Self Assessment 

Throughout my FIQWS class, I was constantly challenged to compose well thought out informed essays that proposed original ideas on the literature we read in class. I found the overall experience exciting because I had to read literature that I would find straightforward but had to analyze each text through a Freudian lens. This proved to be more challenging than I thought because each text we read varied in writing style, making it harder to analyze the text in a Freudian lens. I made it my goal to put in as much effort as I possibly could in each essay I wrote so that I could get at least an A in both sections of the FIQWS class. In this FIQWS class feel like I achieved many of the course learning outcomes.

When faced with the first learning outcome,“Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations”, I was forced to analyze many different texts in a Freudian lens. All of the literature we read were different genres making it more difficult to analyze since I could not keep using the same Freudian concept when analyzing each story. Some of the stories include, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, “The Black Cat”, “A Rose For Emily”, “Super Frog Saves Tokyo” and many more. Each of these texts had different authors with different styles of writing and different themes to convey. 

The second learning outcome “Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing” I achieved in my first assignment, the Literacy Narrative Essay. In this assignment, I had to compare two images and describe how they made me feel and why. I struggled with this assignment because I did not know how to write about my opinion on just two pictures, but I feel like the collaborating and drafting we did in class helped with this. In class when peer reviewing each other’s drafts, I received very helpful criticism on my essay which ultimately allowed me to edit my essay and receive a 95 on the assignment.  

As for the third learning outcome, “Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations” I feel like I did not really achieve this. I do not really understand the purpose of this outcome and I do not feel like it is reflected in any of my writing. 

In regards to the fourth writing process, “Engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes” I feel like I accomplished this outcome when writing my Literacy narrative as well as my summary and response paper. In class, we had to engage with each other whether through peer editing as previously mentioned or through assigned group work focusing on how to write a proper thesis. There were also instances where we had to respond to each other on blackboard, which helped us interact and constructively criticize each other’s works.

I achieved the fifth learning outcome, “Understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences” when having to switch between printing out assignments at the beginning of the semester for class and submitting my assignments online through Turnitin. I don’t know if this allowed me to address a range of audiences being that my audience was Ms. K and Alyssa.

I found the sixth learning outcome, “Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias”, difficult when writing my critical research paper because I was not present in class for the library research session. So without knowledge of how to search for credible and scholarly sources, I struggled a bit. When I asked my classmates for help I feel like it was a lot easier than I had thought and it ultimately allowed me to utilize the school library’s database to develop my arguments. I also had to evaluate whether the sources I chose were credible and relevant to my essay.

When writing my Critical Research paper I achieved the seventh writing outcome, “Compose texts that integrate your stance with appropriate sources using strategies such as summary, critical analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and argumentation”, by having to create a thesis that clearly conveyed my stance on “Super Frog Saves Tokyo” but also utilize sources that supported my argument. I specifically used critical thinking to support my thesis that Katagiri was hallucinating, because it was not explicitly stated in the text so I had to prove why I believed so. 

An instance where I used critical thinking in my paper can be seen when I say:

“It is not uncommon for those with self-esteem and depression to experience hallucinations. According to Smith, “Analysis indicated that individuals with more depression and lower self-esteem had auditory hallucinations of greater severity and more intensely negative content, and were more distressed by them. In addition, individuals with more depression, lower self-esteem and more negative evaluations about themselves and others had persecutory delusions of greater severity and were more pre-occupied and distressed by them,” (Smith). This corroborates with the idea that Katagiri is suffering from hallucinations and explains why he is the only one who can see and hear Frog”

For the last writing outcome, “Practice systematic application of citation conventions” had to constantly practice using citations in my work and making sure that the ideas that I had borrowed were receiving proper credit to its author. In all of my works, I have included a bibliography with the names of the authors and their works that I’ve used throughout this semester. 

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