Reflecting on What You Have Learned

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In this chapter, you have learned a great deal about this genre from reading several explanations of a concept and writing a concept explanation of your own. To consolidate your learning, reflect not only on what you learned but also on how you learned it.

ANALYZE & WRITE

Write a blog post, a letter to your instructor or a classmate, or an e-mail message to a student who will take this course next term, using the writing prompt that seems most productive for you:

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  • Explain how your purpose and audience—what you wanted your readers to learn from reading your concept explanation—influenced one of your decisions as a writer, such as how you focused the concept, how you organized your explanation, how you used writing strategies to convey information, or how you integrated sources into your essay.
  • If you were to give advice to a fellow student who was about to write a concept explanation, what would you say?
  • Which of the readings in this chapter influenced your essay? Explain the influence, citing specific examples from your essay and the reading.
  • If you got good advice from a critical reader, explain exactly how the person helped you—perhaps by questioning your definitions, your use of visuals, the way you began or ended your essay, or the kinds of sources you used.
  • Discuss what you learned about yourself as a writer in the process of writing this essay. For example, what part of the process did you find most challenging? Did you try anything new like getting a critical reading of your draft or outlining your draft in order to revise it?

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