Myca Scaglione

UWRT-1101
Olivia Rines
12 April 2015
Final Reflection

Overall, I believe UWRT 1101 to have been a very beneficial class for me as a writer. I
learned several things in this class, specifically how to write in different styles and formats. This
was one of the most important things this class taught me because I had always been stuck on the
5 paragraph essay format from high school. Not only did I learn new writing styles, but I feel like
I greatly improved my writing throughout the course. Each of the class assignments and
activities have helped me to gain more knowledge as a writer.
One of the major assignments we did for this course was our Genre Analysis. When I
began writing this paper, I found it pretty difficult because I had never heard of genre in the
context we were supposed to be writing on. For my Genre Analysis paper I chose to focus on
obituaries as a genre. I thought obituaries would be interesting because although they are written
about dead people, they are an everyday piece of reading that we would never look at as a genre.
There are many facts that were to be included in our Genre Analysis, the most important question
being, what is the main communication function? The main communication function of an
obituary is deciding the worth of the deceaseds contributions to the world. Obituaries also serve
as a rite of passage or celebration of life. In each obituary they usually contain the dead persons
name, date of birth, place of residence, date of death, cause of death, and sometimes a picture.
Since the content of an obituary can vary, obituaries are able to use both exposition and

description as its discourse modes. Along with these discourse modes and core features of the
text, the intended audience and actual audience of the analysis are another important factor that
should be included in the paper. In my analysis I describe each example and who I believe to be
their intended audience and then go on to tell their actual audience. I made sure to include all the
facts needed for this paper and I have a good feeling about my final draft of my Genre Analysis.
Our second major assignment for this class was our Micro-Ethnography project. I also
found starting this essay to be a little difficult because we were allowed to pick a discourse
community to write a paper on. I liked the freedom it gave us to do the paper on something we
were interested but I thought assigning topics would have made it easier. My original topic I
picked for the Micro-Ethnography was Twilight fans which I eventually had to change because I
was unable to contact anyone for the required interviews. As my next topic for the MicroEthnography, I chose Applebees employees as my discourse community. For the essay we were
required to conduct three, 30 minute observations and two short interviews. Along with the
interviews, each person who was interviewed was supposed to sign a consent form and the
interview must have been audio or video recorded. I interviewed a server at Applebees and a
bartender to learn more about each of their jobs. I took the information I gained from shadowing
a host during my observations and the interviews to write my Micro-Ethnography. Although I
have a good feeling about my final draft of the Genre Analysis, I have an even better feeling
about my final draft of my Micro-Ethnography.
Other than the two major assignments for this class, we also had quite a few daily in-class
assignments called Daybook Entries. These assignments consisted on prompts we were given to
write on for about 5 or 10 minutes at the beginning of class. Sometimes the prompts were already
planned out for us and were then assigned for us to write about. Other times, we would have a

book full of topics to write on either passed out to someone randomly in the class or someone
could pick to choose a topic out of the book. After we are all done writing we then share our
responses with the class. I really enjoy this part because I like to hear what other people have to
say about whatever we are told to write on. One thing I noticed over time from doing the
Daybook Entries is that everyone in the class is very different and has their own opinions about
things.
Another assignment we were given was Discussion Forums, which were out-of-class
assignments submitted through Moodle. For each Discussion Forum, there was an article or other
reading assigned. After doing the reading, there are specific prompts assigned to each of the
readings to be answered in the forum. The response you post to the forum must be at least 300
words and thoroughly answer the questions in the prompt. Once you have posted a response in
the Discussion Forum you are still not completely done with the assignment. This is where the
easy, 300 word, Discussion Forum post has a catch. Along with the original forum post, you are
also supposed to reply to someone in the classs Discussion Forum post talking about their
response on the reading. The Discussion Forums were something that were pretty simple and
easy. In the beginning of the class I missed a few of the forum posts because I just flat out forgot
or I posted after 9:30 a.m. and they werent accepted. I didnt see missing them as hurting my
grade until the concern of my grade for not doing the responses was brought to my attention.
From then on, I have done every single Discussion Forum and plan on doing the remaining
forums left to keep my grade up.
Each of the items mentioned before I plan to include in my Final Portfolio for this class.
The Final Portfolio is due on the last day of class to show everything we have done this semester.
Throughout the semester we have submitted 2 drafts for both the Genre Analysis and the Micro-

Ethnography. For the Final Reflection we wrote we only submitted one draft in the semester. All
of the drafts for each of the assignments are required as part of the Final Portfolio. The peer
workshops that went along with each piece of writing are also required in the portfolio. The most
important assignments that must be included in the portfolio are the final drafts of the Genre
Analysis, Micro-Ethnography, and Final Reflection. Each of these are worth the most amount of
point on the rubric so they are extremely significant to the Final Portfolio.
Overall, I found the University Writing class to be very beneficial to me. I have learned a
lot from this class and I plan to take everything I have learned and use it with me in my future
writings. Each of the assignments discussed in the reflection taught me several different things.
The Genre Analysis and the Micro-Ethnography really serve as learning examples because they
were completely new to me. I am thankful to have taken this class and hope it helps me later in
college with more difficult writings.