3 December 2016

Dear Reader,

The purpose of this letter is to inform you how I have changed over this
semester, fall 2016, as a writer and thinker and to show you what assignments
helped me to do so. This semester, I learned the value of critical reading through
informal writing assignments such as daybook and blog entries and SLO
translations. I learned several composing processes and increased my knowledge of
conventions while performing writing assignments such as my topic proposal,
annotated bibliography, and extended inquiry project. All these assignments
incorporated aspects of critical reflection and rhetorical knowledge.
Early on and throughout this semester I developed my critical reading skills. I
have always considered my ability to analyze and evaluate reading assignments
and texts as one of my strong suits but there was room for improvement. Some of
the assignments that we were tasked with helped improve my critical reading skills.
These assignments were the daybook entries that we would write on quotes from
well-known people such as Leo Tzu, Tao te Ching quote about striving to better
oneself. When I read this quote I thought that Leo Tzu was telling me that if
someone becomes obsessed with anything then they will never have enough of that
thing and they would not be happy. I could relate this to my finances and how I
dont ever seem to have enough money. I could also relate this to my academics
and how I am always stressing out about grades. It made me realize that even if I

was worth billions and had a 4.0 GPA I would still not be happy. It was writing
prompts like this and like the Joyous

Valadorous daybook entry which got me thinking about what kind of impact do I
want to make in the world. They also helped me to understand how audience,
purpose, tone, and imagery all play an important role in writing. The Student
Learning Outcomes translations assignment also helped me to realize this by
identifying that the audience was intended for teachers as well as students but was
more geared towards teachers because of the complex and specialized terms and
phrases that were used in the original SLOs. I recognized that because it was also
intended for students it needed to be more readable with more vernacular terms.
One of the assignments that I did not think that I would enjoy, but that I
ended up liking, was the blog posts assignment. I enjoyed listening to the TED talks
that were the basis for several of these posts. These talks were by people such as
Sir Robinson, whose talk made me think about why things are the way that they are,
such as emphasis on stem subjects in school. It made me ask the question: How
does certain common practices affect people. For instance, does anyone feel leftout at school because they dont do well in stem courses? This talk made me realize
that just because something is, doesnt mean it should be.
I also enjoyed Meg Jays TED talk about how people in their twenties should
not procrastinate on life, such as pursuing a career and getting married or having
kids, until their thirties because of all the valuable time that wastes. The blog post
reflection that I did, made me wonder how I am using my time and whether I can be
more productive and less wasteful. Not only did these daybook entries, SLO
translations and blog posts help me to be a better reader and analyzer but they also
helped me to be a better thinker in that by writing these reflections could better
articulate what I was thinking so that I and others could understand it.

If there was just one thing that I struggled with this semester it would be
articulating myself. Although I still not as articulate as I would like to be, I have been
able to improve how I articulate through critical reflection. There were several
assignments however, that helped me to develop into a better critical reflector this
semester. These assignments enabled me to reflect on the purpose of my writing
and who I was trying to reach and ultimately how I could most effectively reach my
audience.
The topic proposal was an assignment that got me thinking about what was
important to me and what I felt passionate about. This assignment helped me to
answer the question of why my topic, of how scientific research is funded, matters
and to who it matters. The annotated bibliography assignment allowed me to take
my sources, the ones that I had found during my research for my topic proposal,
and to analyze what the purpose of those articles were, and how they tied into my
research. This proved invaluable as I was writing my first draft for my extended
inquiry project. I could easily determine which sources I needed for my different
points in my paper by looking at my annotated bibliography. It also helped when I
was incorporating source names and credentials into my supporting paragraphs
which helped me to better understand knowledge of conventions and how to avoid
plagiarizing.
The peer and teacher feedback that I received from my topic proposal helped
me to narrow down my topic to trends in research funding. The feedback I received
also helped me to expand on some important aspects of my paper such as who
different types of research funding affects, and how they are affected by research
funded by different sources. I also received good feedback for my first draft of the
extended inquiry project. I like this first draft because I was able to get the ideas in

my head, that I had been researching, onto paper. When I got feedback from this
first draft, I expanded on a couple of points, one of which is how big pharmaceuticaldrug companies monopolize the use of life-saving drugs by inflating the prices for
their own economic gain. This final draft was my complete, well-thought out draft. I
feel that in it I have covered all my bases in terms of mentioning both sides of the
argument. I also feel that my final draft does a thorough job of explaining why my
topic matters.
I feel like of all the assignments that I have included in my ePortfolio, the
extended inquiry project is the showpiece of what I have accomplished this
semester. My ePortfolio would probably be the second most valuable assignment
because to compose it, I had to reflect on all that I have done and learned this
semester. But I would still choose the EIP assignment because it taught me, by trial
and error, how to thoroughly research a topic and to be a questioner and thinker. It
taught me what type of sources to look for, what resources to use. The process of
composing the extended inquiry project required me to use all the Student Learning
Outcomes. I used my critical reading and rhetorical knowledge when looking for
sources, my critical reflecting skills when revising my drafts, my knowledge of
conventions when incorporating sources, composing processes when drafting,
editing, and creating a margin outline. I think that this was my most valuable piece
of work this semester because I got to put into practice all that I have learned this
semester.
Over the course of this semester I have learned how to better analyze others
and my own work to understand its purpose. This will be invaluable to me for my
other classes such as Engineering 1201 where we will do several writing
assignments, one of which will be why we want to be engineers. Now that I am

familiar with composing processes and revision in response to feedback, these

future assignments will be much easier. I will be required to do much writing in my
career as an Air Force officer. In my future career I will need to write memorandums,
conduct briefings, compose official emails. All these forms of communication must
be articulate, in-depth and to-the-point. These are all things that I have learned as I
have reflected over my assignments/drafts, and as I have analyzed other peoples
work.

Respectfully,

Aaron Angel