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As I look back at my year in English 102 I reflected on what I learned in this class and my first year at university. When I first entered English 102 I had no idea the depth and problem of the Borderlands. Only through participating in class and doing the assignments was I informed about the problem. I found a connection between myself and the migrants at the border even though we came from different backgrounds. Like the migrants who felt displaced at the border. I felt displaced when I came to university for the first time. I didn’t know anyone at university and everyone around me seemed to know what they were going to do with their life. I felt like I was all by myself. I really connected with the borderlands community in wanting change in their life. Because I came all the way from New York state I didn’t know anyone in Arizona. Nor did I have any family members that lived in Arizona. I had to learn to be independent just like my peers who came out of state.I found belonging with those around me who are experiencing similar experiences and found that I'm not the only one who is feeling lost in college.I felt like I have some shared experiences with those at the borderlands like the experiences and values of family. When we go through things in life like for me going to a new university and for migrants who are trying to cross the border, it is very important to find family and community and to support each other through the good and bad times or through new experiences.Papelito #6

One of the biggest struggles I faced in this class was being able to effectively structure my essay. I had a hard time really organizing and compiling my thoughts effectively in my essays. I had all the information but I had a hard time compiling the information chronologically in my essay. I think that I really progressed as a writer through peer review from my classmates and teacher. I took their feedback and figured out what I needed to improve on my writing and assignments and how to make my essay flow better.

At the beginning of our unit one unit our class did a synthesis essay. In this class we learned different ways authors communicate their ideas  through  structural conventions like rhetorical modes or rhetorical appeals.One of my goals in this class was understanding rhetorical situations. This helped further my writing and helped inform me of the author’s purpose and what I want the audience to take away from my writing when I incorporate rhetorical strategies. At the beginning I had a hard time identifying these rhetorical modes and appeals but after analyzing the three sources I chose in class for my matrix I started to have a better understanding. This helped me further analyze a story and really go into depth about how an author is communicating with their audience by the author’s word choice, style, and tone.

After I finished my synthesis essay the way I celebrated was going to my friend’s party that was hosted at their house. Some of the healthy ways that I celebrated was socializing with my friends, talking to them about the struggles that I had in my personal and academic life and how I overcame those struggles. My friends also talked to me about their struggles in school and their personal life. I felt like that really helped me grow as a person and as a writer because I can take into view other people’s point of view. They may think differently than me but we share the same feelings and experiences that make us connect with each other. In the future when I’am writing I will try to understand others points of views on a deeper level.Papelito #4

Also in this class about the Borderlands, I learned that migrants are being mistreated at the border, the injustices in our legal system, gentrification, and separation at the border. I think that being informed about the struggles faced by different communities can help shed light on problems that should not be ignored.I really value listening to other people’s testimonio and I found Rigoberta Menchú’s testimonio to be very insightful about the struggles marginalized groups face. Her story about the struggles of living on the finca was similar to the reasons why migrants are fleeing from Central America. We as students and as a society should work together whether that be at university or outside of university to help those who are oppressed.I think as a future writer the way I write can better connect with the reader on a personal level. I believe that I have accomplished this by going to different places and exploring stories that take place in different places.

Not only did we write essays in our English class but we also did storytelling. I found that writing a story to be challenging but a great learning experience.Through storytelling I learned how to communicate a story with few words and lots of pictures to communicate a story. The differences in learning how to write for different audiences really taught me the importance of word choice and poetic language. Like how to use a few words but in a way that conveys several meanings to the audience members. Experimenting with different forms of storytelling helped me grow as a writer because I relied on my own ideas of how I want to structure my story, what overall message I want the audience to take away from my essay, and how I incorporated rhetorical appeals in my writing. The circumstances of actually going to a place and self-learning was an experience that I really enjoyed outside of the classroom.

Some important places that taught me something special was at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center. At the center I learned about the history of Chinese immigrants who immigrated to Tucson, Arizona. Most of the information from the museum came from the museum panels. Each panel described the history behind a Chinese immigrant family. What the family business was and what services they provided. I felt a sense of belonging at the place and a connection with the Chinese immigrants. As I looked around I saw a lot of descriptions about the family businesses that were owned by Chinese families. Like grocery stores and dry cleaning stores.I heard the sound of mahjong tiles shuffling from people playing. I heard the sound of Chinese music overhead.  I heard the sound of people conversing in both Chinese and English. I felt like this place was very open to everyone because all types of people came to the center besides Chinese people. I believe that this made others and me feel a sense of belonging because people from all different backgrounds could converse in different languages. The center had a dance studio, a kitchen, and a grand ballroom. The grand ballroom hosted speakers. There was also a lot of artwork in the center. I saw Buddha statues, ancient chinese clothing and jewelry.  I believe that this center is used for educating the public about Chinese culture and introducing those who don’t know about Chinese culture to take part in Chinese activities. Papelito #7

