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McNeely 1 David McNeely WR121/MacLennan Final Portfolio Assets Mar 19 2018 Final Reflection 1. I feel my ability to focus my argument down to a single, concise, refined point has been greatly improved since the beginning of this course. Before, I had never been confined to write an entire paper on a single argument, but I feel this confinement has forced me to write more creatively and expound on logical reasoning and written evidence at a much deeper and intimate level. 2. I believe the most underdeveloped aspect of my writing is concision and including superfluous wording and language. I like to make sure that those reading my paper understand my exact thought process and final argument, so I may go a little overboard in the explanation process. 3. My favorite aspect of this course was the exclusion of outside resources. I really appreciated the emphasis put on personal examples and original, logical thought. Being forced to rely on nothing but my own life and ideas for original arguments has honed my logical thinking, reasoning, extrapolation, and translations abilities. I thoroughly enjoyed Ryan MacLennan’s approach to teaching and relatability. His relaxed presence and helpful attitude always had me feeling comfortable with the material and confident I would do well in the course. 4. Honestly, I enjoyed every aspect of this course. Although some of the readings could get slightly dry, I feel they adequately prepared me to be able to compose my own arguments and opinions on the subject they covered and are most definitely a necessity.

McNeely 2 Favorite Paragraph: Being able to view other people’s methods of solving a problem increases one’s awareness for possible solutions and specific contexts in which those solutions might work. For example, if one were to be taught how to splice two pieces of rope together, it is possible to use a similar method when connecting two electrical wires. This situation involves a similar technique applied in a different context. This adaptability is possible only through being taught and remembering a method of approach: a learned function. Learning is a biophysical process. According to the modern understanding of memory formation, a person is able to learn and remember things due to the movement of certain chemicals and production of new neural pathways in the brain. As Carr puts it, “the brain is almost infinitely malleable” (Carr 313). This means that there is not any understood limit to the amount of learning a person can do. Logically, this seems to imply that there is then no limit to the adaptability of a person when applying different problem-solving methods across multiple contexts. Just as the end goal of the critical thinking described in Thompson’s article consists of a victory, so does the end goal of problemsolving; any effective solution to a problem is a victory....