Dear Professor Connelly,

There were four main student Learning outcomes for this English 2 class. The
first student-learning outcome was reading skills. One assignment that went with this was
annotating The Invisible Gorilla as well as Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric. By
annotating these books we learned to analyze and synthesize the information we read.
Another assignment we used to meet this student-learning outcome was the
advertisement analysis. With the advertisement analysis we were able to identify explicit
and implicit values and assumptions. To meet the reading skills goal we also wrote our
first formal writing assignment. I chose to write my Rhetorical Analysis on Freire's
Pedagogy of the Oppressed. By writing this first formal writing assignment we were able
to distinguish between the strengths and weaknesses of the author's argument, identify
loci gal fallacies and rhetorical moves that contributed to Freires effectiveness. To meet
this goal we evaluated each other's drafts during peer workshop and writing peer letters.
With the peer letters we were able to identify premises and logical progressions of these
arguments to discover how our peers we able to form the conclusions that they did. The
second student-learning objective was wetting skills: critical and analytic. To complete
this goal we did in class free writes. With the free writes we were able to demonstrate
control of college level writing skills. For the second learning outcome we also wrote or
second formal writing assignment. With this assignment we evaluated arguments of two
different class readings; we crafted and revised cogent arguments. The third studentlearning outcome was writing skills: control and presentation. To achieve this goal we did
our group presentations were we connected visual and written formats. Our shitty first
drafts of our formal writing assignments also help us achieve this goal by being able to go
back and revise these draft as well as creating a template for ourselves. Our revisions of
our formal writing assignments helped us exhibit clear thought, control of meaning, and it
also allowed us to reflect maturity of style ad create and appropriate tone in our writings.
The fourth student-learning outcome was information competency. To achieve this goal
we had class discussions to share our view on the things we had read about. We were able
to construct our own arguments. We also learned how to sandwich quote. We also did our
third formal writing assignment. With the third formal writing assignment we were able
to effectively locate, evaluate, and use appropriate resource material to give credibility
claims and counter- arguments. We were also able to present our arguments using MLA
format in all of our writings as well as properly cite our papers.
My lack of participation in class and group discussions will negatively affect my
grade. I felt that I did not participate in class discussions like I wish I would have. I was
not able to share with the class my views on the topics brought up because I didn't want
someone to think my comments werent useful or relevant to the discussions. I think my
fear of others having very different opinions that mine caused me to not participate. In
future classes I will participate more. There was always a lot I wanted to say and I wanted
to give my opinion on the topic but was too afraid of what others would think of my
opinion.
Overall, I think my final portfolio represents my best work. I think the peer
workshops, as well as my revision plans, gave me a better understanding of what I
needed to fix in my writing. I was able to get a different opinion not just from a professor
but also from a student. Stepping back from the revised drafts has helped me get fresh
starts on the formal writing assignments. I think I achieve most of the student learning

outcomes and was able to connect them with my work. I chose to include our first formal
writing assignment because this was a first impression on the type of writer that I am. I
think the rhetorical analysis showed that there were still things I did need to improve on.
By doing another revision for this draft I feel like I can add more of the things I have
learned in the class. I chose to add our third formal writing assignment because I
personally thought that it wasnt one of my best writings. I felt that I could have added
more detail to this essay. I struggled with understanding the prompt but after some more
clarification and my peers helping me revise it I felt that it did improve a bit more. I feel
that both of these writings show how I have improved as a writer.
Sincerely,
Cecilia Vargas