Cockman 1

Cockman, Joshua

Dr. Colombo

UWRT 1104

13 March 2017

Midterm Reflection

This semester I have learned about constructing academic arguments. I have learned

about academic arguments through studios and the inquiry process. I believe that my writing has

improved throughout the semester. I think these improvements have come from both practice and

the studios that I have completed through the semester. The inquiry question has also improved

my writing through teaching me different methods of approaching and academic argument.

While working with my inquiry question I have learned about citing sources, creating a

research journal, and synthesizing information. While all three of these were very useful in

learning how to construct an academic argument, I believe that the research journal was the most

useful. The research journal taught me how to create a citation in MLA 8 format, but it also

taught me how to find important information in sources. Having all of my sources listed with

their MLA 8 citation and all their important information made me realize how useful a research

journal could be. It allowed me to quickly reference where I got certain information and

immediately have the citation and important quotes from the source. This became very useful in

the next step where I had to synthesize the information that I had found. Going through these

steps make it much easier to plan an academic argument. Working with the inquiry question has

helped me improve my writing

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I believe that my writing has improved throughout the semester. I think this improvement

has come from several places, including studios and the inquiry question. The studios have made

me think about certain topics and meet a certain word count. Having to meet a certain word

count without being repetitive is one of the areas that I have had to improve on this semester. I

have always struggled to meet the word count because I am worried about being repetitive. The

studios have given me an opportunity to practice this, however some studios have been easier

than others. The inquiry question has helped me improve as a writer by teaching me how to

breakdown research to form a clear and concise academic argument. This is a large change from

research papers that I wrote in high school, because I would research the topic and

simultaneously write the paper as I completed the research. Breaking down the research and

analyzing the sources has proved to be a much better method in constructing an academic

argument.

At the beginning of the semester I had some goals that I wanted to achieve by the end of

my semester in UWRT 1104. One of these goals was to improve my writing by being less

repetitive. I do not believe I have quite met this goal yet, because I feel like some of my

responses in studio assignment can still be somewhat repetitive. However, I believe that I have

improved in this area due to the required word count in studio assignments. Another goal that I

had set at the beginning of the semester was to improve the organization of my writing. I believe

that I have made some major improvements in organizing my writing this semester. The inquiry

question has contributed the most to my improvement of organization. It has taught me how to

prepare to write a research paper. Organizing information is one of the most important lessons

that I have learned this semester. Spending the time to organize thoughts before starting the paper
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has made writing much easier instead of jumping right into the paper. Having these goals has

helped me improve my ability as a writer.

Participating in peer-revision has allowed me to improve my writing. I believe that peer-

reviews help both the writer and the reviewer. The writer receives some feedback and

constructive criticism while the reviewer gains a better understanding of what they should look

for in their own writing. Peer reviews have taught me a lot about MLA 8 formatting because I

have been able to see what my peers have done both correctly and incorrectly when formatting

their papers. I could improve my ability to work with my peers by being more critical of their

papers. When I review papers I could provide more constructive criticism than I have in the past.

This semester in UWRT 1104 has helped me improve my ability as a writer and made me

rethink the way I approach an academic argument. I hope to continue improving my ability as a

writer and learn more about constructing academic arguments. These skills will not only help me

in college but they will also help me in future careers.