The Self-Assessment Essay.

In our last two essays, we had to practice citation conventions. I’ve only ever cited sources that were documents or articles, so it was my first time citing a video in the rhetorical analysis essay. Similar to how you’d quote a document, you write your quote and then in parenthesis—instead of the page number—you write down the timestamp in the video where the quote was said. For example, in my rhetorical analysis essay—in which I used Jamila Lyiscott’s “3 Ways to Speak English” as the source I wanted to analyze—I wrote, “‘the English language is a multifaceted oration subject to indefinite transformation,’ (1:24).”

In the third essay, I was also able to learn how to properly make a works cited page for a multitude of sources (sources weren’t just scholarly articles). I’ve really only cited books or scholarly articles, so it was my first time citing a YouTube video and a website article:

“Song, Hannah. “Carrying On: Learning to Speak My Family’s Language.” The Georgetown Voice, georgetownvoice.com/2019/02/01/carrying-on-learning-to-speak-my-familys-language/

“G. Yamazawa – The Bridge.” YouTube, uploaded by Button Poetry, 23 March 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6gFNpChKKk.”

Also, I’ve only ever used Google Docs throughout my high school career, so I also learnt how to make the hanging indent in Microsoft Word due to this essay, as well!

Furthermore, the second and third essays helped me properly apply the rhetorical analysis format the professor provided us with. It wasn’t too different from what I learnt in high school, but one thing that stood out to me was the final step in our analysis paragraph which was, after we explained the quote in our own words, we had to relate its meaning back to our thesis and/or connect it back. Additionally, I was always taught the first sentence should be an introduction to what the paragraph is about, but through both essays, I’ve learnt it’s more of a point you’re trying to justify, as it is followed by a quote and interpretation.

Lastly, what helped me the most in the last essay (the researched exploratory essay) is the technique we were given on how to effectively read texts rhetorically. I already knew how to look for scholarly articles in the databases and how to pick the right one with consideration to credibility, bias, and date it was published/dated, but I always struggled with comprehending what I was reading or how to effectively use the information in it to support my claims. However, by reading the article once and then twice again (this time, looking for important details, keeping track of quotes that stood out to me, and writing down any insights I had), I was able to grasp the author’s intention of the scholarly article I used in the third essay. Considering the actual article I used was more or less a scientific summary report of an experiment to prove their hypotheses on the relationship between acculturation and family harmony, I was able to gather exactly what quotes would help me prove my argument. One of the quotes I used was one of their hypotheses that was fully proven (“According to both adolescents and parents, culture-of-origin involvement and biculturalism were positively related to family cohesion, adaptability, and familism” (Smokowski et al., 304)), and the other was a conclusion reached from a previous experiment that helped them develop a hypothesis related to the first conclusion (“…it appears that this rigidity elicits intergenerational conflicts when parents react to the rapid assimilation of children” (Smokowski et al., 297)).