Final Post

1) Looking back on the entire class, I feel that the combination of the two papers we wrote were the most challenging and rewarding assignments we did. First, the Wikipedia paper challenged us to take a neutral stance on an issue and forced us to be objective. This was a difficult task, to understand the argument and have a want to take one side, but instead remain neutral. The final paper was a nice step up from the Wikipedia paper, it allowed us to take a side of a certain issue and present a logical and substantiated argument. It was helpful to remain objective in the first paper, and finally take a stand on the argument in the final paper.

2,3) The most important thing I learned in class were discussion skills. We spent a lot of time analyzing not only the roles of people in a discussion, but we practiced them and even found people who fit the roles well. Discussion skills will always be useful, especially if I have a job that involves a lot of meetings. Being able to communicate with people and understand what they’re conveying is an important skill that will come in handy in many different facets in life. Outside of class, the most important thing I learned was the ability to critically read and analyze many different types of literature. As a class, we read a variety of different articles, ranging from shopping to the design of the iPod, but the common denominator in all of this was the ability to understand, discuss and defend our points of view. All of the aforementioned skills will be useful throughout our entire lives.