Paola Mora

Anya Connelly
English 2
5 December 2016
Metacognitive Letter
Dear Professor Anya,
At the beginning of the semester, we began analyzing and annotating Anzaldua, Freire,
and the Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric book. We evaluated every viewpoint, (each from our
own perspective), and incorporated key terms from the L&CR, such as premises,
deductive/inductive reasoning, and cogent or fallacious reasoning within the text. With these
activities, I was able to form conclusions and distinguish between strengths and weaknesses due
to the reading skills I acquired. We also worked on free writes, one being on the oppressive
language from the perspective of two authors (Anzaldua and Freire), and the other on an in depth
lecture about theses, explaining what they are, what they consist of, and how to build stronger
main points within our writing to create a stronger stance and credibility.When we began our first
writing assignment, we had to create a digital processed packet containing our first shitty draft, a
peer letter, a revision plan, and a revised draft; all of which contributed to our reading and
writing skills, as well as informational competency when it came to using outside sources and
MLA documentation and formatting. Along with this, we also got to comment on one anothers
essays to provide feedback, and give each other ideas on how to expand and think more
critically. I was able to display in depth analysis, critical thinking, and competency and
understanding skill in my research paper, advertisement analysis, and rhetorical essay for I
included ethos, logos, pathos and cogent reasoning and credibility on my claims. Later on, we
dove into The Invisible Gorilla; in class, we would form a circle and start a discussion on the
main ideas, definitions, and annotations that we obtained from each chapter, exhibiting reading
skills and information competency by effectively locating material, identifying values and
assumptions, and using appropriate components to give credibility and substantiate claims.
I believe that my participation in class discussions will positively affect my grade, for I
participated as much as I could in concepts that I truly did understand. Socially engaging in
activities with my classmates extremely helped me in comprehending material and later putting it
to use in our presentations, writings, and annotations. To be completely honest, walking into this
class was kind of a challenge for me because I never really participated much unless it relied on
my grade, but after this course I have learned that the more I participate and share, the more
ideas I obtain and the more I can expand critically on my assignments. In the future, I plan on
engaging more by asking my professors and classmates more questions on areas that I dont fully
understand and by annotating books/articles that I read to acknowledge information clearly.
Overall, my portfolio showcases my advertisement analysis and research paper. I am very
passionate towards cosmetics (makeup) and I wanted to get that message across to those who
view my profile. On my advertisement analysis, I included an image of Sofia Vergara promoting
Covergirls foundation bottle to display that she looks flawless because she supposedly uses this
product, which is all bogus because of the implicit messages, or in other words better known as
photoshop and editing. I also included beauty enhancements to support my research paper on the
illusion of confidence.
Sincerely,
Paola Mora