Jessica Carriaga

ENG 120

Reflective Letter
I want to start out by saying that English 120 has been the best
English class I have ever taken. I learned so much throughout the
course and improved as a writer in many ways. I enjoyed all the topics
discussed and how the class was set up. The Student Learning
Outcomes really help when creating the assignments and when
reflecting on them. They help you reflect on your work by breaking
down different parts, such as focusing on your purpose, the context,
your audience and the mediums and technologies you may use. The
writing assignments were challenging but interesting; each time we
needed to use a different medium to get the point across. Over the
course of the class we worked on three projects, but really four,
counting the ongoing work on my weebly site (my portfolio). For
Project One, we had to write a research paper, exploring the views on
education, beginning with the Oldest ones on record from Western
Sources. The medium I chose was an essay and I conducted the paper
by researching and analyzing works, tying them in with my own views.
In my Research Paper I addressed SLOs A, B, and C. For Project Two,
we had to discuss putting all girls in school, the No Child Left Behind
Act, and the top 20 best K-12 schools in the country. The medium I
chose for the project was a blog, on my Weebly site. I wanted to
communicate my findings with my audience in a unique way. In my
Argument I addressed SLOs D, E, F, and G. Lastly in Project Three,
we had to explain what our educational manifesto was in a free write
and construct a multimedia of my choosing to circulate my manifesto.
I chose to create a Power Point using the website Prezi. In my
Proposal we addressed SLOs H, I, and J. These assignments relate to
the student learning outcomes because they all added to
strengthening my writing. The student learning outcomes help
improve different aspects of writing, along with the development of
your work; they should be something you turn to for guidance.
Throughout Project One we focused on Genre, Audience and
Purpose and each SLO contributed to each of those writing aspects.
Genre is really important for they are forms of written/media
communication intended for a specific field. Project One, Research
was one of my least favorite writing assignments, but I enjoyed the
topic. In this writing assignment we had to utilize SLOs A, B, and C.
Incorporating SLO A into our writing is to reflect on arguments and
identify the style used and the format; and consider the
strategies, claims, evidence, and structure used to work
towards the rhetorical situation. I worked towards this SLO
because all of Project was based around research. Throughout the
course Ms. A stressed the importance of research and gave us sources
to look at to help improve our writing in that area. She had us watch 2
of UNMs Librarys tutorial videos about conducting research, along
with reading Chapter 25: Finding Sources and Collecting Information

Jessica Carriaga
ENG 120
in Writing Today. The big picture of Project One, was how will I
illustrate my concept. What evidence will I incorporate into my paper,
what strategies will help get my point across? In this paper the
evidence I used was from a chapter about Idealism, but also tied to
Platos Republic, expanding on the subject. SLO B is another outcome
that we utilized in this project, which was to describe how the
document was adapted for a specific audience and purpose. In
my rough draft I was missing a thesis statement. When editing my
paper Sarah said, I only have a few suggestions for you. The first one
concerns your thesis. I didn't find that I could readily locate your
thesis, and I wonder if your essay could use a more assertive force
behind it. This advice was incredibly helpful because without a thesis,
I am not communicating as effectively with my audience, informing
them on my argument. I incorporated this feedback by inserting a
thesis, giving my paper that force. The last SLO involved in this
project was SLO C, which is to use multiple approaches for
planning as you go throughout the writing process and when
editing and proofreading, keeping in mind what would make
your writing stronger. This SLO is very important because they are
many technologies and mediums to chose from to incorporate into
your work. Feedback is another helpful tool when going throughout the
writing process. Another comment Sarah added was, Moving on to
the topic of research: I think at this point you have a bit too much
textual evidence and not enough analysis. Always make sure you have
more analysis than evidence. This feedback helps me work towards
the Writing as a Process SLO, by learning how to incorporate more
analyzed evidence into my writing with greater detail, rather than
suddenly dropping in a citation. I improved my paper by expanding
more on the insertions and shortened some as well. These SLOs are
some of my favorite because they are the roots to your writing.
Project Three, Proposal was the last project we did for the
class which was to construct an educational manifesto in a written
genre (Part A) and a multimedia genre (Part B). The SLOs we reflected
on throughout the project were H, I, and J. SLO H is learning how to
integrate others positions and perspectives into your writing
ethically, appropriately, and effectively in various mediums and
technologies. I demonstrated this SLO by embedding other websites
into my written manifesto, providing information on potential unknown
information and a link for some background information. In a
discussion board, I said Getting different views and perspectives
allows for more depth and room to talk about because its not just your
side of the argument you are looking into. SLO I is learning how to
compose in various mediums and technologies by identifying,
analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing sources. In each project
we used a different medium to express our project. I created a Prezi,
explaining my educational manifesto, along with my views on how

Jessica Carriaga
ENG 120
education should be. This SLO contributed to my learning by moving
me out of my comfort zone by expressing my ideas in different forms.
Using different forms of communication is applying your writing skills
effectively because you are modifying your work for a specific
audience. Providing a multimedia presentation and a written form
gives my audience the full proposal. SLO J was to analyze and
describe the writing and research conventions of an academic
field in order to understand the different ways of creating and
communicating knowledge. Researching played a role in this
project as well, because I had to find supporting views and explore the
other side of education. Analyzing is crucial because the information
you analyze is what helps support your writing. You dont want to
overwhelm your reader with too much but you dont want to leave
anything out either, so creating different ways for communication is
important. Providing a multimedia presentation and a written form
gives my audience the full proposal. These SLOs put my writing to the
test to see if I can communicate ethically and effectively with a specific
field, applying appropriate mediums, technologies, and evidence.
The SLOs demonstrate progress in my writing in numerous ways.
The most important concept I understood was genre, audience,
context, and purpose goes beyond this English class. Beyond this class
are other classes, work, and life. One of the videos we watched was a
Commencement Speech by David Foster and what I took away from
this video was we need to not have default settings, which basically
means not thinking. We need to learn to think and be aware of whats
going on around us. Our world is constantly changing which is why its
so important to provide a genre and medium that will promote your
purpose in the best possible way. The SLOs are helpful in college,
beyond college, in everyday life! We are constantly communicating
with others, which is why we need to use our resources effectively and
reflect on our work. Using multiple approaches for conducting writing,
shows how I have improved because I can get my purpose across is
different mediums, like I demonstrated in all three projects. The SLOs
contribute to strengthening and developing me as a writer. I will use
these outcomes in my professional life, because the medical field uses
different mediums, for example an essay will not be medium that I
have to incorporate into my work but rather memos, prescriptions, and
directions. They will also be present in my daily life, such as simply
communicating or having a conversation with someone. We need to
be aware of our recourses and capabilities and constantly apply them
to our lives. Developing as a writer is a process, but writing is a form
that I use persistently, therefore I might as well use it to my advantage
to be successful.
This course was a learning experience that I will take with me
throughout the rest of my schooling, along with my life. The topic
about Education was my favorite and we researched it in depth. My

Jessica Carriaga
ENG 120
expectations and views on education was everything this class was.
Im thankful for the teachers out there who want to get involved in
their students development, and luckily I received two of them in one
class. They were excellent I cannot stress it enough. The discussion
boards were a really nice feature to the class because the perspectives
of others are important. I wish throughout high school we had these
outcomes to reflect on, because I would have created more solid work.
I have grown so much over the course and hope to continue
developing, always improving.