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Arizona State Museum, East University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ

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Understanding our cultural contexts as writers at the University of Arizona 

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Understanding our cultural contexts as writers at the University of Arizona 

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The assignment that I have chosen for the Borderlands ENGL Course goal is U2A2. For this assignment our class had to use power notes to annotate other texts and websites. From this assignment I learned alot about Tucson, Arizona.  Reading the StoryMaps I learned about the issues that Tucson faced like the issue of the US-Mexico Border. I also learned about how the government is helping Arizona from reinvesting in Tucson’s Older and Historic buildings and the Mission Garden. All of these places all have the main idea of the Borderlands. All these different places teach us the history behind Tucson. For example, for Tucson's Older and Historic buildings I learned about old buildings in Tucson like the ones near Main Gate Square and how the city reinvested old buildings into new ones. I never noticed that but now everytime I pass one of these buildings I Am now more aware. I’am also more aware of the US/Mexico Border crisis from learning about the border in this class and from the story map about the US Mexico border. I learned about why migrants are fleeing to the border and the scale of the problem.  I learned about multicultural perspectives from the Mission Garden that taught about the different cultures that made up the history of the garden.The type of writing that I will do as a writer will probably be a lot of research paper. Rhetorical awareness can be a part of that because a lot of sources and information uses rhetorical awareness. I can analyze the text on a deeper level. Understanding other’s cultural context can help when identifying rhetorical awareness because of different cultures' awareness that can be missed when we come from different backgrounds . I can analyze the text on a deeper level and can reflect on what the author is saying in a text from a different culture’s point of view. The way I can approach writing and reading in the future is by first reading what the text says, then when I read the text again a second time I can try to identify the rhetorical awareness and context and culture behind the text.

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The assignment that I chose to reflect on is Google Forms U1A4. In this form I had to reflect on the work from how I typically approach editing and revising my work in my past to how my method works or doesn't work. I used meaningful reflection when reading the Specs of the assignment to see if I meet all the criteria for this assignment. This process of reading the rubric like “Evidence of rhetorical situation analysis (comparing purpose, audience, context (including authorship), genre, etc.) ↗ Evidence of rhetorical strategies analysis (comparing rhetorical moves, devices, or conventions)” helped inform me of what my writing lacks or is lacking of.  To really reflect on my work and ask myself if my paragraph really meets the criteria. This process helped me foster the development of a writing identity because of the way I reflected about my past work on whether or not I sounded like myself back then to the essay that I was reflecting on now. Whether or not it sounded like me. I think in future writing I will relay less on websites for thoughts and insights instead coming up to my own conclusions about topics and issues. I think that this course goal will help me in the future writing practice as being more confident in my own writing. Being able to really reflect my own work rather than on someone else's work that I paraphrase in my own work.

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The assignment that I have chosen for revision is U2A4. For this assignment me and my peers had to review each other’s work on our Story Map and reflect on the work that we had done and that others have done. The way I engaged in a collaborative process is by completing the workshop and revision form and by peer reviewing other my peer’s work. In my case, I reviewed Ryan Clark and Jack Henderson’s work. I gave both of them feedback and explained what I liked about their draft and how they could improve on their draft for their final draft. I said “I really enjoyed your fotonovela. Your story matched your target audience because in your story I could visualize how it would be like to race a car or try something new and exciting that may seem scary and risky at first. I think that the purpose of the story and your target audience matches one another because your main idea is to try something new even if you have self doubts” to Ryan. This shows that I can help revise other people’s work by giving my own opinion about it. I also demonstrated this skill when I looked back at the feedback that I got from my professor. I applied the changes to my U2A4 from the comments that I got from my peers and professor when finalizing my work.  I think the revision process is one of the most important course goals for me and for the writer because the writer can get feedback from others so that they know what to improve or change before the work or writing gets finalized. For me as a future writer it is very important to revise my work and reevaluate my writing so that I can make sure that all my spelling, grammar, and citations are correct.

