventions, I’ve chosen to include examples of in-text citations I’d used for my research essay. I followed examples previously shown to us by my professor and also looked at the purdue owl citation link for reference. Overall, I learned to “practice systemic application of citation conventions” when writing my research essay.
