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Anton Carty
ENGL 102
Professor Deadrick
05/05/2015
Reflection Paper
English 102, Critical Reading, Writing and Research is a semester long course that
focuses on research based argumentation. Students learn basic argument structure, strategies for
effective research and other skills that develop the skills necessary for forming and analyzing
arguments. This semester I have improved my writing ability by accomplishing the course
outcomes and developing new research, citation, critical thinking and argumentative skills by
learning the components of argument and strategies for finding appropriate sources and
incorporating them into assignments.
For our final assignment in this course, an eight-page researched argument with an
annotated bibliography I chose to write a defense of President Obamas 2013 proposal to raise
the minimum wage. This assignment was particularly helpful in developing research and
formatting skills. I learned to think critically about the arguments and information I found in my
research and use them to support my own claim, by combining information from studies on the
effect of a minimum wage increase on poverty, business owners, consumer prices and levels of
employment. By writing an exploratory paper about the issue I found a starting point for my
researched argument, and formed questions that guided further research. Choosing a somewhat
controversial topic ensured that I would be able to find ample research to support my point of
view and that there would be many factors to consider. The background information I found by

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writing an exploratory paper helped me to form an opinion and come up with an arguable claim
to use in my researched argument. It also gave me an idea of the considerations I would need to
address in order to effectively argue for one side of the debate. I used magazine and newspaper
articles to gain background knowledge on the issue, which helped me to choose specific topics
for research which I address in the paper. This helped me to find sources such as government
studies and research from experts published in economic journals, which gave my argument
greater credibility. Using sources with both conservative and liberal perspectives I was able to
back up my argument and challenge opposing claims. The assignment also taught me to properly
use in text citations to credit sources for the specific information they contributed to the paper.
Another skill I used to complete my final essay and developed in this class is the
capability to analyze rhetoric. In my rhetorical analysis of Lorelai Bennets article about
Hollywoods war on gender I demonstrated the ability to examine an arguments effectiveness
and learned to make my own arguments more convincing. I found that Bennets argument did not
have a clearly stated claim, well supported reasons, rhetorical context, sound logic or a refutation
or concession (Carty, Rhetorical Analysis Paper par. 1). By evaluating her writing, I was later
able to improve my own. I found that Bennets errors in logic, such as non-sequitur fallacies
weakened her argument and was able to apply the same analysis to later assignments in order to
verify my own logic. While writing my final paper I carefully considered the components of my
argument, evaluating their coherence and effectiveness. This helped me to avoid flawed
reasoning and identify it in some of my sources for use in a refutation. One source, for instance
suggested that raising the minimum wage would lead to higher prices and fewer jobs for low
wage workers, without thoroughly explaining how. (Carty, Should We Raise the Minimum Wage?
5) In my paper I challenged the logic of this claim, because it is an example of a slippery slope

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fallacy and was not fully supported. I also found and resolved issues with my own logic,
removing a paragraph that connected an increase in the minimum wage with a growth in
employment because it relied on a post hoc fallacy.
While I have been successful in accomplishing most of the requirements for this course,
achieving some of the objectives has proven difficult for me. For instance, I frequently struggled
with getting my assignments to meet minimum length requirements. I have addressed this issue
by including more rhetorical context and development in my essays. By learning to completely
elaborate on the claim and reasons of my arguments I have been able to not only satisfy length
requirements, but also to fully explain and support a point of view. In addition, grammatical
errors such as run on sentences, pronoun agreement, and punctuation have consistently been an
issue in my writing. To address these mistakes I have learned to carefully proofread, consider
feedback from others, and break up long, incoherent sentences. I also often found myself
overwhelmed, particularly while writing the final paper and was forced to rush to complete
assignments. In looking for sources to support my claim I was often distracted by interesting
information that was not directly related to the topic. This taught me to better plan and manage
the research and writing process by staying organized and focused on the specific research topic.
I learned that I must consider the relevance of a source while researching and decide how it
could be used in paper early on. I also found that I failed to keep an accurate record of the page
and paragraph numbers where I found specific information, which forced me to go back through
the sources several times in order to correctly cite them. In future research I will keep track of
every fact I plan to use in my writing using notecards, which I found helpful in correcting this
problem.

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Taking English 102 has prepared me for future writing and research assignments and
improved my ability to form and consider arguments in both academics and daily life. The
critical thinking skills I have gained from this class have helped me to see how political
candidates use rhetorical appeals to strengthen arguments and manipulate voters. Donald Trump,
for instance frequently appeals to pathos by exploiting the fears and disappointments of white,
blue color workers with outlandish proposals, such as suggesting the United States should build a
wall along the Mexican border. Trumps arguments, however typically have very little logos or
ethos, as he does a poor job of defending the logic of his proposals or demonstrating that he is
qualified to discuss immigration policy. The kairos of Trumps statements is interesting, as they
come at a time when many his target audience feel threatened by current events such as the
creation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the influx of many unaccompanied Central
American children seeking asylum.
This course was an invaluable experience which will continue to aid me in expressing
and defending my own ideas and considering the validity of others. Understanding rhetoric and
using it effectively is a useful skill for academics, the workplace and everyday life and by
accomplishing the course objectives I have learned to craft convincing arguments. My
coursework demonstrates the growth in my ability to form, analyze, and support arguments with
detailed research and sound rhetoric.

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Works Cited
Carty, Anton. Rhetorical Analysis Paper. 23 Mar. 2016. T.S. Rockville, MD.
Carty, Anton. Should We Raise the Minimum Wage? N.d. T.S. Rockville, MD.