13

Core 102 Reflective Project

This assignment asks you to continue the reflective work you began in the Core 101 Writing Process Reflection Assignment. In addition to reflecting upon foundational concepts in rhetoric and composition, you will focus on researched writing and composing for oral communication.

Objectives:

• Assess efforts to compose for different audiences and purposes, e.g. researched argument, speech analysis, oral communication.
• Demonstrate critical reasoning in evaluating sources, as well as claims made by experts, media, or other sources of information.
• Describe the search strategy or research process used in the researched argument.
• Propose goals for writing progress.

Objective 1: Assess efforts to compose for different audiences and purposes, e.g. researched argument, speech analysis, oral communication.

To begin, you should refer to OBJECTIVE 1 of the Core 101 Writing Process Reflection Assignment, and OBJECTIVE 2 of the Core 101 Personal Essay Assignment. There you will find several questions to consider when assessing your efforts to compose for different audiences and purposes.

After you have reviewed these questions, consider how your assignments in Core 102 have required you to compose for different audiences and purposes from those of Core 101. You also might consider the following questions:

• Why would we conduct research for an argumentative paper?
• Depending on your answer to the previous question, how well do you think your research helped your argumentative paper achieve its goals?
• Did research play any role(s) in your Approaches to Oral Argument essay? If so, what role(s) did it play?
• What types of research will you be doing in your major field of study?
• How will research in your major be similar to or different from the research you have conducted for Core 102?

Objective 2: Demonstrate critical reasoning in evaluating sources, as well as claims made by experts, media, or other sources of information.

With so much information available to modern day researchers, it is important for them evaluate their sources critically. To that end, reread the section “Applying critical reasoning in critiquing claims made by experts, media, or other sources of information” in the chapter Core 102 Research Process, as well as OBJECTIVES 4 AND 5 of the Core 102 Researched Argument Assignment.

Objective 3: Describe the search strategy or research process used in the researched argument.

It may be helpful to reread the section on search strategies in the chapter Core 102 Research Process. You also might ask yourself the following questions:

• What steps did you take to locate appropriate sources and/or learn about your research subject?
• Which keywords led to successful search results? Which keywords led to unsuccessful results?
• Which of the McConnell Library databases did you use to access your sources?
• How did you decide which sources you would use in your final paper?

Objective 4: Propose goals for writing progress.

Often, it is difficult for a student to recognize how her writing has improved unless she stops periodically to reflect upon her skills. That is why expert writers (or athletes, musicians, and artists, for that matter) never stop thinking about their development. No matter how comfortable someone feels about writing, it is important for him to reconsider what he does well, what needs work, and how the key concepts of argument, evidence, argument, knowledge, and purpose apply to different rhetorical situations. As you complete this objective for the Core 102 Reflective Project, please consult OBJECTIVE 4 (“Compose Goals for the Writing Process”) of the Core 101 Writing Process Reflection Assignment for additional information and questions to help you generate your ideas.