Undergraduate Learning Outcome Reflection Analyzing an article and reciprocating a counterargument which supports or refutes the author’s original argument was an assignment exceedingly familiar. High schools emphasize the fundamentals of formulating an effective argument, but this guidance loses relevance once college begins. Teachers’ and professors’ concepts contradict one another; the concepts that one teaches, the other does not necessarily invalidate, but goes about explaining in a completely contrasting way. As a result during the Writing Project One Part One, upon turning in my draft, I seen no flaws. Though that may be rudimentary, high school notions would deem the essay decent, but college notions claimed the essay unsatisfactory.
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Though I felt devastated and incompetent, this was a crucial learning experience. The essay had a clear idea, substantial wording, and a few decent quotes to support my argument, however, it lacked elements that proved it to be an academic paper. The first task in improving the essay was to start with the beginning. Though I thought I knew how to analyze an essay, Articulations, proved my ability insufficient. Analyzing previously consisted of simply reading and understanding the meaning of the passage. However, to effectively analyze a passage, one needs to “…examine it by comparing how its parts relate to a whole or how certain causes produce an effect” (Articulations 138). Taking a second look at Leonard’s Black Friday: Consumerism minus Civilization, I highlighted more evidence that proved Leonard’s argument that Black Friday is a degrading American construct seen by the craze it subjects many civilians to. Instead of solely looking at his opinion of Black Friday, the reasoning why he thought the way he did was of greater importance. Utilizing this information, the depth of the essay increased, but elements still remained …show more content…
All three elements work together to compose the most successful paper. The language in the paper includes diction and evidence. The only way to formulate an argument is to force readers to understand it with words. The type of wording incorporated in the paper attributes to the amount of knowledge provided, and in turn, the power of the paper is either effective or ineffective. Though this specific concept was relatively new, it made sense and utilizing it into my essay was helpful. Not only did I increase the quotes, but the many passive phrases in my essay were removed. For example, one sentence read, “…major corporations are unleashing the best on the 26th,” and changed into, “…major corporations unleash the beast on the 26th.” (12) Though the change is subtle, removing words such as was, are, can, and being result in a stronger, more straight to the point sentence. Eliminating most of these fillers moved the writing closer the academic paper I tried to
Though I felt devastated and incompetent, this was a crucial learning experience. The essay had a clear idea, substantial wording, and a few decent quotes to support my argument, however, it lacked elements that proved it to be an academic paper. The first task in improving the essay was to start with the beginning. Though I thought I knew how to analyze an essay, Articulations, proved my ability insufficient. Analyzing previously consisted of simply reading and understanding the meaning of the passage. However, to effectively analyze a passage, one needs to “…examine it by comparing how its parts relate to a whole or how certain causes produce an effect” (Articulations 138). Taking a second look at Leonard’s Black Friday: Consumerism minus Civilization, I highlighted more evidence that proved Leonard’s argument that Black Friday is a degrading American construct seen by the craze it subjects many civilians to. Instead of solely looking at his opinion of Black Friday, the reasoning why he thought the way he did was of greater importance. Utilizing this information, the depth of the essay increased, but elements still remained …show more content…
All three elements work together to compose the most successful paper. The language in the paper includes diction and evidence. The only way to formulate an argument is to force readers to understand it with words. The type of wording incorporated in the paper attributes to the amount of knowledge provided, and in turn, the power of the paper is either effective or ineffective. Though this specific concept was relatively new, it made sense and utilizing it into my essay was helpful. Not only did I increase the quotes, but the many passive phrases in my essay were removed. For example, one sentence read, “…major corporations are unleashing the best on the 26th,” and changed into, “…major corporations unleash the beast on the 26th.” (12) Though the change is subtle, removing words such as was, are, can, and being result in a stronger, more straight to the point sentence. Eliminating most of these fillers moved the writing closer the academic paper I tried to