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The assignment that meets Goal#3: Conventions would be the U1A4 Synthesis essay. I practiced a lot of genre conventions like trying a way to structure my essay well. I did this by trying to make my essay be coherent. I did this by not losing focus on the main issue in the essay, the borderlands. The way I styled my essay was by discussing each text one by one and then tying all of them together discussing what makes them similar or different. I used comparative transition words like “likewise” and  “also”. I identified a lot of narrative elements in the text and sources that I was using to analyze for my essay. I found that identifying a lot of rhetorical devices helped me in understanding the narrative elements of the text that I was using. Using quote integrations in my essay also helped me further prove my points that I wanted my audience to come across. I cited novels and movie sources differently. For example, when I was citing a scene from Border South when Gustavo was shot I cited the time of the scene in the movie (Border South  00:13:44-00:14:01) vs when I was citing from a book I cited with the page number (2). However, I did quote words, phrases, and dialogue when the words were there.I think this course goal of conventions will help me better understand how to structure my essay in the near future.

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The artifact I have chosen to reflect on for rhetorical analysis is Unit 1 A2 Matrix. In this assignment I compared lots of different sources. The three sources that I chose to compare and contrast were The House on Mango Street, The Texas Civil Rights Project, and Border South (2019) by Raúl Paz Pastrana: Documentary. For this assignment I had to identify the purpose and target audience for each source, Rhetorical Moves /Conventions,....The way I practiced analyzing the genre and audience for each of the texts was by first identifying the purpose for each text and source. For Mango Street I identified the purpose and audience based on analyzing the text. I identify the purpose and context based on the rhetorical moves that the author uses in this case logos. For the Texas Civil Rights Project I identified the context and purpose of the website. When looking at the website the purpose of the website was to advocate for the rights of minority groups and people who are the most likely to get discriminated against. I could tell this was the purpose of the website based on the website’s context: the Texas Civil Rights Project is a non-profit organization that was formed in 1990 by attorney James C Harrington. I would say that this website has a lot of genres but the most noticeable for me was nonfiction because the website had lots of news articles that talked about the issues. I think the author uses pathos in this website for the audience to encourage people to join this Project. I practiced analyzing the rhetorical situation when I was watching Border South. In this movie I identified the genre and audience based on what the movie was about a migrant by the name of  Gustavo, a young Nicaraguan man traveling through Mexico who is seeking asylum at the US Mexico border.The genre would be nonfiction because it’s based on a true story and the audience would be open minded people who want to learn more about migrants who are trying to cross the border. The way I identified the purpose and context of the film when watching it was identifying the rhetorical moves /conventions. One cinematic technique (rhetorical moves) that I noticed in the film was the cut scene. I believed based off this rhetorical move which also appeared in lots of other scenes to help me identify the purpose of the film. The purpose is to educate the audience on the dangers migrants face. Identifying the rhetorical moves also helped me identify the context of the film which is the factors why migrants are fleeing because of crime in their own countries. One quote that I think demonstrates my rhetorical awareness is from my analysis of House on Mango Street when I wrote,  “ when Esperanza is describing how her mother could've been somebody’ besides a stay at home mother. Esperanza’s mom has many skills: ‘she can speak two languages. She can sing an opera. She knows how to fix a TV’ (Cisneros 4).”   This course goal can help me analyze text on a deeper level.

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Mission Garden, West Mission Lane, Tucson, Arizona

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Goal #2: Critical Thinking and Composing

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Goal #2: Critical Thinking and Composing

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For the Critical Thinking and Composing goal I have chosen to reflect on was Unit 2 Assignment 1 Fieldwork Journal. The purpose of this assignment was for me and other students to think, explore and collect data and information outside of the classroom based on different locations. The way I practiced research for this project was going out of my way and asking the people who work at the places I visited about what this place meant to the Tucson community and what was the history behind that place. I did this by taking tours. This is my primary research. I would also say participating in the place and reading off signs were also the primary research. The way I conducted secondary research was by going online and trying to think critically of how the past of the place makes it important to this day. I evaluated my sources by taking lots of pictures and listening to other people’s conversations. This project also involved a lot of my synthesizing research into essays but instead of essays in this case it was different viewpoints and different histories of each place.I found this quote “ I did not I found the world empty when I entered it, as my parents planted for me, so I will plant for my children” to be still relevant to this day because it shows us that the world and our planet was important to people back then and is still important to people now. When I was researching about the Mission Garden the importance of community came up alot. This work might influence my later writing further down the path because I think after doing this project I can be more of an effective critical thinker. I can see myself doing a lot of research in the future as a writer.

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