Fall 2014
Kayla Estes
Table of Contents
Final/Summative Reflection……………………………………………………………....3
List of Course Learning Goals with Rationales…………………………………………...4
Evidence
Short Paper on Spirited Away……………………………………………………..8 Analysis of Pop Culture………………………………………………………….10 “The Effects of War on a Little Girl” Response…………………………………12 Chapter Two of Cultural Studies Summary……………………………………...13 Chapter One of Cultural Studies Summary……………………………………...14 The Difference Between Children and Adults (Draft 1)…………………………17 The Difference Between Children and Adults (Final Draft)…………………….21 Mom Blog Long Paper (Draft 1)………………………………………………...26 Mom Blog Long Paper (Final Draft)…………………………………………….31 Analysis of The Spider and the Fly………………………………………………36 Self-Evaluation…………………………………………………………………..38 “Growing Up In Bondage” Class Discussion……………………………………39 Class Discussion Ideas/Notes….………………………………………………...40
Final/Summative Reflection
Before coming to Grinnell, I never had to analyze complex readings. The discussions that we had in high school were never in-depth enough to need heavy analysis. This semester, I have learned to annotate and think outside of the text in order to have ideas to bring to the class discussion. I will continue to improve by practicing reading and evaluating texts. I don’t expect to have a shortage of texts to analyze at Grinnell. This semester I have used my reading skills in my Intro to Sociology class and I plan to use them again next semester in Intro to GDS. In high school, I learned to write in a conversational manner by being on the speech team, but because of this conversational tone, I am not always very organized with my thoughts. This semester, I learned that is something I need to continue to work on. In the future, I hope to take advantage of the many writing resources on campus including the writing lab, writing mentors, and my intelligent peers. In high school, I usually relied on my own revision skills, but I realize that I am not always the most reliable source of critique for myself. Grinnell has introduced me to a whole new side of learning: discussions. I still having things to say during discussion, but my skills have improved throughout the semester. Going hand in hand with reading, I need to work on my ability of thinking outside of the text while reading in order to have something to bring to the discussion. I think this skill will improve with practice. Fortunately, discussion is something that I can practice every day at every meal. It’s great to be in a community that is open to dialogue almost all the time. My reading, writing, and discussion skills have improved so much throughout the semester, but I still have a lot of room for growth.
List of Course Learning Goals with Rationales
Course Learning Goal 1:
You have developed strategies for reading all types of media actively and critically.
Throughout this class, I analyzed and did research on a variety of media types, including books, images, advertisements, and Internet posts. Here, I have provided two responses from two different texts that we read: the movie, Spirited Away (8), and the pop culture section of Barker’s book, Cultural Studies (10). Even though they were two different types of media (movie and book), I was able to take similar notes and draw conclusions from the text.
Course Learning Goal 2:
You can evaluate an argument in a text for its logic, use of evidence, and coherence.
After watching Spirited Away, I thought that the movie was trying to make the argument that people have the ability to act childish or mature, no matter what their age. In my short paper analyzing Spirited Away (8), I proved this argument by referencing the scenes when Chihiro took on adult responsibilities and when the adult-like spirits were very immature.
The advertisement/propaganda video that I found about the girl in war also proposed an