Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

Throughout my previous writing courses, the feedback I received was very biased and narrow-minded, throwing me into a single ongoing path of empty ideas and weak developments with no actual backing. However, this way of exploration completely changed in Composition 1. After gathering dozens of my peers’ feedback on my Letter to the Editor draft, I had finally realized how to identify proper resources and stretch my arguments beyond the boundaries, sending my academic paper towards never ending streams of discovery. I took the time to strengthen my argument of the twisted truths behind affirmative action to help create and explain the alternatives to helping those in impoverished areas. Because of the open-minded and honest critiques of my peers and professor, I was able to gather specific assets to heighten my argument to its utmost potential.

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

By reading critically and carefully, I’m able to create questions about certain pieces so that I can better understand what the writer to trying to say. As well, by closely analyzing texts, I am able to recognize how the author came to that conclusion to help me form my own ideas for my writing. By analyzing someone else’s writing, I was able find similarities in it with my writing and use their way of thinking and brainstorming to help better my piece. In my Op-Ed, by reading and reviewing articles surrounding the case of Hajar Raissouni, I was able to form a compelling argument that highlighted and emphasized the major issues of the anti-abortion problems in Morocco.

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

For all the portfolio pieces we’ve done so far in Composition 1, it’s evident that each of us have a distinct way of writing when trying to appeal to a specific group of people or type of genre. We use rhetorical flourishes to win over the hearts of our readers or we include crucial information that completely contradicts the opposing sides to raise our credentials. In my Letter to the Editor, I successfully identified and evaluated rhetorical choices in order to swoon the reader and adapt for a more creative argument. I understood that affirmative action is a great way to create diversity in school and work force, however, I emphasized that the real problem with affirmative action is the fact is does nothing to stop the underlying racism in the system.

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

When writing anything from editorials to lab reports, you must input information from other sources to better explain what you are trying to convey. When doing so, you have to cite this evidence properly to give credit to those who have first attained this information that you are now using. However, in order to make your piece unique and illustrative, you must take your resources and interpret them in a whole new way. In my Practice Op-Ed, I believe it shows perfect use of this core value. Though my peers and I were all given the same prompt of writing about facial recognition, mine and everyone else’s works were varied. By taking the sources presented to us by our professor, I was able to delve into each citation, take what might be considered insignificant points and strengthen them into a compelling work about the dangers of artificial intelligence.

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

Going into an argument solely to win or claim victorious over the opposing view point is toxic and doesn’t accomplish anything. A point of an argument is to clarify and articulate one’s thoughts honestly and accurately in order to exchange ideas not seen by the other side. My opinions may not be agreed with or understood by everyone, but one thing is for sure: I prioritize having accurate and informative citations in order to have a fair and truthful argument. Personally, I believe nothing is gained by twisting data in order to make one’s argument stronger. If anything, it only makes the liar’s points less validated and untrustworthy for any future arguments. In my editorial of wildfires surging across the globe, I only sited from sources I thoroughly reviewed to give the reader complete honesty of my opinion of the matter.