After taking the Post-Class Critical Thinking Assessment I concluded that I have definitely improved since last semester. I feel I have improved on understanding what I read and what the author is trying to get across. I also feel that I have improved on writing to audiences, in the past, I have sometimes found that hard. I also feel that I have improved significantly on writing different projects. I love how this course had multiple types of essays rather than just a plain research paper, it allowed me to grasp the concepts better and get a better understanding. These different types of projects allowed me to branch out of my comfort zone of writing and explore all types.

The FASTrack UM website is one of the genres that the FASTrack discourse community uses to communicate between members and outside members who are looking to join the community of FASTrack. Looking at the website as a whole, this website is structured for easy access to students. At the top of the page, there is a toolbar that has different hyperlinks to different pages on the website such as, about, meet the staff, apply, etc. The toolbar is structured so it is easy to use and informative for students and prospective members. The discourse talks about different subjects but in general, it is a way to learn about FASTrack and view its resources. For prospective members, it is a way to learn about FASTrack, apply, and see what the community has to offer for them. For current students/members, it is a way for them to make advising appointments and be informed about upcoming events. FASTrack uses specific lexis throughout their website such as EDHE 105, and linked classes. EDHE 105 is a specific class dedicated to FASTrack and linked classes are classes that FASTrack students take where you have different teachers but you have the same classmates in each class. FASTrack automatically has ethos because it is a university-based program. This means that all of the employees and mentors of FASTrack are paid by the university. On the website, they have quotes by former members of the FASTrack community, which establishes pathos. This establishes pathos by appeasing new student’s fears with former member testimonies. They establish logos by providing statistics about student’s sense of belonging as well as provides statistics of where students come from before they enroll in college.

I hope that my research essay allows FASTrack to understand their ways of communication and how and what they can do to change it to make it better for the community. My main purpose is to analyze FASTrack and what it is, how it is a discourse community, and analyze their genres.

First I researched communities of the University of Mississippi. I came down to a few communities and then I researched how each of them is a discourse community and I then narrowed my search down to FASTrack. I then read their website and looked at some of their genres. (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) I then wrote my introduction and in that, I described what drew me into FASTrack. I then described what FASTrack is and how it is a discourse community. Then I came up with my plan of research. On the website, I found people I can email about interviews. I looked over the teacher’s sample interview questions. I used those and edited them and added a few more.

At first, I struggled with what to start with and how I should go about writing this. I looked at the examples the teacher gave and that guided me on how I should start and what I should include. I started writing and describing what FASTrack is and I think I went overboard but I realized it’s better to have more in the first draft than not enough.

The feedback from my peers was very helpful it allowed me to see some grammar mistakes that I missed and sentences I needed to change around. As well as things I was missing.

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page	Kahn, Seth. “Putting Ethnographic Writing in Context.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 2, 2011, 175-192.
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words	In Seth Kahn’s article, “Putting Ethnographic Writing in Context,” he explains that if ethnographic writing, if it is done well, can help the writer and reader but it can also hurt them. Ethnographers: Observe, participate, interact, analyze, reflect, write, rethink, and describe cultures, their members, and our own involvements with them. Some of the writing that Ethnographic writing does is reflections, introductions, content forms, field-notes, interview notes, transcripts, journals, drafts, and revisions. Ethnographic writing helps the writer because people often learn more from direct experience rather than readings and lectures. In ethnographic writing, it is important to protect the identities of the participants and ask them to read notes.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.	Ethnographic Authority – Kahn States on page 184 that ethnographic authority is the ability to present details and insights that only the writer would know because the writer was there and readers weren’t.
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?	Going forward this can help me with research projects I do in the future. Not only doing ethnographic writing but help me with the process of research and take a different approach. It can help me better with reflecting and being more engaged rather than just reading.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion.	How can you use ethnographic writing outside of doing ethnographic projects for class?

