My ENGL 1101 class titled Comparative Genocide focused on the rise of dictatorships, loss of freedoms and the most devastating results seen in the form of genocides in the 20th and 21st century. Additionally, one of the most important aspects of the class was that it was a comparative evaluation of genocide. Throughout the semester, we analyzed four genocides, namely the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide and the Rwandan Genocide. For each genocide, we analyzed primary sources, watched documentaries/fictional films and did online research (for the artifacts). We also had in-depth interactive discussions in class regarding the similarities and differences between various genocides. This helped students learn how to spot signs of genocidal and fascist policies, as well as consider how we can prevent reiterations of past events. Throughout the course, we completed various multimodal artifacts ranging from analyzing movies to creating public service announcements (PSAs). I can safely say that this class has vastly increased my knowledge of an immensely relevant topic in today's world, as well as given me the ability to judge factual claims and theories on the basis of evidence. Another thing that I learned in this class was the importance of constructive criticism. I realized the importance that such feedback holds in improving the quality of one's work.

Before I proceed, I must mention how ENGL 1101 has been vastly different from any English class that I took in high school. Having gone to high school in India, my curriculum comprised composing essays and reading fictional texts. Of course, both of these make just one facet of WOVEN Communication. This was one of the major reasons I found ENGL 1101 to be extremely rewarding. The focus on design and layout for each artifact made me learn editing skills which are immensely useful in almost every field. Additionally, I learned that it was important to keep the intended audience in mind while composing any artifact.

Each artifact went through an intricate writing process. First, an artifact was assigned by Prof. Dean-Ruzicka and then doubts regarding the same were addressed thoroughly in class. We were expected to read the instructions page for each artifact (which was very detailed), as well as do additional reading to better understand the requirements for the artifact. As an example, for Artifact 3 i.e. film analysis blog, we were to read up on general film techniques and terminology on this link. The next step of the process required us to write a rough draft of our artifact and present it to our peers in the peer review workshop. We were supposed to make revisions based on the advice we received during the workshop before submitting our artifact. Finally, after submitting our artifact, we spent time in class composing a reflections document in which we answered several questions posed to us by our professor.

It was in the peer review workshops that I realized the importance of constructive criticism. In high school, I had never done such a thing. In fact, there were strict rules that prohibited us from discussing our work with each other. Thus, in the beginning, I was pretty anxious about the workshop. During the Artifact 1 i.e. infographic workshop, one of the feedbacks that I received was to make the conclusion shorter and add more images. Initially, I decided to reject most of this feedback as I thought that no one else could understand my work better than I did. However, a few days before the deadline, my skepticism got the better of me and I decided to visit the Communication Center to receive additional feedback about the assignment. The feedback I received at the Communication Center was exactly the same as the one I'd received in the peer review workshop. This is when it all started making sense to me. It was an infographic and having such a verbose conclusion killed its fundamental purpose! It was then that I realized that I could leverage constructive criticism to improve my work. I realized that all of us are naturally biased toward our own work, and thus feedback from a neutral eye could only help us overcome our bias.

I felt that my quality of work improved as the semester progressed, and that was reflected in the grades I received as well. Artifact 2 was a source analysis essay, which was pretty close to a standard written essay. However, there was an additional research element to it, which made the artifact more interesting. We were to choose a topic from a given list and research it thoroughly before writing an essay on it. I'd chosen a very well documented speech as my topic, namely the opening speech to the Nuremberg Trials. Artifact 3 was a film analysis, and due to my love for films, it turned out to be my favorite artifact of the class. I chose Ida, a foreign language film for this assignment and watched it multiple times to be able to present an effective critique on it. This artifact, however, required a more informal presentation as the intended audience were general film fans. Moreover, we were supposed to write a blog using WordPress and had to incorporate several visual elements into our blog. I really enjoyed this artifact because I had more freedom to customize and present my critique in any way I wanted. The main thing I learned from these two artifacts was the ability to effectively research on a topic that I was completely unfamiliar with, and be able to present the flurry of thoughts that ran through my head in an organized and concise way, be it in a blog or in an essay.

Artifact 4 was a group assignment. I was assigned to a group of four and we were required to make three distinct public service announcements (PSAs) with overarching connections to genocide. Apart from Science Fair in high school, this was the first real group project that I had ever done. As a result, I learned a lot throughout the course of this artifact. The most important thing that I learned, however, was how to work effectively in groups, a skill that is really important in all walks of life. The assigned WOVENText reading proved really helpful for this. Our group distributed responsibilities evenly, and we regularly met at the CULC library to brainstorm ideas. My main responsibility in this artifact was to edit all the videos. This artifact made me master iMovie, as the videos required quite a lot of complicated editing.

The fact that these artifacts were multimodal is what made this class unique, enjoyable and an immensely rewarding experience for me. It is interesting to note that since the artifacts were multimodal, a lot of the feedback that I received on the artifacts was multimodal as well. For example, during the group project, it was not always possible for all four of us to be present at the same place all the time. Because of this, we maintained Google Docs and Google Drive that allowed us to leave audio as well as visual comments for each other.

In hindsight, what is rewarding about this class is that it teaches essential skills irrespective of what one chooses to do in life. Whether it was video editing, working in groups, or presenting information gracefully, ENGL 1101 taught me a wide variety of useful skills. I also learned the importance of constructive criticism and the importance of analyzing your audience. Most importantly, the class taught me how to be an effective communicator.