Questions for Final Reflection

a. If you could name a song that represents your experience in this class, what would it be and why? (1/2 page) I have chosen the song Nothing but a Good Time by Poison! I think this song is a good representation of this class, and my first semester in college because the song is about just relaxing and having a good time after working and stressing all week. I feel that way about every Tuesday and Thursday when I come to English. Although the class is work and its mentally challenging and engaging, I find myself excited to be going to English and always had a good time in that class! I felt that this song was applicable to whenever I felt stressed about a paper or about my course work and decided to just work on my blog posts or even my final projects to distress (I enjoy working on websites and my inquiry project was enjoyable to write). I like this song because I remember listening to it when I was younger and thinking it was a cool song about having a good time. I was struggling to find something that could represent my first semester English class, so I feel like this song will work well enough to explain that I enjoy being there and hanging out with other students who are in Honors with me. This song also puts me in a good mood because it is simply catchy! b. Using at least three specific examples from your textbook, what do you now know about literacy that you perhaps did not before, or what has become clearer to you as a result of the information in your book? (about 1 page) Some things I have learned about literacy through the semester in this English class are ideas that literacy can appear in social classes, work, and within technology, literacy can be related to social class and rank, and that literacy depends on a balanced relationship with images. First, literacy appearing in class, culture, and work, as mentioned in our first reading of our

textbook on page 7, relates to how it is presented. In the example class rank, we see that literacy depends on what class background the reader is coming from. The example provided about literacy being related to economic status and traditional culture practices taught me something I did not know: schools that report low test scores are actually withheld funds, which I think should be the opposite. Schools struggling should be better funded to provide a better system for achieving better results. Next, when we read about literacy and social class, the example about Rita and her essay for an application, she is criticized by Frank for referring her whole paper to a book that he believes the examiner will not know or enjoy reading about. Because Rita is more cultured, she is at risk, according to Frank for being given declining result. Also, I learned that one of previous President Bushs education secretary stated The need for literacy in reading and mathematics is a prerequisite for almost every job, and I found this an eye opener and to be very true that the better one is at math and reading, the better pay and job they will receive. Finally, in the section we read about literacy and its relationship with images, I was surprised to read that (according to Scott McCloud) art and literature should be separated by an arms length apart, when I actually feel that the two go together. I feel that literacy is art, and art is a form of literature to be taken in differently with visuals instead of text, but can still tell a story or inform. It has become clear that the older we have gotten, it is true that books show less images than before, finding that we should be able to comprehend and understand a book with less visual aid or entertainment. I think this is surprising and that some art is beneficial to students who are visual learners and enjoy the pairing of the two together.

c. Thinking about a particular piece of writing, what were the rhetorical choices you had to make, and how did you feel about those choices? (1/2 page) Some of the rhetorical choices I have had to make in my writing and in this semesters English class have been the style and formatting of my papers and how I wanted to present my information. Specifically when we were writing our Inquiry Paper (and following, the multi genre project), I had to decide my audience and tone that I would use. It was then carried over to decide what style and format I would present my Multi Genre Projects in and why I chose each option to present my final work. I think having the choices throughout this class has helped me view literacy differently. I have learned to defamiliarize my writing and my assignments to look at it both for myself and others in a different perspective than what is originally given. I have been challenged through this course to use different techniques through the class for writing, such as when we had to come up with a poem about our hometown. I have to choice the point of view I would use in my papers and the tense I would be writing it in. Overall this has been a great way to work on my writing skills, and made this paper one of my favorites to write. d. If you were to teach this class, what ideas would you emphasize? (1/2 page) If I was to teach this class, I think I would focus on the topic of defamiliarizing, just like we did in this class! Over the semester I found that we used this term often and it was able to be applied to all of the assignments we have been given or worked on in class and on Moodle. When we started the semester with the blue Frisbee, and defamiliarizing it in class, I had never heard of the term before then! I think it is an important word to learn in an Honors English class because it engaged us in thinking differently through the class and also helped us think of ways to present our own literature, such as our Inquiry Project having to be presented in three different formats than a paper. I personally enjoyed doing this the most because it was challenging and required a

lot of thinking to come up with reasoning and ways my papers topic could be viewed as something different than a research paper while still being informative and interesting. Through each choice of my multi-genre project, I looked at pieces of my essay, and the essay as a whole, to find a way to convey my message. In my class, we would use this topic as an underlying theme for all of the work we do so we can engage ourselves to think differentlyoutside the boxwhich is a great way to build an excellent learner. I think this class did well in using this idea to think deeper about what we worked on. e. Tell the story of ENGL 1103. Focus on the elements of narrative we discussed this semester. (1 page) Once upon a sunny day, a girl walked down the red bricked road until she happened upon a giant white building labeled Macy. She tiptoed in scouring the halls for door numbers until she happened upon the doorway into the land of English 1103. What she found was extraordinary! Some of the faces were familiar, and some were not. She waited until 2 oclock stuck Belk Towers bells all whilst sitting in a floating plastic chair like the other students, waiting for the head honcho to enter. This is when Ms. Rand walked in and the education commenced! She looked at the class and requested our brains to be turned to full power. With the sound of switches being flipped over echoing through the room, the class was engaged and ready to learn. Powerful messages began flowing into the girls brain! There was amazing videos by a mysterious man named TED, a book and some readings, chalk board writing, twitter talk, and songs about questions of the day. Twice a week the girl ventured back to this wonderful world where her pencil and the paper were married into the writing of a college student. Ms. Rand and the other students always made her smile she enjoyed being in this wonderful room learning all she could. There was music, dancing, floating

across the room in chairs, and even watching movies of 30 day challenges of a man and wife and the story of a man named Truman who was watched by the world. And then the mind was engaged further! Assignments came to the girl, and although sometimes tough to think about, they engaged her switch to stay on even after she left the magical room. Through many sun rises and sunsets the girl had this class through the cool seasons of the year. Rain or shine she gladly walked to that building marked Macy to see her fellow new friends faces and get the next assignment to conquer. With her trusty electronic notebook and the swiftness of her fingers, she typed away her work for Ms. Rand, and received the responses with excitement! She loved this magical room and did not want the semester to be done so soon. The girl would miss the wonderful subject they called EnglishTHE END. f. What have you learned about writing that you can take with you to other courses? Focus on purpose, audience, genre, rhetorical appeals, etc. (1/2 page) I have learned a lot this semester about the writing process that I will be able to us throughout my other classes on papers and assignments. Since the beginning of the semester I have learned to take away many questions to ask myself that would improve any paper I do for another class. Most importantly of some of the skills I have learned was deciding on the purpose of writing my paper, and how I can take my topic I am to write about and make it anything from entertaining to educational or persuasive. I have learned to ask who the audience is so that my paper will be appropriate for whoever will have to read it or who might be interested in reading it. By doing this I have also learned to associate the type of tone I should use with my audience to get across my purpose and my message, therefore learning how all the rhetorical strategies combine or blend into one another. I have learned through reading Lamotts Shitty First Drafts that not everything I first come up with should be the finished project and that sometimes the

first draft is total trash but through diligence and editing I am able to mold that first piece of work into a presentable finished project. I think the skills and strategies I have learned in English 1103 will help me do well in all my other classes in the future.