To determine what information was most important for my draft I looked at the examples that were given as well as the assignment sheet from there I was able to formulate an outline for what needed to be included and what didn’t. When writing there wasn’t much information that I needed to leave out but I chose not to leave out a lot of information because during revisions it easier to take out excess information rather than adding more but when leaving things out it was more of how I can I paraphrase this and make it smaller rather than adding in an immense amount of detail. My first step in the research was what UM discourse community was I going to choose so I looked on the forum and chose one. Then I looked on the website and read about FASTrack and what it was. Then I found how they communicated and thought of what my plan for future research would be. I also researched who is in charge and who I can talk to and interview. Well, I brought the bias of being in the community that I chose. But it allowed me to give background information about the community without making it sound bias. For the background information of FASTrack I just used the research I did on their website. I am still waiting for my interview to find out more about FastTrack like when they started the community and what brought it about. 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page	Driscoll, Dana. “Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 2, 2011, 153-174
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words	In Dana Driscoll’s article, “Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews”, she explains that research is not just reading what is already out there but conducting it yourself. She goes in-depth to each step of conducting primary research. The steps include creating a research timeline in which you plan out your research. Develop research questions and hypotheses in which after you do secondary research on your topic come up with a question and a hypothesis that you can test. Choose a data collection method such as interviews, observations, or surveys. Then write about your research. Start with an introduction which is a review of literature that gives readers the information about your research. Then describe what you did and describe your study results. Then interpret what you learned and discuss what you think the results mean.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.	Secondary research – the author defines this as research that has already been written The Belmont Report – the author defines this as The United States’ guidelines for the ethical treatment of human research participants
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?	Moving forward this article will help me carry out the research I will do in future projects for this class.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion.	How is Primary research the same for all subjects and how is it different?

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page	Giles, Sandra L. “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, vol. 1, 2010, pp. 191–204.
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words	In Sandra Giles, “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?”, she explains that reflective writing is an activity that asks to think about your own thinking. Giles explains in her essay that reflective writing helps you in the revision aspect of writing an essay. She mentions a process called “Letter to the Reader”, in this process students write to their readers explaining their purpose, how they want the effect their readers, describe their process and talk about their peer evaluations. This process allows you to see where you have errors and what needs to be fixed within your essay.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.	No new terms
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?	Moving forward I will be able to use this process of reflective writing to help polish my writing pieces and make sure there no problems or mistakes.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion.	How does reflective writing help in the revision process?

In Ann Johns, “Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict, and Diversity”, she defines discourse communities as a group that has an agreed set of common goals, shares mechanisms of intercommunications, uses multiple genres, uses the communication mechanisms to give information, has specific lexis, has different level members. She explains that these qualities are what define a discourse community. Johns explains that discourse communities can be all throughout our life whether it is professional, political, religious, social, recreational, or academic and they vary within each.  As Johns references the figure of “Levels of Community”,  she demonstrates that discourse communities can be a multitude of different things. For example, one discourse community that she mentions in the figure is that of Academics. Below academics, there are subcategories and even below that, there are subcategories.  No matter what discourse community that you may be a part of these categories and subcategories help you to find the best fitting discourse community for you. Between the broad and specific discourse communities, each discourse community will have its own set of goals and practices, but no matter what community you are apart of the purpose of the group is so that like-minded individuals may come together and share ideas or interests.

FASTrack Learning Community

University of Mississippi

Alpha Delta Pi

College of Liberal Arts

Biology major

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page	Warrington, Kate, et al. “Assessing Source Credibility for Crafting a Well-Informed Argument.” Writing Spaces: Reading on Writings, Volume 3, 2020, pp. 189–203.
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words	In this essay, Assessing Source Credibility for Crafting a Well-Informed Argument, the authors talk about how to use critical thinking and reading to determine a source’s credibility. Sometimes authors use pathos to help the reader connect to the main idea but it is not a good way to establish credibility. The source should have an argument that remains consistent and logical throughout. When finding a source evaluate it just like you would when critically reading it to understand the piece of writing. The authors give a list of questions to ask when looking for a credible source. These questions help as a guide to finding out if a source is credible or not. Who is the author? How do I know that he/she is knowledgeable about the subject? Is the author using emotional appeals/manipulation in his or her argument? Does the author use “loaded” language to distract readers from relevant reasons and evidence? Is the support for the argument appropriate to the claim? Are all the statements believable? Is the argument consistent and complete?
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.	No new terms
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?	After reading this article, it has given me. A better understanding of how to tell if a source a credible or not. In the. Past I have never read any other articles that go in-depth on determining credibility. In the future, I will be able to use these questions that the authors mention establishing credibility.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion.	How will finding credible sources help you in your own writing?

 

 

I have always felt that I am not a good writer. I have always struggled in my English and Writing courses throughout my school years. I feel that I have always stuck as a middle school or early high school level writer. I struggle with vocabulary and especially sentence structure. The other area that I lack in is planning and coming up with ideas. It takes me forever to plan and start writing an essay. I have never really felt successful as a writer in class or outside of class. The only time that I have written outside of a classroom was writing my personal statements for college applications as well as journaling for mental health. During middle and high school, I have excelled in math and science for me I pick it up so easily but I am the complete opposite in writing. As far as my learning style goes I like to see examples and once I see that I can usually understand anything.