To: Crystal Rodwell

From: Michael Bermejo

Date: February 15, 2022

Self-Reflection On Linmon Desk Review

In the product review essay, I was tasked to write a review on an object from home. As opposed to persuading the author into buying or not buying the product, the purpose of this assignment was to allow us to review an item critically and identity it’s purpose. The object I chose was a desk from Ikea.

The purpose of this memo is to share how this assignment directly correlates to the course learning outcomes. The specific course learning outcomes that this assignment aimed at was to enhance strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing, and self-assessment and formulating a stance.

In the product review essay, the task was to sound more informational rather than persuasive. Our goal was to give the audience information for them to judge the product. In this case, the audience would be people looking into buying a future desk. The information I provided will allow them to expand their options and verify their needs. I was motivated to provide my experience with the products and give a brief description on its function. Adding details such as potential scenarios as to who would buy a desk like this one is what helped direct my information towards a specific audience. For example, in the essay, I added scenarios in which the desk would be most beneficial for occasions such as gaming or doing office work.

I was tasked to write a final draft for the product review essay, which mean pointing out apparent mistakes after reading the first draft. By reading this essay multiple times, the mistakes that were clear such as grammar or punctuation were easier to notice. Creating more than one draft allows for much more improvement from one draft to another. After the final draft for the product review essay was completed, we gathered with groups within our class and engaged in peer editing. This step was crucial when it came to delivering the final version of this essay, after receiving feedback from my peers I was able to revise the information they gave me such as identifying repetition and identifying the value of my details in supporting my criteria of the product. The revision allowed to me to also start editing and beginning to improve my skills in how to take the advice/feedback and edit the essay, whether it be adding more details or even fixing minor mistakes. Eventually this leads to the completion of different drafts which allows me to track my growth from paper to paper and identify the areas that need improvement.

The overall purpose of the product review essay was to demonstrate how an ordinary object can be represented and detailed to others to compare to similar options. The product reviews were critiquing a product based on three criteria. Through this, as the author, we had to provide an individual bias when it came to reviewing the product on the criteria. In this case, the desk was reviewed under the criteria of durability, price, and size. As a writer I was able to formulate a stance in terms of whether this product was worth buying. The three criteria that were being judged allowed me to prove a final statement on the desk. Based on feedback from my peers, I noticed that there were areas in which my stance was not clear or if I had sufficient details to support my thesis.

The essay helped with meeting the course learning outcomes and has allowed me to identify areas of improvement. For the future, my goals are to be clearer in identifying details that best support my thesis and to continue peer-revising and editing as it was a very crucial step in the completion of the final version of this essay.

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